‘Major cruise lines employ approximately 30,000 crew wearing an average of 20 pieces of uniform and accessories each,’ says Jorge Pinto CEO of SKYPRO which lists among its clients Qatar Airways, Virgin Voyages and Mystic Cruises.
‘The wrong choice of materials and it could be ordering over 30 tonnes of unsustainable clothing to be offset elsewhere. Once staff rotations take place, cruise lines face another challenge: how to responsibly dispose of old uniforms?’ Pinto added.
Plastic-alternative fabrics
In business for over 15 years, Portuguese-based SKYPRO has identified ways of supplying more sustainable uniforms ranging from the use of plastic-alternative fabrics and materials to an ordering portal.
According to Pinto, most jacket linings are made from non-biodegradable synthetic polyester, buttons from plastic, and although leather is a bi-product of the food industry the tanning process includes the use of over 250 chemicals which in turn could end up in the water supply.
SKYPRO is able to produce uniforms using a number of alternative, more sustainable materials, he points out.
‘For example, we have the capability of manufacturing shoes and accessories made from Piñatex as an alternative to leather: a sustainably-sourced material developed from the leaves of the pineapple plant which are traditionally discarded in the food industry. It is strong, lightweight, breathable and pliable and inspired by the natural surface of full-grained leather.’
All SKYPRO fabrics are Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certified, meaning threads, buttons and other accessories have been tested for harmful substances.
Biodegradable materials
Pinto shared, SKYPRO’s fabric supplier uses recyclable, carbon-friendly and biodegrable materials, produces almost all of their energy consumption through their own solar panels and reuse over 50% of their water resources. They then reuse the scraps from production to develop the textiles for one of their sister brands, 'contributing to a circular economy'.
Uniform Management System
mySkypro Portal is an end-to-end Uniform Management System for seamless uniform order forecasting through an artificial intelligence smart learning tool. It recognizes patterns in crew ordering behaviour and size split and matches it with stock levels and production lead times to accurately trigger order notifications when needed.
‘Cruise lines no longer need to hold significantly higher stock levels than needed and have less “waste” stock in sizes crew do not need, saving them time and money,’ Pinto remarked.
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