History chronicled the first industrial revolution in the 18th century with the invention of water power, steam power, steam engine, machine tools and factory system. New manufacturing processes transformed the entire manufacturing sector. Among them textile industry was the most dominant in terms of modern production methods as well as final output. Mass production of yarn and cloth became a mainstream industry. Then came the second and third revolutions which further brought about technological advancements in manufacturing stream. The second industrial revolution starting from the late 19th century became widely known as the technological revolution with mass production lines and invention of electric energy as its main features. It is said that the second revolution was a rough draft of the industry today. By the time, the third revolution came into focus, globalization was already on its way catalyzed by the invention of the first computer and subsequent discovery of the World Wide Web. Other major shifts during the third revolution were rapid digitalization and automation in the manufacturing industry with the convergence of new technologies such as intelligent software, novel materials, and a wide range of web-based services.
Fast forward to today, industry is going through another paradigm shift, popularly referred to as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” or “Industry 4.0”. The ultimate goal of the fourth revolution is to build a parallel virtual world that will control and run the physical world. Everything that can be digitalized will be digitalized throughout the course of Industry 4.0.
The future of the manufacturing industry lies with big data analytics, robots, automation, and internet of things. Manual labour will be replaced with digital factories containing advanced materials and artificially intelligent machines that run entire factories on its own. Not only that, cognitive manufacturing will enable manufacturers to forecast demand, carry out predictive maintenance, estimate problems that might occur and trigger solutions to those problems without any human interference. Manufacturing industry is all set to witness another global renaissance using principles of Industry 4.0.
All the Industrial Revolutions started with introduction of a disruptive technology which acted as a change agent across industries. Numerous factors also contributed to new needs generation within the manufacturing industry. Similar forces are acting to bring about the Industry 4.0 paradigm shift:
Industry 4.0 is largely characterized by digitization of the manufacturing sector. It introduces a new concept called “smart factories” in which technology monitors physicals systems & processes and makes decentralized decisions. The future of the manufacturing industry lies with the following five technologies – the internet of things, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, wearables and 3-D printing which will revolutionize global production systems and set new precedents for competition among producers and countries alike.
Following the footprints of the global manufacturing industry, textile industry is also growing leaps and bounds in terms of technological innovations and upgradation. A wide-range of possibilities have opened up in Textile 4.0 through use of these technologies:
Collection and analysis of large sets of data is the layman’s explanation of big data analytics. It is forecasted that any company missing out on big data analytics will miss out on the new age of innovation, competition and productivity. Big data applications are wide and varied: discovery and analysis trends, patterns, associations and interactions among various entities, supply chain management and analytics, merchandizing and market based analytics, market and consumer segmentation, accurate and faster trade surveillance, real-time decision making, multi-channel analytics, predictive analytics, customer churn prevention, price optimization and many more.
Smart Textiles are intelligent textiles that can sense and react to environmental conditions. Smart textiles find its application in health, military/ defense, fashion and entertainment, sportswear etc. Recently, Google and Levi’s connected jacket that lets you answer calls, use maps, topping or starting their music, getting directions, or reading incoming text messages just by swiping or tapping on the jacket’s sleeve is an example of this category. This works because the gesture-sensing sensors (“Jacquard Threads”) are woven into the jacket’s cuff, and are then wirelessly connected to the wearer’s mobile phone using tiny electronics embedded inside the sleeve in a flexible snap tag.
Advanced robotics can help in automation in business operation. Companies are coming up with concepts wherein robots will handle the entire production system including material handling in cut and sew industry. Application of robotic automation in the textile industry provides many benefits such as labour savings, reduced cycle and lead times, improved quality and safety, increased productivity and efficiency.
3-D printing is expected to bring a huge shift by bringing flexibility in the manufacturing process by catering to customized demands. It is generally used in high-end fashion products. The benefits of manufacturing using 3-D printing are – less raw material requirement, less wastage, creation of identical complex objects repeatedly, reduction in lead times and costs. Use of 3-D printing will cover industries from education to fashion to aerospace. Although 3-D printing has been utilized in the fashion industry, it is yet to make substantial progress. Iris van Herpen, considered the forerunner of 3D printed haute couture prints dresses in collaboration with i.Materialize. Danit Peleg is a fashion designer who is implementing 3D printing into fashion on her website. On the website, users can design their own jacket and have it printed, fitted and delivered. Adidas has already ventured into mass customization of their 3-D printed sneakers in collaboration with companies like Carbon to make use of their Speedcell solution.
