Traditionally, China has been a host for the manufacturing of consumer-driven markets such as the US, Europe and Japan. However, as the country grows at an unprecedented rate, the market is shifting and as a result, so is the type of machinery it is investing in, particularly as it moves into Industry 4.0.
Leading flat knitting innovator Shima Seiki is helping to navigate the textile industry in China through these changes in the textile manufacturing landscape. Ikuto Umeda, executive director, senior director of Sales Headquarters, Shima Seiki, says: “China has a huge population and it had previously been known as a source of cheap labour, but those days are gone. The wages are rising, there is a labour shortage. The pace at which China is advancing is amazingly fast. It’s rapidly changing and at the same time, consumerism is also changing within China.
He continues: “The knitting industry used to be located where the consumer was. For example, the US, Europe, England, and Japan. But then all that was dissipated because of cheaper imports from countries such as China. But now China is also a consumer country as well and now the industry is here, back where the consumer is. That’s where the need for our Total Fashion System arises.”
With China no longer an export-orientated country in terms of textiles due to the rising standard of living within the country, and the fact that the Chinese population is now much more fashion and technology-orientated, has meant that its domestic market has expanded a lot. And at the same time, Umeda says, “there’s not enough labour to go around to handle the kind of volume that China now needs, so Industry 4.0 is definitely the correct direction in which the country should go, and it is actually being adopted by the country as a nation. Industry 4.0 is a movement in China.”
He continues: “The type of volume that is involved in that cannot be handled by traditional manufacturing methods or technology.”
As a result of this, similar to other countries that are starting to see the effects of reshoring – for example those where it is now important to manufacture closer to the consumer to reduce time to market and offer customised products, such as the US, Japan and some European countries – China is, with its shift to consumer-orientated production, investing in Wholegarment knitting systems.
Consequently, Shima Seiki demonstrated its Total Fashion System at ITMA Asia + CITME along with its Wholegarment knitting technology, which was introduced to the industry 23 years ago and has now become the future for the knitting industry. Umeda says: “We have created this trend of a very efficient form of knitting in 3D and it is now accepted as the future direction of knitting.” When it comes to Wholegarment knitting, the company has over 2,000 patents, both registered and pending. Originally based on Shima Seiki’s founding development of its automated seamless glove production machinery that made the first Wholegarment products, the company is showcased three machines, each with its own unique capabilities. For example, the company’s MACH2XS technology offers great flexibility for knitting high-quality Wholegarment products in all needles, says Shima Seiki. Its MACH2S is a versatile V-bed machine that supports production ranging from conventional shaped knitting in all needles to Wholegarment knitting using every other needle. Meanwhile, the SWG061N2 compact Wholegarment knitting machine is capable of producing a wide variety of knit accessory items for fashion, as well as technical textile applications. Also, the ‘Mini’ Wholegarment machine was producing novel 3D shoes in 15G at ITMA Asia + CITME. The company also showcased a range of other products.
Environment
The increase in environmental regulations, especially in China, has led to Shima Seiki’s technology becoming even more popular. Umeda says: “The combination of Wholegarment and design systems that yields the Total Fashion System is accepted as one of the most sustainable forms of textile production available, and it’s not just the machine itself. Even things like energy efficiency within the machine; we look at that and where it is made etc.” He adds: “But also as a fashion system as a whole – it also includes various parts – for example how it can eliminate waste from the sampling process. And, the fact that you can produce these products where the consumer is eliminates the shipping involved, too. So, in all aspects of the fashion system it takes care of sustainability.”
Rather than selling a machine or a service, Shima Seiki is selling a whole concept. “If you’re selling machines the emphasis is on how much faster it runs, or how much more efficiently it runs, or how much productivity there is. In terms of a Wholegarment machine, it is how much labour you can save on. But, it’s not just that, the entire production process as a whole is what we are trying to improve on, especially in terms of production management – the software side of the business. The main purpose is to eliminate waste,” says Umeda. And this isn’t just environmental and material waste but also cost, time and energy as well, which as well as maximising profits for a business will also increase its sustainability and lead times.
Future
In the future, in terms of its knitting portfolio, Shima Seiki is looking into other forms of textiles, not just the fashion industry. Umeda says: “We are looking at other forms of textiles that are not currently knitted and seeing if those can be knitted.” He adds that in these new areas, a lot of attention has gone into shoes and other industrial textiles. Umeda likes to call it ‘knittifying the world’. “Whatever you see you may want to consider whether it can be knitted. Maybe people are looking for something knew, maybe what you are looking for isn’t enough,” adds Umeda. And that is where Shima Seiki will come in.
Along with these new fields in the textile industry, the company plans to expand its collaborative partnerships, which will only help the manufacturer in its new industry areas. Currently, Shima Seiki is collaborating with a lot of yarn spinners, as showcased on its booth at ITMA Asia + CITME 2018. Named the Digital Yarn Concept, the notion is being taken on in various degrees by yarn spinners. “The spinners are digitising their own yarn data,” says Umeda. “They can design it or scan it on our system and they have an archive of all their yarn for their collection for that season and people can go and check it out and order it. There is one company that does it online and by doing that you are eliminating a lot of waste because you don’t have to create the samples.”
However, the company is also collaborating with other types of businesses such as trading companies. For example, Cobalt Fashion is a new collaboration with Li & Fung and South Ocean Knitters Holding Limited. “Li & Fung is the largest textile trading firm and South Ocean is the largest knitting manufacturer. They created this company called Cobalt Fashion and we are collaborating with them with our design systems.” The company is also working with retailers such as Uniqlo. “We have a factory in Japan, it is 100% Wholegarment, producing Wholegarment lines for Uniqlo,” continues Umeda.
Therefore, at ITMA Barcelona in June next year, the company plans to showcase an evolution of what was showed at ITMA Asia. “But instead of just offering a concept from our side, we are also looking at what our customers are having trouble with, or what they need,” says Umeda. Also, as discussed, the company plans to showcase its products in terms of new fields rather than just fashion, “we are going to expand into those new areas.”
Source: www.wtin.com