TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION CONCERNING TEXTILE CLOTHING INDUSTRY

Reference scenery for TC system

It is difficult to foreseen the evolution of TC industry, its future placing, that is it is difficult to answer the following questions:

  • how much and what kind of textile will be produced?
  • which Country and which firm will produce textile?
  • which structural characteristics will it have?

However, it is indispensable to try to stress the most important and more probable elements of this evolution, because otherwise it not logical to hypothesize an INNOVATION action.
We try to locate those elements that characterize the current stage of TC evolution:

A) From the conceiving of a product to its placing in the market, the wide distribution (that is the distribution in big sales areas) is getting more and more importance, in contraposition to the traditional trade.

The main market exigencies, as far as product kinds, performances, distribution characteristics and costs are concerned, are given by this, in a more and more decisively way as regard to the past.

Even the big social-cultural exigencies of the market (that is, search for lightness, for freshness and for comfort) are filtered and interpreted by distribution.

All this involves a different approach by half-worked fabric (yarns, raw fabrics, finished fabrics) suppliers.

B) The way of producing evolution brings businessmen of different areas closer. Technological and qualitative differences are destined to be further reduced. Raw materials, machinery and plant suppliers play a notable role of unification.

"Medium" products, as for kind and prices, destined to mass uses, must be produced on significant economy scale. Their success is based on conditions of big competition and some Countries are more competitive than more industrialized ones. This emphasizes time and production cost problems.

C) De- location, both of manufacturing and of textile industry, is very important. A bigger appealing to virtual actions can reduce costs bound to the distance between market and the origins of a product; still, an important economic and logistic problem is not solved: the transporting of finished products has a notable influence that is bigger than that of raw materials and textile manufactures.

D) Textile and clothing industry in the same Country or area don't necessarily develop the same way. Probably, production will remain in the area of use, that is production will more likely be in homogeneous areas as to consuming areas.

E) Product and process ecology (ecologically correct production) doesn't seem to be a significant competition factor.

F) Imperatives such as flexibility, rapid market entering, mistakes and waste reduction seem to be more decisive as for competition inside a homogeneous area than in different areas.

G) In countries with an older industrialization there is a strong pressure caused by imports increase (bound to the currency relative strength and to the substantial fall of rules and bonds) and by the consequent need of reorganization.

H) Reduction of lot dimensions and the shrinkage of life time of products is destined to continue. Production develops through products, consumers and markets niches. But even niches are shrinking and competitors are increasing in number, with a competition growth that is in some cases exasperated.

Research opportunities

Macro-economical situation described above has substantially been the same for some years now, that is it is dominated by the same factors-elements, now more intensified and exasperated.

Among the strategies that can be used, some are intimately connected to technological innovation.
The most ambitious aim can be that of creating a textile technology resulting from the close cooperation among different industry fields, from fiber producers to textile workers to manufacturers, not forgetting the contribution of machinery and plant makers and of research.
Strategies adoptable by firms in the area bound to technology are many:

To leave clothing textile for technical textile (Picture 1), seizing in this way some opportunities even if having to face notable difficulties;

To innovate the product creating something that can be perceived as new:

  • For its look
  • For its characteristics (e.g. touch),
  • For its performances (e.g. perspiration capacity)

To innovate the process:

  • To reduce costs,
  • To obtain an "ecological compatibility",
  • To obtain flexibility, elasticity, speed

Re-conversion strategy towards Textiles for technical uses: Japanese situation

Distinction between product and process innovations is schematic and doesn?t consider facts complexity. In some cases process innovation can be so important that it significantly changes competitiveness parameters.

On the other hand, even biggest product innovations must submit to economical exigencies that can be only guaranteed thanks to some processes kinds.

It can be affirmed that product innovation is strictly bound to the research in materials, chemistry, physics, biology areas. Chemical industry is directly involved, producing raw materials (fibers) and auxiliaries.

On the other hand, process innovation involves machinery, plant and their management more directly. Basic research (vision theory and technique, physiology etc..) can give effective contribution to problem solutions.

Appealing to informatics and telematics, privileging virtual actions as regards to physic ones, is getting a decisively importance for TC industry development, above all as far as process innovation, (from product planning, to organization of their production and to distribution in the market) is concerned, also considering the more and more important flexibility and rapidity exigencies.
The most important and typical exigencies in TC world seem to be the possibility to enter basic research results, still considering the specific exigencies of this industry.