Artificial Intelligence involves recognition of patterns and machine learning by analyzing large chunks of data. It can be used for consumer trend predictions, self-diagnosing machines. Applications of AI are wide and varied – from video games to intelligent robots. Such machines/robots will be able to detect physical data from the real world such as light, heat, pressure, temperature, movement, sound etc. AI is increasingly becoming a tool for enhancement of product quality, increase production, reduce costs and improve overall processes in the textile industry. It is also making its mark in wet processing industry. Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Textile and Apparel Industry are in fluorescent dyes, self-diagnosing system, defect identification, apparel retail, reinforcement learning etc. Other applications include automation of conversations with buyers, suppliers and other stakeholders via natural language processing and machine learning capabilities for zero error processes.
Internet of Things (IoT) allows machine to machine interaction and exchanges of data through the internet. This helps in making decentralized decisions by technology itself thereby making decision making process efficient. Application of IoT in Textiles are in e-textiles and automated monitoring of factory operations. Other applications include predictive maintenance of equipments, increasing efficiency of weaving and embroidery machines, product development, digital printing to reduce time and costs, virtual reality – garment fit, prevention of textile production losses, guided sales processes, improved post sales experience etc.
All these technologies could wholly transform the way we think about, produce, wear, and even buy clothes and other textile items.
All over the world textile research is primarily focused on technological innovations, fiber production and application, and environment sustainability. Given below are some of the examples of research and adoption in this area.
It is a non-profit organization working towards the progressive textile industry. With a Vision to enable a manufacturing-based revolution by transforming traditional fibers, yarns, and textiles into highly sophisticated integrated and networked devices and systems, it aims to facilitate economic growth through fiber & fabric manufacturing. It has launched two product prototypes till now:
THEN Germany is working towards artificial intelligence application in textiles and apparel. THEN is working on the following: recipe prediction for fluorescent dyes using artificial neural networks and artificially intelligent machines which can measure own performance and inform supervisors to carry out predictive maintenance.
Globally companies are already gearing up for Textile 4.0. One of the forerunners in this is well-known brand Hugo Boss. It has invested heavily in robotics & automation of processes. Their main goal is to create a digital twin of their facility which will run their physical factory. The strategy being followed is Data Collection, Digitization, Automation, Robotics and finally Artificial Intelligence. Hugo Boss is aiming to run an entire factory as one “Suit Machine” with focus areas as:
Robotics 100 Data Collecting Robots collect Data from Man, Machine and Material on the factory floor | Artificial Intelligence Artificially Intelligent Machine that can predict maintenance requirement, schedule lines etc. |
Focus on IT and R&D Establishment of dedicated IT Department and TecknoLab for implementing Industry 4.0 | Layout of Digital Factory 3-D Space Planning (Robots and Drones working from above) |
There exists an IT gap in Indian T&A sector and also lack of integration along the value chain. Indian textile and apparel manufacturers need to bridge this gap immediately through IT implementation in their respective organizations and connecting the supply chain from end-to end if they hope to successfully move towards Textile 4.0. The supply chain must be able to process real-time data and immediately service the customers accordingly. Indian T&A sector is in need of a technological revamp which can be brought about by adopting the following:
Technological advancements is the most effective instrument for growth and change. Presently, Indian economy is going through a pivotal phase with high economic growth & large investments coupled with government’s bold initiatives. Textile industry lies at the core of this development owing to its contribution to the economy as well as high employment generation potential. Adoption of Industry 4.0 tools and technologies in textile and apparel industry would result in – increased efficiency, reduced lead time as well as reduced production time, improved product quality and delivering finest service to the buyers thereby impacting the global landscape. Hence, it is becoming increasingly important for Indian T&A manufacturers to gear up and be alert and flexible enough to adopt these cutting-edge technologies to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
The article has been authored by B. Prakash, Associate Director.
It was published in November 2018 in the Fibre2Fashion Industry 4.0 Compendium.