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Chapter 2 - ATM24

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13 views

Chapter 2 - ATM24

Uploaded by

Merertu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Apparel Technology

(Management)
By Merertu Wakuma (PhD)
Chapter: 2
Trends in Apparel
Manufacturing Technology
Introduction
 The last decade has seen a shift in apparel technology developments, with
innovation giving way to more practical solutions driven by flexibility and
user-friendliness.

 The declining apparel manufacturing industry and huge job losses in the
older economies have restricted the availability of research and development
funds for apparel machinery technology development, while the newer
economies are not geared up for the necessary research.
Introduction
 With the advent of laser cutters, 3D-printing, and sewbots, industry
observers have focused their attention on the potential of robotics and
automation technologies to increase productivity and facilitate a process of
re- or nearshoring of production.

 This could have a negative impact on employment in the industries and


cause significant disruption.
Introduction
 In the past few years, however, the debate has increasingly shifted to the

potentially much greater impact that digitalization will have across textile

supply chains, with critical implications for a range of occupations and tasks

in the industries, not only in manufacturing but also in design, marketing,

finance, logistics, and retail.

 At the same time, the industries are undergoing a silent revolution with

regard to the development and use of new materials.


Introduction
 The garment industries have historically been slow in terms of their adoption of new
robotics and automation technologies.

 So called “sewbots” were first developed in the 1980s, but were largely disregarded by
the industries due to the diversity of materials and processes involved, and due to the
relative cost advantages of sourcing production from developing countries with low
labour costs.

 The outsourcing of production from 2000 to 2015 caused a sharp drop in employment in
the industries in Europe and the United States, by 42 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.
Automation in Garment Manufacturing

 Automation is the process or technique of doing certain works by the use of


automatic equipment in the place of human operators during a product
manufacturing.

 There are several areas where automation reduces human intervention to a


minimum resulting in saving of labor and energy; improved precision,
accuracy, and quality of products; and high productivity.
Automation

 The global need for clothing is fulfilled by the production facilities in


developing countries as it is not economically viable to produce cheaper
clothes in developed countries.

 The recent garment production is suffering from stiff global competition,


rising labor costs in many countries, lack of skilled workforce, and a change
in consumer behavior influenced by fast fashion and social media.
Automation

 The consumers today expect high quality and trendy clothes at cheaper
price delivered to their doorstep in a short time.

 To fulfill the high-quality requirements, it is necessary that the labor-intensive


processes are converted into automated processes accomplished by the use
of computerized tools, digital components, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Automation
 In spite of several benefits, in many of the developing countries, the labor-
intensive clothing production still use manual practices as it was many years
ago, rather than automatic equipment. WHY?
– clothing production has not progressed

– availability of cheap labor in many developing countries,

– high initial investment on the automatic tools and equipment,

– complexities involved in the automation

– frequent style changes, and

– Production of a garment style in different sizes.


Structure of Apparel Industry
Garment manufacturing: from concept to
consumer

 Preproduction processes
 Production processes
 Postproduction processes
Technology Innovation throughout the
Circular Fashion Pipeline
Augmented Reality (AR)
3D Printing Fashion: How I 3D-Printed Clothes at Home
Various Automation Systems and Advanced Tools in Garment
Manufacturing
Various Automation Systems and Advanced Tools in Garment
Manufacturing
Various Automation Systems

 The level of adoption of automation depends on the following factors


 Industry size
 Export market
 Garment styles
 Profitability
HOW?
 Available budget
 Management policy
 Technical skills
 Competitive advantage
Automation in Garment Production

 The technological advancements in an apparel industry can be classified as: software


technology and hardware technology.

 The software technologies include the CAD, CAM, ERP software, statistical process
control, software for production planning and inventory management, and data
management; whereas the

 Hardware technologies include automated sewing, automated identification,


programmable production controllers, automated material handling, automated
inspection systems, and robotics.
Automation in Garment Production Areas
of Automation

 Automatic fabric inspection

 CAD/CAM

 Fabric spreading and cutting

 Sewing

 Pressing

 Use of radio-frequency identification


Difficulties in Automation

 Unlike the large-scale


automation in other industries,
garment industries are much
slower in adopting the
technology.

 The major problem hovers


around proper handling of the
fabric, due to high flexibility
Advantages of RFID in Garment Industry
a. Workers attendance card

 Product Flows

 For keeping the records of the


work done by each staff in
sewing department.

 For collecting the data


regarding production
progress and staff
performance for future
analysis.

 For better flows and maintain


WIP
Advantages and disadvantages of automation

Advantages Disadvantages
 Increase in productivity
 High initial cost of installation
 Increased inventory turnover
 High cost of research and
 Improvement in quality
development
 Replacement of repetitive and monotonous work  Security threats
 Reduction of variability among products and  High cost of maintenance
product batches  Unexpected production delays
 Performing jobs beyond human capability  Limited scope
 Reduction of direct human labor costs and  Lack of flexibility
overheads  Unemployment
Micro-factory

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