Textile Tech
“Apparel is an old industry that is not doomed to being low profit and low technology. It’s in the midst of a reinvention, and that can be very exciting.”
So says John Thorbeck of Chainge Capital, a company name that is a play on words meant to communicate change in the supply chain. He points out that brands that have plans to restructure their supply chains three to four years out can’t wait that long and must begin making changes now.
Why? Well, obviously, the pandemic caused major disruption. It also raised awareness about how contracts tend to favor brands more than suppliers in an unequal relationship, and suppliers are not likely to be as compliant as they have been in the past.
The second, and perhaps less obvious, was the week-long blockage of the Suez Canal when a ship became lodged in its banks, causing a huge backlog of ships trying to navigate the canal and long delays in delivery of materials and finished goods. And weeks later, there are still logjams in key ports as delayed ships compete for dock space with those previously scheduled.
Growing Interest in On-Demand Manufacturing of Apparel
Prior to the pandemic, some brands had begun to dip their toes into the on-demand manufacturing world to experiment with new technologies, do market tests of new products with smaller lot sizes, accelerate sample production, and in some cases, be able to deliver made-to-order products. But it was just that for many – dipping their toes and not with a real sense of urgency. The upheavals in the supply chain, together with rapidly changing consumer demands, is starting to increase the sense of urgency, and more brands are looking seriously at how to effectively work on-demand or made-to-order manufacturing into their go-to-market processes.
Now that appears to be changing somewhat, and both existing and new manufacturing operations are stepping up to the challenge of delivering apparel on demand, reporting growing interest on the part of brands in taking advantage of these services. Although labor rates in Asia have continued to climb, they are still lower than those in the West. That means that manufacturers in the West must leverage technology to compete, and that’s what many of these relatively new businesses – often called microfactories because they are vertically integrated under one roof – are doing.
While digital textile printing is an important element for many on-demand implementations, it is also important to move upstream a bit and look at the overall infrastructure. That’s the goal of Ziel, founded in 2015 by entrepreneur and industrial engineer Marleen Vogelaar.
Providing a Consistent Software Infrastructure
Vogelaar is not new to the idea of introducing groundbreaking technologies into the market as the founder of 3D printing marketplace Shapeways in 2008. Ziel has a goal of delivering a transformative and innovative platform that rethinks the traditional apparel and retail model altogether. While Ziel does have a test bed manufacturing operation in Newburgh, NY, and produces apparel and PPE for its customers, Vogelaar’s ultimate goal is to be an infrastructure provider.
“As we develop the software infrastructure that makes on-demand manufacturing of apparel more efficient,” she said, “we will deploy it to our vendors so they can work faster and be more efficient. And then eventually, we will roll it out to the larger market.”
On-demand manufacturing doesn’t have geographic restrictions.
While producing at or near the point of need is often desirable, it is not necessarily the only answer. On-demand manufacturing does not necessarily have geographic restrictions. The key differentiator is the deployment of the appropriate technologies that enable more efficient – and ultimately, more profitable – manufacturing of apparel – whether it is near-shore, re-shored or off-shored.
One example of this in action is Sri Lanka-based Runway Kit, helping smaller and emerging brands to easily enter the market in a sustainable way with reasonable minimum order quantities (MOQs) that they might not be able to achieve with conventional manufacturers. While Runway Kit has an extensive on-demand manufacturing platform and would prefer to do the manufacturing itself, the tech pack that is created can be used by any apparel manufacturer. In addition to the tech pack, Runway Kit provides clients with a sample kit that includes a made-up sample, fabric swatches and more.
The Runway Kit factory. Image compliment of Runway Kit/MAS Holdings
In 2020, SAI-TEX, Vietnam-based apparel manufacturing, constructed a brand-new highly automated factory in Los Angeles.
“Our goal was to bring apparel manufacturing back to Los Angeles, where we still have a good skill base but few jobs," said Kathy Kweon, president of SAI-TEX USA. "In order to do that, we needed to leverage technology and think outside the box.”
The factory, which opened in 2021, is currently focused on the manufacture of sustainable denim apparel. Dyed fabric is sourced from mills that are using relatively sustainable processes, and in the not-too-distant future, will be also sourced from the company’s new dyeing facility in Vietnam that industrially recycles all of its wastewater. The company uses unique automation solutions, including a laser cutting system that cuts a single ply and simultaneously distresses the fabric for desired effects.
“This is usually an entirely separate process that is done after the garment is sewn,” Kweon said, “and that takes extra time. Also, if the garment is damaged at that time, it is more costly than if the damage occurs prior to sewing. There are only two of these systems installed in the world, and we have both of them. Our headquarters in Vietnam doesn’t even have these. I’m sure there will be more installed over time, but right now we have the only ones.”
Because laser cutting is being done with a single ply, SAI-TEX is also able to accommodate demand for lower MOQs that can be acquired from conventional factories.
SAI-TEX has hired unemployed skilled workers from Los Angeles to perform the final manual sewing tasks. There are about 85 people employed in the factory as of this writing, with a goal of ramping up to 300 employees.
SAI-TEX USA employs skilled textile workers (image compliments of SAI-TEX)
A drone video tour of the new SAI-TEX USA factory can be found here: https://vimeo.com/522505357
Knitting can be on-demand, too!
On the knitting side, 3D knitting is playing a big role. Companies like Tailored Industry in New York and Evolution in St. Louis have made huge strides in leveraging this technology to more efficiently create even complex knitted garments that require little to no hand work to complete. Evolution St. Louis, as an example, operates 30 Stoll flatbed knitting machines with just 14 employees. How exactly does it work?
“The best analogy I can equate to is a 3D printer," Founder John Lewis said. "You program something into the printer, and you print out a piece of jewelry or a car part or whatever. It’s the same thing with knitting. We receive designs and concepts from our customers and put that into digital form, algorithms that feed our knitting machines. When the data goes out to the knitting machines, the yarn goes into the top, and a full sweater comes out of the bottom. It’s like Willy Wonka; it just sort of happens.”
It should also be noted, as Lewis points out, history would show that in any analog-to-digital transformation, in just about any industry, it is not the established players that drive change. It’s the non-traditional competitors that transform the industry. That’s a cautionary tale for existing brands as they think about their future and how they can develop a more efficient supply chain. Experts estimate that some 20% of current apparel manufacturing could be produced on demand – a significant accessible market opportunity that innovative players are surely not going to ignore. And if history repeats itself, their gain will be at the expense of traditional players.
The future is now.
Thorbeck is right in insisting that now is the time for serious consideration of how textile and apparel supply chains can be updated to better meet the needs of today and tomorrow, rather than relying on the way things have been done in the past. While not all apparel can be manufactured on demand, at least not yet, there is a significant existing volume that can be migrated to that model. And there is new volume that could not effectively be produced using conventional technologies, especially for smaller, emerging brands. Digital printing is a key element of making the move to on-demand, but it’s not the only requirement. There is significant infrastructure work that needs to be done as well, along the lines of Ziel and others who are looking to develop a common workflow language.
A huge industry like textiles is never going to make substantial changes quickly. But there is hope on the horizon that we are on a path toward a more sustainable industry.
