‘Industry 4.0’, is a name that I first heard at TEXPROCESS Germany in 2015, to lure the fourth
generation back into apparel manufacturing. And I am now at TEXPROCESS Americas to witness
some of the disruptive technologies that the concept is indicative of. It is said that 70-80 per cent
of jobs in the present format will disappear in the next 20 years and there will be a lot of new jobs,
but it is not clear if there will be enough jobs left in the apparel manufacturing. It may seem that
the time is too far away, but the impact of it will be felt much sooner...
Look at what happened to Kodak’s 170,000 employees which used to sell 85 per cent of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they got bankrupt due to digital camera. Welcome to the 4th ‘Industrial Revolution’…
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years. Uber is just a software tool, they don’t own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don’t own any properties. How much time would you give the software solution and the hardware (robot in this case) to understand the suppleness of the fabric and also to pick and align and sew all parts together?
Already the computer arm has been built which is doing few of the operations and also the computer designing. Virtual sampling of the garments is taking away months of labour time...; now the process can be achieved in real time. I have access to many articles in which it is claimed that the jobs in law (lawyer), medicine (general medics and surgeons), nursing, drivers, insurance agents, etc. will be lost to computers.
The 3D printing technology deserves special mention since the price of the 3D printer is coming down and also it will become 100 times faster, and the first casualty would be the spare parts industry... It is claimed that by 2027, 10 per cent of everything that’s being produced will be 3D printed. Imagine all major shoe companies will start 3D printing of shoes... The traditional concept of fibre to fashion might just change; synthetic wearables will be produced directly from 3D printers without going through fibre to fabric process, which will turn out to be a ‘wasteful’ activity! The possibility of dyeing a fabric without water is already happening in some parts... Self-cleaning garments are already here; just few shakes will do the same job of litres of water! Waterless (or water mist-based) dyeing and processing of fabrics and garments will be common in coming years... There are many other areas that are undergoing transformation and ‘Industry 4.0’ may actually be on the way!
In the meantime, Asian countries are still struggling with challenges that are basic. In India where apparel manufacturing has always been a male-dominated domain, though ironically women operators are a preferred lot, few women have broken free of the gender stereotype and are successfully manning the production floor. StitchWorld talked to three such women who believe that they are equal if not better than men on the shop floor... Enjoy the article ‘Women who broke gender stereotypes in apparel manufacturing industry’ and let us know a few more who deserve to be applauded for the work they are doing.
After the series on whether HR is becoming more important than Technology, which received tremendous response from our readers, we are initiating a new debate – Are we overdoing welfare at the cost of human development? Also a must-read, our industry expert Anand Deshpande, Founder & CEO – Admaa Consulting, talks about shop floor control in apparel production in this issue.
Look at what happened to Kodak’s 170,000 employees which used to sell 85 per cent of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they got bankrupt due to digital camera. Welcome to the 4th ‘Industrial Revolution’…
Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years. Uber is just a software tool, they don’t own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don’t own any properties. How much time would you give the software solution and the hardware (robot in this case) to understand the suppleness of the fabric and also to pick and align and sew all parts together?
Already the computer arm has been built which is doing few of the operations and also the computer designing. Virtual sampling of the garments is taking away months of labour time...; now the process can be achieved in real time. I have access to many articles in which it is claimed that the jobs in law (lawyer), medicine (general medics and surgeons), nursing, drivers, insurance agents, etc. will be lost to computers.
The 3D printing technology deserves special mention since the price of the 3D printer is coming down and also it will become 100 times faster, and the first casualty would be the spare parts industry... It is claimed that by 2027, 10 per cent of everything that’s being produced will be 3D printed. Imagine all major shoe companies will start 3D printing of shoes... The traditional concept of fibre to fashion might just change; synthetic wearables will be produced directly from 3D printers without going through fibre to fabric process, which will turn out to be a ‘wasteful’ activity! The possibility of dyeing a fabric without water is already happening in some parts... Self-cleaning garments are already here; just few shakes will do the same job of litres of water! Waterless (or water mist-based) dyeing and processing of fabrics and garments will be common in coming years... There are many other areas that are undergoing transformation and ‘Industry 4.0’ may actually be on the way!
In the meantime, Asian countries are still struggling with challenges that are basic. In India where apparel manufacturing has always been a male-dominated domain, though ironically women operators are a preferred lot, few women have broken free of the gender stereotype and are successfully manning the production floor. StitchWorld talked to three such women who believe that they are equal if not better than men on the shop floor... Enjoy the article ‘Women who broke gender stereotypes in apparel manufacturing industry’ and let us know a few more who deserve to be applauded for the work they are doing.
After the series on whether HR is becoming more important than Technology, which received tremendous response from our readers, we are initiating a new debate – Are we overdoing welfare at the cost of human development? Also a must-read, our industry expert Anand Deshpande, Founder & CEO – Admaa Consulting, talks about shop floor control in apparel production in this issue.
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