Texprocess 2017 to present live demo of Digital Textile Micro Factory

Texprocess 2017 trade fair to take place this May in Frankfurt, in collaboration with the German Institutes for Textile and Fibre Research in Denkendorf and a number of well-known companies in the textile sector, will present a live demonstration of Digital Textile Micro Factory, an integrated production chain for apparel.

Texprocess will demonstrate the entire networked production of items of clothing – from the design stage to digital printing, automatic cutting out and fabrication.

Especially when it comes to fast fashion, micro factories offer the opportunity to put ideas into practice immediately and to try out new business models, based on specific customer requirements. They facilitate a type of production that is responsive to the market and, as an additional bonus, ensure optimized use of material, so as to contribute to greater levels of sustainability in textile processing, said Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles and Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt.

The demand for individualized products necessitates making the entire production process more flexible. Serial production with, at the same time, smaller and smaller batches, right down to batches of just one, is only possible with industrially manufactured individual products. These fully automated and networked processes can now be implemented through the use of digitalization, said Elgar Straub, General Manager of the VDMA’s Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies Division.

The first stage in the micro factory is the CAD/Design area. With the help of computer-aided design (CAD) and the Vidya 3D-simulation software, creative designs are put into effect in a virtual reality and/or adapted. The data that emerge from this are immediately merged with data for subsequent processes, such as the digital printing of the textile, the cutting out and sewing. Texprocess partner for the Design area is Assyst, a company in the Human Solutions Group.

The next stage (printing) demonstrates large-format inkjet printing, involving sublimation printing on polyester and pigment printing on cotton and mixed fibres. Manufacturing tasks can be flexibly combined here with various printing parameters so as to produce a print with reproducible colours. Texprocess partners in the software and hardware business Ergosoft and Mimaki, as well as Coldenhove and Monti Antonio are the ones ensuring optimum printing results at this station.

After this comes the cutting area. At this juncture in the production process, the individual orders need first to be identified without anyone touching them. Identification is made possible by automatically loading the appropriate data files for the cutting-out process. A feeder system at the cutter ensures that the material is transported as smoothly as possible and without distortion. Camera systems recognise the cutting points, as a result of which the path the cutter is to take is optimised and a top-quality cut can be achieved. Texprocess partner in this area is Zünd.

In the next section of the production process (assembling), the cut-out elements of the various orders are also identified in a context-specific manner and added to the garment. This area shows the process of identifying the individual orders and the sewing process, carried out on the latest sewing machines, which can also be linked to the internet. Texprocess partner in this area is Dürkopp Adler.

Finally, in the last step (labeling) the garments will be provided with logos and graphic details that will be washable, can be ironed and are suitable for dryers. Partner in this area is Seripress.

Visitors at Texprocess will follow a sign posted path through the various individual stages of manufacture in the micro factory and will be able to get information from experts at each stage. In addition, there will also be guided tours on offer.

Recent Posts

Swisstulle advances dyeing efficiency with JigMaster

Swisstulle adopted JigMaster for its dyeing and finishing operations, especially for high-quality technical textiles used in fashion and automotive industries.

3 days ago

Birla Cellulose and Circ partner to scale textile recycling

Birla Cellulose, a leader under the Aditya Birla Group, has announced a long-term partnership with Circ, a U.S.-based textile recycling…

3 days ago

CARBIOS unveils enzymatically recycled polyester t-shirt

CARBIOS has collaborated with leading brands Patagonia, PUMA, Salomon etc. to create a groundbreaking polyester garment made entirely from textile…

3 days ago

Yangi launches sustainable fiber-based food tray

Yangi, renowned for its renewable packaging solutions, has launched a fiber-based food tray as a sustainable alternative to plastic trays…

3 days ago

Tarpaulife Project develops alternative to PVC-coated fabrics

The European Tarpaulife Project is working on polyolefin-coated fabrics, such as polyethylene, that can be manufactured to compete with PVC-coated…

3 days ago

Better Cotton to standardise measurements for cotton production

Better Cotton has joined the global non-profit alliance, Cascale, in a three-year project aimed at standardising LCA methods across the…

3 days ago