The performance textiles market is growing and continuously evolving. Also known as value-added textiles, performance fabrics have an added function such as being hydrophobic, antimicrobial, flexible or flame retardant. Smart textiles and e-textiles are also an advanced form of performance textiles. Also under the performance textiles umbrella there is sportswear, athleisurewear and outdoorwear.
Digitisation has a lot to offer the growing performance textile industry. Heinz Eisenbeiss, head of marketing factory automation at Siemens, presented at the World Manufacturers Forum, which ran on 14-15 November in Munich, Germany, and was organised by WFSGI, Messe München and ISPO Academy. He discussed how to set up an integrated portfolio of software systems and automation technologies for industries to seamlessly integrate and digitalise the entire value chain, including suppliers.
The result is a ‘perfect’ digital copy of the value chain – the Digital Twin. Simulation, testing and optimisation in a completely virtual environment allows for reduced time to market, increased flexibility, quality and efficiency, according to the WFSGI. In an industry such as textiles, where competition is fierce and margins small, the reduced time and increased efficiency a digital twin could bring has the potential to be very beneficial for a textile manufacturer or textile machinery manufacturer.
Also, the increased flexibility a digital twin can bring is in line with the increased demand in the textile industry for customised products and smaller production runs. However, Eisenbeiss said that sports textiles are about much more than customisation, explaining that soon companies in the industry will need to produce goods that can be manufactured quickly and delivered quickly. The quick delivery signifies that perhaps these goods will have to be produced close to the end consumer. An example of this is US sewing robotics company SoftWear Automation.
At WTiN’s Textile 4.0 Conference in Amsterdam in October, Pete Santora, chief commercial officer at SoftWear Automation, said that to shorten lead times, reduce the shipping bottleneck and make the industry more sustainable, the company will only sell its ‘sewbots’ to manufacturers servicing their domestic markets. Chinese garment manufacturer Tianyuan Garments Company of Suzhou signed an agreement with SoftWear Automation in July to develop a fully-automated T-shirt production line at Tianyuan’s newly-acquired plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, US. The system, scheduled to be fully operational by the end of next year, will be used to make Adidas T-shirts for the US market.
Additionally, Eisenbeiss added that the customised goods produced also need to be adaptable and must target a niche group of people or an individual. He said: “Digitisation therefore also means that, for sports companies, the customer’s interests and preferences must take centre stage.” This is currently being done by an increasing amount of ecommerce platforms that sell T-shirts, swimsuits, athleisure garments such as leggings, among many other textile products. These goods can be individually personalised online by the consumer in minutes, bringing the production run to one.
However, with this increased digitalisation comes data security issues, particularly with the increased collaboration that is needed between companies in Industry 4.0. This can bring intellectual property questions such as, ‘Who owns the data?’ ‘Which part of the data can each company or employee have access to?’ Also, a data security breach can lead to production standstill that can be much more disruptive in the digital era where processes in the manufacturing chain are connected and automated.
Eisenbeiss said that many areas of the sporting goods industry will take the step and digitise their manufacturing processes within the next ten years. A good example of this is the Adidas Speedfactory, which has been widely reported on by WTiN. The Adidas Speedfactory is a joint research programme between Adidas and Siemens for the digital production of sporting goods.
The collaboration will be working on the digitalisation of the Adidas Speedfactory to develop capabilities for fast, transparent and individualised production. This will allow the entire production process to be simulated, tested and optimised up front, according to the companies.
The programme opens doors for the creation of products that are more closely in touch with the consumer and are completely unique to their fit and functional needs, which is very important for the sportswear market; the manufacture of individual sporting goods calls for flexibility in production and rapid integration of new technologies.
A digital twin of the Speedfactory will allow the entire production process to be simulated, tested and optimised. Merging the virtual and real worlds will help shorten the time to market, bring greater flexibility and provide improved manufacturing quality and efficiency.
“The Speedfactories, run by Adidas, are a perfect illustration of where the production of the future is heading. The social trend towards greater customisation coupled with new technologies capable of actually fulfilling these expectations will permanently change many production processes,” says Klaus Helmrich, member of the management board of Siemens. Adidas is also working with robotics giant KUKA on the project.
Also, another example is the creation of 3D printed trainers and running shoes. Last year, US sportswear brand New Balance launched “the world’s first high-performance running shoe with a full-length 3D-printed midsole”. The New Balance Zante Generate trainer was printed at the company’s factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts, US. According to the company, the 3D-printed midsole allows the shoes to be flexible, durable and supportive. Under Armour also introduced its partially 3D-printed performance trainers, the UA Architech, with a 3D-printed lattice-structure midsole, in 2016.
Adidas is partnering with the 3D-printing start-up, Carbon, to mass-produce 3D-printed soles for trainers. Carbon has been financed by General Electric and Alphabet’s Google division, as well as big venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital. The shoe will be called Futurecraft 4D. Adidas hopes to sell 5,000 of them this year and as many as 100,000 next year. Carbon says it currently takes 90 minutes to print one of the soles, but it hopes to get that down to as little as 20 minutes per sole. The process will allow for more personalised shoes, shaped to an individual’s weight and gait, says the company.
Meanwhile, Nike is said to be working with French 3D-printing company Prodways. Prodways’ 3D-printed outsoles, midsoles and insoles, made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material, are meant to decrease manufacturing time for the sneaker giant while also providing higher performance for wearers.
Source: www.wtin.com