Coats Digital is proud to announce the launch of GSDQuest – a pioneering AI-powered tool that dramatically accelerates and simplifies the garment costing process. Built as a powerful enhancement to the award-winning GSDCost solution, GSDQuest enables brands and manufacturers to generate a fully detailed, standardised Bill of Labour in seconds — from as little as a single garment image.
GSDQuest leverages advanced artificial intelligence to analyse product images and automatically identify garment design and construction elements. Using Coats Digital’s proprietary QED Library, it instantly generates a standardised Bill of Labour, removing the need for time-consuming manual input. This breakthrough accelerates costing from hours to mere seconds while delivering unprecedented accuracy and consistency.
Crucially, GSDQuest is designed to be accessible and user-friendly for all professionals — not just certified GSD practitioners. For the first time, anyone in the supply chain can benefit from the power of GSDCost’s award-winning, scientifically grounded SMV garment analysis, instantly and effortlessly.
Building on the proven scientific methodology of GSDCost, which uses internationally recognised standard motion codes and Standard Minute Values (SMVs), GSDQuest ensures that all costing outputs are grounded in robust, data-driven time-motion science. This scientific foundation supports fair and transparent benchmarking across brands and manufacturers, enabling more precise cost prediction, fact-based negotiation, and sustainable supply chain collaboration.
Jonathan McCormack, Senior Engineering Director, Coats Digital, said: “GSDQuest represents a significant leap forward for the apparel industry. By combining AI-powered image analysis with our trusted QED Library, we are automating the complex and traditionally manual process of garment costing with advanced next-gen technology. And for the first time, this power is in the hands of any user, regardless of technical background. GSDQuest can be applied at any stage of the product lifecycle — from initial design through to production approvals — and is built with multi-modal AI that can make presumptive analyses from both visible and hidden design information. It works across images, PDFs, tech packs and more — and can analyse multiple garments at once. This not only drastically reduces lead times but also enhances accuracy and standardisation, empowering brands and manufacturers to respond effectively to increasingly volatile market conditions.”
Traditional costing often requires technical and costing teams to spend hours analysing design features and building operation-level estimates using internal libraries. GSDQuest eliminates these repetitive tasks and transforms costing into a strategic, intelligent process.
Key features of GSDQuest include:
• Automatic recognition of garment features from multiple product images
• Integration with the QED Library for construction method mapping
• Instant generation of standardised Bill of Labour
• Detection of hidden design elements for comprehensive costing
• Scalability across product categories and vendor networks
• Upcoming API integration for seamless workflow embedding
Kunal Kapur, Managing Director, Coats Digital, said: “The fashion industry is at a tipping point. Legacy processes can no longer keep pace with the speed, complexity and cost pressures brands and manufacturers face. GSDQuest represents a game-changing shift — replacing guesswork and manual effort with intelligent automation, scientific consistency and real-time accuracy. It’s part of our mission to harness AI to solve fashion’s biggest challenges — helping our customers work faster, more fairly, and more sustainably. The result is better decisions, stronger partnerships, and a smarter supply chain for all.”
As well as manufacturers, GSDQuest is designed for use by brands, costing teams, technical and sourcing professionals, to support early costing, sample evaluation, and final approvals. Its seamless integration into tech pack creation and design workflows is expected to significantly enhance global supply chain efficiency and collaboration.
GSDCost is the global standard for establishing accurate, sustainable garment manufacturing methods and Standard Minute Values (SMVs). Grounded in time-motion science, it provides a robust, data-driven foundation for precise cost benchmarking and fair wage practices. GSDCost enables manufacturers to define operations using internationally accepted motion codes, ensuring consistency, transparency, and compliance across complex supply chains.
