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Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has developed a system that can translate a wide variety of 3D shapes into stitch-by-stitch instructions that enable a computerised knitting machine to automatically produce those shapes.
This ability to generate knitting instructions without the need for human expertise could make on-demand machine knitting more available. It may be possible to use the industrial knitting machines to produce customised pieces one at a time or in small quantities, allowing to choose the desired color, pattern and fit.
Knitting machines could become as easy to use as 3D printers.
As of now a floor of knitting machines also needs a department of engineers. Garment designers rarely have the specialised expertise necessary to program the machines. This makes doing one-off customised pieces very difficult.
V-bed flat knitting machines are highly capable but have certain limitations in terms of flexibility. The CMU algorithm takes these constraints into account, producing instructions for patterns that work within the limits of the machine and reduce the risk of yarn breaks or jams.
A number of brands have experimented with the on-demand production concept. In 2017, Intel teamed up with women’s brand Eileen Fisher to experiment with 3D sweater knitting. Last year, Adidas carried out a project, where shoppers could design a sweater, have a body scan to determine fit and get it knitted by a state-of-the-art Stoll flat knitting machine within a couple of hours.
Fashion label Zambesi used to claim all its clothing was made at home in New Zealand.
Now it specifies some of its garments, especially hand-crafted artisanal beaded and sequin items, are made in India. The label says because the fabric is beaded fully, to make it in New Zealand would require hand cutting, removing the beading at the seams and re-beading after construction which would have been labor intensive for its small workroom.
The brand says it orders the fabric from India and designs the garment in New Zealand. Two per cent of its clothing collection last summer was manufactured in India and China last season. This included beaded garments, embroidered caps and canvas bags.
The company says its manufacturer in India is child labor-free and meets ethical industry standards.
Zambesi, founded in 1979, possesses a consistent and unique signature. The clothes reflect both realism and imagination. The well cut, wearable garments capture attention with their clever detailing. Those unique details sit alongside precisely tailored nods to traditional and utilitarian menswear, resulting in a refined masculine style.
Similarly World, another New Zealand-based fashion brand, has been accused of selling garments that are actually made in Bangladesh. World does T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants.
Karl Mayer has developed a collection of lightweight, transparent net fabrics on its HKS 3-M machine in a gauge of E 28.
The RJPC 4 F-NN jacquard raschel machine with fall plate, the RSE 4-1 raschel machine and various types of high-speed tricot machines can also be used to produce warp-knitted fabrics for the net curtain sector.
The HKS 3-M is another successful machine for producing embroidery grounds. This high-speed tricot machine produces open embroidery fabrics with a wide variety of ground constructions. These are in high demand, since the volume and range of designs for embroidery grounds are increasing all the time. The HKS 3-M is also being used successfully to produce upholstery fabrics.
The RJPC 4 F-NN is a jacquard raschel machine with fall plate. It is ideal for producing chunky fabrics with a hand-made look, as well as delicate, filigree, lightweight curtains. These fabrics, with their intricate, 3D jacquard patterns, are exported mainly to eastern Europe and Iran, as well as to western Europe, the USA, and recently to the first customers in India.
Karl Mayer is a warp knitting machinery manufacturer. India’s conventional textile producers represent an important target group for Karl Mayer’s versatile technical solutions.
International Apparel and Textile Fair (IATF) was held in Dubai, April 24 to 26, 2018. There were more than 125 exhibitors from various countries around the world. This is the UAE’s exclusive sourcing fair for apparels and textiles.
IATF attracted some of the world’s largest manufacturers of textiles, fabrics and leading print design studios. Exhibitors were mainly from China, Japan, Turkey, India, United Kingdom, France and more.
The fair provided manufacturers and their agents the opportunity to showcase their products to the most influential buyers and designers in the UAE fashion sphere. The event further offered buyers, distributors, and designers the opportunity to view a wide range of textiles from the most prestigious global mills.
IATF attracted 3,575 buyers mainly from the UAE and GCC region. A number of visitors came all the way from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, and Qatar. Other buyers came from all across Asia, African countries, Europe and Australia.
The apparel industry in the region provides an opportunity for international retailers to expand in the UAE. The UAE is the fifth largest country in terms of textile and clothing exports.
IATF will get bigger and more diversified by attracting more exhibitors with different product lines every edition.
Hennes & Mauritz (H&M ) retail chain is using artificial intelligence to customise its products in individual stores instead of stocking stores around the globe with similar merchandise.
The 71-year-old fast-fashion chain aims to arrest the slump in same-store sales that has lasted 10 quarters due to a spike in online shopping. H&M has repeatedly slashed its prices to clear out $4 billion of unsold goods, and its shares have declined by 56 per cent in the past three years.
H&M, like most retailers, has a team of designers to decipher the need of the shoppers. It uses algorithms to analyze store receipts, returns and loyalty-card data to better align supply and demand, with the goal of reducing markdowns. As a result, some stores have started carrying more fashion and fewer basics such as T-shirts and leggings.
After attending the Shima Seiki MFG student competition on 18 April George Turner and Humphrey Barrett, from The Worshipful Company took the opportunity to present James Whitehouse, Shima Seiki Trainee Technician, with a bursary to help with the purchase of tools and equipment.
