Automatic heat sealing machine prevents buttons from falling off the garments

Interview with Mark Gill from MMS U.K. - a company specialised in button attachment and security.

Please, tell us more about your system that prevents buttons from falling off

MMS started in 1994 and we were the original designers and developers of the automatic heat sealing button wrapping machine, all of our production still takes place in Leeds in the UK, we do this so we can keep a close eye on the production and keep quality at its highest level. Our main business is around button security and we are constantly developing new machines to help in this process, the latest machine being the MK22. In the past one operator would work on one machine, now with our new automated feed on the MK22 buttons can continuously be loaded into the machine without having to wait for the previous buttons to finish, this means that now one operator can run three machines at the same time saving on production costs and making the whole process cheaper. To accompany the machines we of course have our own MMS button wrapping thread which are designed to work perfectly on all our past and present machinery.

Who uses your machines?

We have a long list of customers who specify our system on various types of garments, a few examples include Burberry, Mark & Spencer, NEXT, Under Armour, SuperDry, Tesco, George, Arcadia group, Van Laack, Thomas Pink and many more.

On what garments can your machines be used?

The system originally started being used mainly on outerwear and tailoring but it can be used on any garment with a button, it can also be used on trousers, shorts, shirts, polo tops, anything that has a sewn on button. More brands are now choosing to use it on shits, you don't see a wrapped shirt button every day and so when a customer see this when buttoning up their shirt they will notice the extra care and attention that has gone into this garment, increasing the image of the brand.

What are the advantages of using your machines? How will the customer see the difference?

There are few different reasons for using our system, the first is to ensure the button does not fall off, nothing is more annoying than buying a garment to have your button fall off, which normally happens at the worst moment, if a button falls off it will give the impression of a badly produced product, this is easily avoided by using our system so wrapping using MMS is an advantage to the customer and to the brand. Having a small slim shank on a button also makes the buttons easier to fasten and stops the bulging effect you get around the button hole when the button is sewn on too tight.

You participated at Texprocess in Frankfurt this year. What are your results from the participation in the fair?

Regarding Texprocess we actually had a great turnout, I believe it was due to our new MK22 machine which is where we unveiled it for the first time, it caught the eye of many people and it clearly showed we are the world leaders in our field, it drew a large crowd to our stand and I believe Texprocess is still one of the best exhibitions were people come from all over the world, it gives us a good chance to meet all our distributers in one place.

At what other fairs do you plan to present your machines?

Still to be confirmed, we attend the major fairs but we are often on the road visiting the factories / brands directly with a machine in hand for demonstrations, we have people based all over the world to help with customer requirements.

To finish with some humor: Do you know how many buttons did your machines save from falling off so far?

We would like to think hundreds of thousands of buttons, we have been going for over 20 years now. I know one brand (who I wont mention the name) started using our system a few years ago when they had around 1000 garments returned for button loss, and this was only for one particular style, they are still using our system today as a wrapped button saves a lot of money compared to a returned garment.

For more information contact MMS UK
Website: www.mmswebsite.com
Email: mg@mmswebsite.com