Seamly Systems CEO Susan Spencer has been named chairperson of the ASTM International subcommittee on sewn product automation — a standards body that governs design and manufacturing data formats for apparel, footwear, bags and other sewn goods. Spencer says the appointment positions her company to help resolve a decades-old data problem that has stalled automation across the entire fashion industry.
The committee, part of ASTM’s D13 textiles section, develops standards used by apparel manufacturers worldwide. Spencer says the current file formats the industry relies on are outdated and incompatible with modern robotics, requiring workers to manually re-enter data at multiple points in the production process.
Susan Spencer, CEO Seamly Systems
“We’re positioned for rapid growth,” Spencer told bizblip. Spencer says her committee work aims to modernize an apparel data standard — the DXF ASTM “e-pattern” format — so that design software can communicate directly with robotics systems on the factory floor without manual workarounds. She says Seamly’s own software already retains the underlying math formulas that generate pattern geometry, giving it a path to feed manufacturing instructions automatically into robotic assembly cells, a capability the industry currently lacks.
Seamly Systems, founded in January 2021, makes software that helps fashion designers create and manage precision-fit patterns. Unlike most industry tools, which export only a 2D cookie-cutter outline of pattern pieces, Seamly’s platform retains the engineering calculations behind the design — enabling better data transfer across the production workflow. Spencer, the company’s sole full-time employee, operates under an “open core” model: core tools are free and open source, with paid licensing modules for commercial features. The company is close to releasing its first paid ecosystem module.
Seamly has been funded primarily through bootstrapping and grants from the state of Kentucky. The company previously secured $100,000 in SAFE notes through the Render Capital Accelerator and $20,000 equity-free through GitHub’s inaugural accelerator cohort.
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