George Turner stated that the Framework Knitters will continue to look to support up and coming talent in the UK to help improve the skills base in the knitwear trade.
Shima Seiki’s Apex Competition for students based at UK Universities awards two winners with a two-week paid visit to the company’s head office in Wakayama, Japan, where they will receive training on the latest Shima Seiki Apex Programming Systems and knitting technology.
Since 1985,Shima Seiki Europe has been serving the European knitting industry, especially the UK and surrounding countries. Shima Seiki develops top quality functional products and employs dedicated staff, who have provided customer-oriented sales and service for almost three decades.
In 2014, the company renovated its office and expanded its Training Suite, which has a showroom with the latest knit samples and garments.
The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters is one of the City of London's Livery Companies, collectively known as the Livery. It traces its origins to 1589 when William Lee of Calverton in Nottinghamshire invented a method of knitting mechanically. Many of the company’s members have direct connections with the knitting and hosiery industries and assist them with various charitable works.
Framework Knitters has been helping students of design, management, marketing, science and technology relevant to the knitting/knitwear industries with bursaries for many years.
The EU has consistently been a trusted partner of Bangladesh and has helped the country attain the status of middle-income country.
EU’s imports from Bangladesh account for around 55.84 per cent of Bangladesh’s total trade.
Bangladesh’s exports to the EU have grown 156.27 per cent in the last ten years. The EU grants Bangladesh duty-free, quota-free access for all exports, except arms and ammunition. EU’s imports from Bangladesh have almost trebled in the period between 2008-2007 and 2016-2017.
Apart from economic and trade development, the EU provides support to Bangladesh for human and social development, good governance, and human rights. The EU’s support to Bangladesh also covers environment and disaster management, as well as food security and nutrition.
The backward and forward linkage industries to the garment sector, manmade fiber based high-end textiles, pharmaceuticals, and footwear and leather products, frozen foods, ship-building have become promising industries in Bangladesh where foreign investment can be highly feasible.
The EU has established itself as the largest trade bloc in the world — average GDP per capita in the EU has almost doubled over the past 20 years.
For Bangladesh, the EU continues to be a strong trading partner and a source of investment for more than four decades.
Power generation from renewable energy sources is a good option for Bangladesh.This will ensure sustainable economic growth.
The country plans to produce 25,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020, of which 2,500 megawatts will come from renewable energy sources.
There are 14 lakh diesel-based irrigation pumps in the country. The plan is to set up four lakh solar-based irrigation pumps to reduce the burden on the national power grid.
Bangladesh faces several challenges such as air and water pollution, the loss of forest land, the unsustainable use of fishery resources, and the damage of ecosystems.
As per the Environmental Performance Index 2018, Bangladesh is ranked 179 out of 180 countries. So the country has no option but to reinforce its commitment in the areas of cleaning up the air quality, protecting biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The groundwater level dips between one meter and two meters every year because of the use of a huge amount of it to keep up industrial production. Water-efficiency programs will prevent the depletion of the underground water.
Bangladesh stands to lose 1.4 per cent of the gross domestic product growth every year between 2021 and 2041 if climate change mitigation measures are not implemented properly.
Amazon will use 3D printing scan technology to customize clothing outfits. The e-commerce giant has proactively chosen to use physical scanning of bodies to achieve this customization.
This effort will go a long way in helping online customers achieve a perfect fit whenever they order clothing.
Amazon is inviting volunteers to its New York office. This will serve the purpose of keeping a tab on their body shape and size. The exercise will be done over a 20-week period by using 3D scanning. The volunteers will visit the office twice a month in order to allow Amazon a better understanding of the changing human body.
Online e-commerce giants collect a lot of data to ascertain customer preferences. This is one way to beat the competition. A project like this will give a new impetus for the e-commerce industry to provide their customers with the best fit of clothing. Consequently, the number of returns the company deals with on a daily basis will be drastically reduced.
The three product categories where customers make the most personalised purchases are holidays, clothing and furniture. Those businesses who do not offer an element of personalisation risk losing revenue and customer loyalty over the longer term as customers increasingly demand personalisation.
US President Donald Trump’s administration would not be granting an exemption from new, higher, import tariffs to this country’s steel and aluminium products.
According to the reports the American tariffs could lead to the loss of 7 500 jobs. Also in the early 1990s, South African government-subsidised exports to its neighbours where Zimbabwe saw thousands of jobs lost in the battery, tyre and textile industries in that country, which played a role in triggering that country’s economic decline.
At the same time, SA was sending artificially cheap goods north of the Limpopo and imposing harsh tariffs on Zimbabwean imports like clothing in order to protect its own garment industry which has, ironically, since been swamped by Chinese imports.
SA needs to learn to develop alternative markets if it is to survive as an industrial nation.
In spite of the moves towards combined global markets, many countries still have protective systems in place and they will offer preferential deals to those nations they observe as their friends.
Over the years, SA has taken stand as a government against different aspects of US foreign policy and so the Trump White House does not regard South Africa in an especially friendly way because. Also, South Africa is almost unrelated to Washington.