JAPANESE EXAMPLE

Those who have been innovating for a long time, like Japan, are working hard to keep a technical leadership increasing innovation process rhythms and expanding basic research to a longer time, both as far as materials and processes are concerned.

Attention is concentrated upon special products rather than upon commodity products, because the formers are more sensible to technology effects.

Synthesizing:

  • a wide range of special fabrics have grown, such as those created with ultra thin filaments, that are a new era for synthetic products, opening new dimensions to esthetic and touch
  • processes optimization is forced, especially of mechanical and chemical finishing processes, in order to fully profit of the potential of new fabrics
  • increasing in processes speed and automation in production line have reached notable levels
  • complete automation of manufacturing production is possible thanks to robotic application to flexible materials. Basic research both as far as materials and processes are concerned are among future priorities.

Research macro-themes in Japanese textile industry

A. OBJECTIVE CHARACTERIZATION OF TEXTILE

  • identification of the objective detailed lists as far as fabric and clothes quality is concerned
    • touch
    • look
    • making capacity
    • drapery
    • folds, seam defects
    • clothes comfort
  • Forming of fabric mechanics
    • deformation mechanisms
    • wear mechanisms

B. PRODUCT INNOVATION

standard products (commodity)

  • no-pilling fabrics
  • elastomers

products that are special thanks to characteristics concerning:

1. Colour
  • intensity increase (fibers with micro craters, special finishing)
  • thermo chromatism (fibers, fabric finishing)
  • brightness
2. Smell and fragrance

(fibers, fabric finishing)

3. Microbe proof action

(fibers, fabric finishing)

4. Sound
5. Warmth
6. Lightness ( very low density)
7. Electro conductivity
8. Light-warmth converting

( fibers, fabric finishing)

9. Freshness

ultraviolet reflection, absorption and infra-red reflection

(fibers, fabric finishing)

10. Dryness
  • hydrophile finishing
    • without waterproofing
    • penetration through capillarity
    • hydrophile surfaces
    • fibers with modified section
    • hydrophile capacity gradient
    • fiber micro- porosity
  • with waterproofing
    • membranes
11. Natural fibers simulation
  • ultra thin fibers
  • direct spinning
  • conjugated spinning
    • first materialization
    • proliferation
    • mechanic fibrillation

C. PROCESS INNOVATION

  • Fibers and yarns
    • chemical spinning
      • high speed
      • flexibility
      • two polymers composition

appeal to fluid casting processes

  • fabrics
  • spinning and knitwear
  • finishing
    • alkaline treatment of polyester
    • local finishing
    • printing
    • decatizing
  • manufacturing
    • automatic sewing through modules
    • (automatic) check of fabrics
    • cutting
    • pre sewing: parts preparation
    • 2D sewing
    • 3D sewing
    • checking
    • ironing
  • just in time

D. LIKELY TO OCCUR IN THE FUTURE PROJECTS

  • polymers with shape memory
  • Kansei engineering:
    • quantitative characterization of physiologic answers
    • statistic correlation between impulses and answers
    • projecting of products that improve physiologic and psychological answers of consumers

4 USA EXAMPLE

As far as Textile Clothing is concerned, in the USA process innovation is bestowed a privilege and they try to make the textile system in its joints get the maximum of efficiency. Biggest resources are concentrated in finishing, where today there are the biggest diseconomies and inefficiencies.

Research projects in current development in Textile Clothing in USA

COMPUTER-AIDED FABRIC EVALUATION (CAFÉ)

  • yarn checking
  • on-line fabric checking
  • on-line knitwear checking
  • on-line colour checking
  • 3D fabrics checking
  • marking systems of textile manufactures

TEXTILE RESOURCE CONSERVATION (TRC)

  • dyes and auxiliaries recovering
  • fibrous waste re-using
  • re-using of metals from water waste pipes
  • giving out in air reduction
  • chemical applications improvement
  • alternative cleaning technologies
  • development of environmental decision-making instruments
  • size re-engineering

ON-LINE PROCESS CONTROL (OPCon) IN FLEXIBLE FIBRE MANUFACTURING

  • fiber crimp characterization
  • finishing and fiber humidity analysis
  • fiber morphology characterization
  • polymer characterization

COTTON BIOTECHNOLOGY (BioCot)

RAPID CUTTING (RCUT)

