Industry Technologies
The foundation of any digitized processes, production-related and from cradle-to-grave for finished goods, lies in the collection and targeted processing of valuable data. In that regard, the Textile and Apparel faculty of the University of Applied Science with the International Textile Supply Chain Digitalization Conference (ITSCDC), the very first of its kind, arranged a unique setting at their Mönchengladbach, Germany campus - back in September.
Over three enlightening “Summer School” days, academic and industrial experts offered high-level research and industry presentation sessions – along with workshops to discuss the academic, educational, and industrial challenges, needs, and major achievements focusing on textile scenarios.
Transformation toward a fully integrated digital way of working is possible
Taking advantage of this fact is simply without an alternative for any format of future-oriented business models. Because of the almost limitless possibilities of design and product development, engineering as a whole, manufacturing, merchandising, and marketing, it is not so much the feasibility down to the last detail that causes concern. It is more of a knowledge transfer of what technology has to offer now, the results of dedicated R&D at the fingertips of the “makers”, and those of ready goods as well as tech suppliers.
Some exemplary insights – of plenty At the end of the day, it's all about the readiness and the opportunities for timely adoption. The University’s new event format comes into play as well to overcome that transfer gap. Here are a few at-a-glance takeaways. Unlocking the success of 3D fashion design appears to be a key driver toward readiness for digital to be a prerequisite for fully digital ecosystems in textile and apparel education. Indeed along with an all-collaborative approach, this is precisely where the Digital Fashion Project, under the coordination of the Belgian Hogeschool Gent, comes in with its project to develop a Knowledge Library and Training Platform. Transferring physically known fabrics in the virtual worldThe EU-funded project with its partners from key European educational institutes focuses on the development of a training method for fashion design that is based on a 3D garment visualization platform. Addressing pre-dominantly higher education students and young professionals in the area of virtual prototyping and virtual garment development, this platform doubtlessly represents the perfect tool for empowering broad market demands. The Library of Knowledge research results will offer practice-oriented benefits at an industrial level with: • a fabric database (physical + digital) • a styles/patterns database (by now for 4 garments) • a 3D garment database • a 3D human database (sizes and their variations) • a fabric digitization process Coping with the challenge of implementing AIRicardo Vega Ayora, Project Engineer at ITA (Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen) introduced the Innovation and Learning Center at the ITSCDC Conference and The Model Factory of the Future. Accomplished along with key tech partners such as Brother, Ekko; PTC, Optimitive, Oniq, and Syntactix along with consultancy firm McKinsey, the factory is situated in the city right in the border triangle of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. That represents a central location to display real-life demonstrations, a learning environment, and a test base for piloting and scaling up new digital solutions. As proof of the pudding for feasibility, Avora presented the exemplary case study of a smart woven elastic wristband for personalized login, carrying a customized print – produced in batch-size one over the complete chain from warping, weaving, coating, heat setting, printing, cutting, assembly – up to final quality control for full functionality. Survey activities accompanying the initiative also help to identify and verify the obstacles to AI implementation: • Lack of internal knowledge: Companies report that they have limited knowledge of the topic, AI skills, expertise, or programming capabilities in their staff. • Another barrier to the adoption of AI in the industry is the high costs of the development platforms and the development itself. • High project complexity: The tasks that companies seek to automate through AI such as augmentation of the workforce are often too complicated for existing off-the-shelf solutions. “We offer management workshops for managers and technicians across all industries who are responsible for operations”, stressed Avora. “Our aim is to support companies during their digital transformation to increase productivity and efficiency.” Laying the foundation for Industry 4.0……via a continuous forward-looking planning of opportunities through innovation. Right away into the industrial implementation of digital technologies for a whole range of in-house-developed and third-party innovation Dr. Thomas Schmidt led the delegates of the ITSCDC. The Director of Innovation & Creation at