Bangkok – Jewellery manufacturer Pandora has opened a new crafting facility that uses technology to enhance productivity, while also creating a more sustainable working environment.

The factory, which has achieved the LEED Gold certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is central to the brand’s new strategy to invest in crafting methods that are driven by tech, while maintaining the highest workplace standards for the facility’s 5,000 employees.

To improve product lead times, artificially intelligent vehicles will transport jewellery parts between work stations, where craftspeople with different skills are seated together to ensure a smoother flow of processes. This will result in 1.5 million pieces of jewellery being produced per week. Elsewhere, the facility’s rooftop garden will reduce overall energy consumption, while wastewater will be recycled to save up to 60% on water consumption.

Increasingly, fashion brands are reassessing their responsibility to care for society and the planet, implementing changes to drive a more sustainable future. With this in mind, Pandora has launched a corporate Twitter account, enabling it to be more transparent about its business practices and CSR efforts.

US – New clothing label Seek Refuge offers a collection of functional streetwear for Muslim women.

The brand was born from founder Shazia Ijaz’s desire for modest yet fashionable garments that step away from stereotypical feminine design cues such as floral dresses or tailored overcoats.

The collection comprises four styles that unite Islamic aesthetics with casual styling, while also raising awareness of Muslim women and refugees. Designs include an oversized graphic t-shirt featuring a woman in a kameez against San Francisco’s skyline and a denim jacket is decorated with Arabic script of a poem written by a Syrian refugee. ‘Our clothes are designed to allow women who practice all levels of modesty to represent their faith in a hype and fashion-forward way,’ says the brand’s mission statement.

For more on the growing market of modest wear, read our report here.

With online reviews nearly doubling within a year, companies must begin to consider how this form of feedback may affect their business. A new report from data analytics company, Merchant Centric and restaurant management platform, Xenial revealed that restaurant operators are already responding to this increase as 46% were more likely to engage with people who left reviews online. Overall, the restaurant sector had a 29% increase in engagement with reviews over the past year.

‘Reviews have become incredibly influential since people consider them as first-hand reliable accounts, as if it was a friend giving their opinion. It’s now vital for restaurants to interact with online reviews in order to increase revenue’, says David Bay, CEO of Merchant Centric, in a statement.