ELECTRONIC EMBEDDED FINGERPRINT (EEF)

  • product identification
  • data integrity increase
  • imitation elimination
  • selling security increase
  • inventory facility
  • recycle promotion thanks to item withdrawal

SENSOR FOR AGILE MANUFACTURING (Sensors)

The future of USA textile seen through some expectations:

% OF ITC FIRMS THAT USE E-MARKETPLACE
turnover
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
<50 M$
0
10
30
50
60
80
>50 M$
0
20
40
60
80
100

ITC= INTEGRATED TEXTILE COMPLEX

M$= millions of dollars

INDICATORS as far as the future of USA textile is concerned:

PROCESS INNOVATIONS
TEXTILE FIBERS
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
Raw material yield(%)
95
96
97
98
99
99+
First quality (%)
90
92
94
96
98
99+
Productivity
(kkg/M-h)
0,9
1
1,1
1,2
1,3
1,4
Energy (kWh/kg)
18,1
16,8
15,5
14,2
12,9
11,6
Waste (%)
3
2,8
2,6
2,4
2,2
2
Minimum lot
(kkg)
45
36
27
18
9
4,5
Answer time
(gg)
30
25
20
15
10
5
Convers. time
(min)
60
50
40
30
20
10
Off-line test costs %
4,5
3,6
2,7
1,8
0,9
0

%OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED PLANTS EVOLUTION IN ORDER TO REACH THE FOLLOWING RESULTS:
   
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
Plants Dry resistant
0
0
5
10
30
60
  Cold resistant
0
0
5
10
20
40
  Insect resistant
0
0
0
2
5
20
  Deciduous
0
0
5
10
20
80
Seed more harvests
0
5
80
85
85
85
Fibers Length
0
0
20
50
75
80
  Uniformity
0
0
10
30
60
90
  Thinness
0
0
0
10
20
40
  Toughness
0
0
10
30
60
90
  Maturity
0
5
10
40
50
55

EVOLUTION OF THE PERCENTAGE OF MATERIALS THAT ARE REALLY USED IN PROCESSES
Material conversion (%) 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009
From fiber to yarn
94
94
95
96
97
98
From yarn to fabric            
Without considering water
97
98
98
98,5
99
99
Considering water
47
50
55
60
80
95
From raw fabric to finished fabric            
Without considering water
70
71
72
75
90
95
Considering water
1,5
5
15
20
50
90

PRODUCTIVITY FORESEEN EVOLUTION
 
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
Productivity (kg/m-h)            
From fiber to yarn
20
21
23
25
27
30
From yarn to fabric
28
29
30
31
33
35
From raw fabric to finished fabric
15
54
90
136
400
600
Energy (kW-h/kg)
            
From fiber to yarn
3,1
3
2,8
2,6
2,4
2,2
From yarn to fabric
3,9
3,7
3,5
3,2
2,8
2,6
From raw fabric to finished fabric
10,7
8,4
7,6
6,7
5,4
1,3

QUALITY OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS FORESEEN EVOLUTION
 
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
First quality (%)            
From fiber to yarn
99,5
99,6
99,7
99,8
99,9
99,9
From yarn to fabric
98
98,5
99
99,5
99,9
99,9
From raw fabric to finished fabric
85
87
90
92
95
99
Flexibility (minimum lot)
            
Raw fabric>finished fabric
5
3,3
2,5
1,6
0,3
0,04
Time for article changing (min)
            
From fiber to yarn
180
180
170
120
50
30
From yarn to fabric
240
220
200
150
75
30
From raw fabric to finished fabric
120
100
70
40
10
1

PERFORMANCES EVOLUTION IN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
 
1994
1997
2000
2003
2006
2009
Cutting machine (single layer)            
Speed (cm/sec)
400
450
500
600
700
800
Exactness (cm)
0,4
0,2
0,2
0,1
0,1
0,1
Price/item (k$)
800
500
300
250
150
75
Multi stitches sewing machines            
Stitch kinds
0
2
3
4
4
4
Change time (min)
-
30
20
15
10
5
Price/item (k$)
-
5
4,5
4
3,5
3
Colour application to fabrics (%)            
Cylinder/decks
3
4
2
1
0
0
Fabric digital printing
0
2
4
10
12
15
Item digital printing
3
6
6
11
12
15


This article is published on NT New Textiles, see the contents.