Huafeng, granted insights on the Chinese Textile Group’s strategy to move towards actual Industry 4.0, based on their non-linear business model in place - comparing it with the current linear business model of the sports footwear industry. Along with his exemplary use case for product development and production of sports shoes, Dr. Schmidt provided a glimpse into 3D product development for sneakers and the execution of the company’s additive application process for the highest material efficiency. “Haptic 3-D additive coating technology is laying the foundation for our further development into Industry 4.0 business environments,” explained Schmidt. Along with Huafeng’s vision “of serving the globe with sustainable, innovative, top quality textile solutions,” the high-tech textile enterprise with its independent R&D activities utilizes alternative raw materials. Biomass and waste stream as it becomes more available enables the lowering of the ecologic footprint - for themselves and thus their international brand customers in the sports goods segment. Hohenstein: Hands-on support for successful 3D simulation“To reduce the number of prototypes with the implementation of 3D technology, it is crucial to create reliable virtual prototypes, that are as close as possible to the final product,” emphasized Flora Zangue in her presentation on the development of production guidelines for 3D garment simulation by Hohenstein’s Digital Fitting Lab. Elaborated step-by-step descriptions for the processing of virtual garments aim to enable any 3D user to achieve consistent simulation results using the guideline – “independently from individual skill levels”. The premiere paper introduced at Mönchengladbach had been developed based on the application of Clo 3D software. Next steps for that latest service concept by Hohenstein Laboratories, globally established for the Oekotex® certifications: • Validation of application through more users • Development of further production guidelines for various 3D software systems • Constant updates for all guidelines along with 3D simulation system updates, and new functions to simplify workflows. The Hohenstein Academy offers a variety of webinars and live demonstrations on the application of 3D software.
Some exemplary insights – of plenty At the end of the day, it's all about the readiness and the opportunities for timely adoption. The University’s new event format comes into play as well to overcome that transfer gap. Here are a few at-a-glance takeaways. Unlocking the success of 3D fashion design appears to be a key driver toward readiness for digital to be a prerequisite for fully digital ecosystems in textile and apparel education. Indeed along with an all-collaborative approach, this is precisely where the Digital Fashion Project, under the coordination of the Belgian Hogeschool Gent, comes in with its project to develop a Knowledge Library and Training Platform. Transferring physically known fabrics in the virtual worldThe EU-funded project with its partners from key European educational institutes focuses on the development of a training method for fashion design that is based on a 3D garment visualization platform. Addressing pre-dominantly higher education students and young professionals in the area of virtual prototyping and virtual garment development, this platform doubtlessly represents the perfect tool for empowering broad market demands. The Library of Knowledge research results will offer practice-oriented benefits at an industrial level with: • a fabric database (physical + digital) • a styles/patterns database (by now for 4 garments) • a 3D garment database • a 3D human database (sizes and their variations) • a fabric digitization process Coping with the challenge of implementing AIRicardo Vega Ayora, Project Engineer at ITA (Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen) introduced the Innovation and Learning Center at the ITSCDC Conference and The Model Factory of the Future. Accomplished along with key tech partners such as Brother, Ekko; PTC, Optimitive, Oniq, and Syntactix along with consultancy firm McKinsey, the factory is situated in the city right in the border triangle of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. That represents a central location to display real-life demonstrations, a learning environment, and a test base for piloting and scaling up new digital solutions. As proof of the pudding for feasibility, Avora presented the exemplary case study of a smart woven elastic wristband for personalized login, carrying a customized print – produced in batch-size one over the complete chain from warping, weaving, coating, heat setting, printing, cutting, assembly – up to final quality control for full functionality. Survey activities accompanying the initiative also help to identify and verify the obstacles to AI implementation: • Lack of internal knowledge: Companies report that they have limited knowledge of the topic, AI skills, expertise, or programming capabilities in their staff. • Another barrier to the adoption of AI in the industry is the high costs of the development platforms and the development itself. • High project complexity: The tasks that companies seek to automate through AI such as augmentation of the workforce are often too complicated for existing off-the-shelf solutions. “We offer management workshops for managers and technicians across all industries who are responsible for operations”, stressed Avora. “Our aim is to support companies during their digital transformation to increase productivity and efficiency.” Laying the foundation for Industry 4.0……via a continuous forward-looking planning of opportunities through innovation. Right away into the industrial implementation of digital technologies for a whole range of in-house-developed and third-party innovation Dr. Thomas Schmidt led the delegates of the ITSCDC. The Director of Innovation & Creation at Huafeng, granted insights on the Chinese Textile Group’s strategy to move towards actual Industry 4.0, based on their non-linear business model in place - comparing it with the current linear business model of the sports footwear industry. Along with his exemplary use case for product development and production of sports shoes, Dr. Schmidt provided a glimpse into 3D product development for sneakers and the execution of the company’s additive application process for the highest material efficiency. “Haptic 3-D additive coating technology is laying the foundation for our further development into Industry 4.0 business environments,” explained Schmidt. Along with Huafeng’s vision “of serving the globe with sustainable, innovative, top quality textile solutions,” the high-tech textile enterprise with its independent R&D activities utilizes alternative raw materials. Biomass and waste stream as it becomes more available enables the lowering of the ecologic footprint - for themselves and thus their international brand customers in the sports goods segment. Hohenstein: Hands-on support for successful 3D simulation“To reduce the number of prototypes with the implementation of 3D technology, it is crucial to create reliable virtual prototypes, that are as close as possible to the final product,” emphasized Flora Zangue in her presentation on the development of production guidelines for 3D garment simulation by Hohenstein’s Digital Fitting Lab. Elaborated step-by-step descriptions for the processing of virtual garments aim to enable any 3D user to achieve consistent simulation results using the guideline – “independently from individual skill levels”. The premiere paper introduced at Mönchengladbach had been developed based on the application of Clo 3D software. Next steps for that latest service concept by Hohenstein Laboratories, globally established for the Oekotex® certifications: • Validation of application through more users • Development of further production guidelines for various 3D software systems • Constant updates for all guidelines along with 3D simulation system updates, and new functions to simplify workflows. The Hohenstein Academy offers a variety of webinars and live demonstrations on the application of 3D software.
Comparison of five A-line skirts, size 38 in different fabric types from the library - physical vs. virtual. Digital fabrics are identified in the Lectra (Swatchbook) database.
Source: Hogeschool Gent
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“With digital fashion design rapidly evolving, the demand for highly-skilled labor force will decrease”, forecasts Dr. Sheilla Odhiambo, Researcher at Hogeschool Gent over her introduction of the Digital Fashion Project.
ITA-Academy project engineer Ricardo Vega Avora presented the exemplary case study of a smart woven elastic wristband for personalized login, carrying a customized print – produced in batch-size one over the complete chain from a basis material up to quality control leveraging AI tools.
Use case smart wristband customized creation and manufacturing at ITA Model Factory: Three phases for identification had been defined and two operational phases – assuming company internal expertise.
Dr. Thomas Schmidt brings his cumulative scientific knowledge in chemistry and material science plus his expertise in applied nanotechnology with Fraunhofer Institute, Siemens AG and Adidas into his role as Huafeng’s Director of Innovation & Creation since 2014.
Digital sample design applying functional trademarked 3D HAPTIC coatings with athletic footwear ©: Dr.Thomas Schmidt, Huafeng
Digital robot dispensing process for the haptic coating. ©: Huafeng
“Well-grounded patterns, fabrics, and avatars are key pre-requisites for efficient 3D design and simulation processes” - Flora Zangue. Photos: YH-F
Hohenstein’s new guidelines include a systematic introduction of all modules for three-dimensional product development.
Networking among stakeholders is trump: (f.l.t.r.) Lydia Schmeink, Hugo Boss; Anke Klesper and Flora Zangue, both Hohenstein Lab.; Ellen Müller, Stoll and University of Applied Sciences host, Prof. Dr. Bastian Quattelbaum.