Discover how automation and robotics are revolutionizing garment manufacturing, improving efficiency, quality, and sustainability. Explore the latest innovations and their impact on the industry.

Imagine a scenario where robotic arms are handling warehouse operations & cutting fabric parts in a garment factory, vision-guided robots are detecting fabric defects and automated machines are performing the pressing and folding, and packing operations. It is not an exaggeration to say that robots are reinvigorating garment manufacturing and will continue to do so in the coming years.

Looking into the Asia Pacific region, China increased its adoption of robots by 21% in the manufacturing industry, accounting for 783,000 units installed followed by Japan with around 355,000 units, making an increase of 12% in the year 2019. Surprisingly, India doubled the number of robots used in the factories, totaling 26,300 units within a span of five years (from 2014 - 2019). Asia accounted for almost two-thirds of the global supply share, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

Also, as per another study by IFR, as many as 517,385 new industrial robots were installed in 2021 in factories across the globe, representing a growth rate of 31% year-on-year. These statistics paint the picture of how manufacturers are increasingly prioritizing automation to increase productivity, boost efficiency, and stay agile.

In the fast-paced business environment we are in, the companies that want to outrank their competition must adapt to new technological advancements. And robotics is one of the most adaptable types of automation that can enable you to transform your production line in days or weeks in contrast to other forms that may take months. Let’s take a look at some amazing applications of automation and robots in the manufacturing of apparel to streamline and speed up production.



Applications of Automation & Robotics in Manufacturing of Garments


According to MarketsandMarkets, the industrial robotics market is expected to reach 30.8 billion USD by 2027 at a CAGR of 14.3%.

Robots have been transforming the manufacturing industry since the debut of the first industrial robot, Unimate, in 1954. Industrial robots are capable of performing a myriad of apparel manufacturing tasks with much more efficiency than humans. They can work in unpredictable environments and undertake tasks that require repetitive motions, heavy lifting, etc.

The industry 5.0 revolution has given rise to the use of robots in assisting the human workforce with various tasks incorporated into different manufacturing processes. Industry 5.0 is driving the transformation of the manufacturing industry, modernizing it to a level where machines and humans work in collaboration, encouraging the use of collaborative robots or cobots. They can work on the factory floor alongside humans to improve production efficiency. Robots combined with AI capability can shorten the textile manufacturing process from months and weeks to days and hours.

While robots have not yet fully automated the entire apparel production industry, they have numerous applications that can help manufacturers to enhance their market competitiveness.

But exactly how are robots used in the garment manufacturing industry? Here are some of the top applications of automation and robots in the manufacturing of garments.



1. Fabric Cutting using Computerized Fabric Machines


With automatic machines, it is possible to perform fabric cutting more efficiently and accurately. There is no need for creating marker paper as these computerized cutting machines save the look and pattern of the apparel in their memories. Multiple layers of fabric can be automatically cut in much less time compared to manual cutting.

Computer-controlled cutting machines are suitable for both small and large production lines. These machines can cut fabrics in various widths and offer different cutting options, such as symmetry cutting, clockwise cutting, anticlockwise cutting, crosswise cutting, and more.

Today, computerized laser cutting machines are also used in the apparel industry to cut textiles and leather fabric with more precision through a collimated beam of light. This produces extremely fine cut pieces without touching the fabric so that ​​the fabric remains unstained.

Benefits of Computerized Cutting Machines in Apparel Production

• Automatic feeding of fabric
  
• Can handle bulk order volumes
  
• More cutting speed, efficiency, and accuracy compared to manual cutting
  
• Improved cutting precision and quality
  
• Reduced material cost because of more material utilization
  
• Applications in warehouse
  



2. Automated Picking and Placing

Robots are extremely useful in textile manufacturing for moving fabric pieces around. Pick-and-place robots are used in multiple ways, depending on the fabric being handled, the garment manufacturer’s need for automation, etc.

Depending on the needs, pick-and-place robots can be self-operating robotic arms that reduce the involvement of humans in different processes or they can be collaborative robots that work beside workers.

Pick and place robots highlight the application of RPA or Robotics Process Automation in manufacturing that guides them on how to work and what movements to take. These robots can perform repetitive and monotonous tasks such as lifting, placing, packaging, and releasing the fabric from one conveyor belt to another.

Pick and place robots function with greater speed, accuracy, safety, and precision, accomplishing a diverse range of tasks, while maximizing profitability and lowering costs. However, they require careful programming and sensors for performing handling tasks efficiently.

Some of the core applications of robots in manufacturing warehouses revolve around tasks like picking, sorting, packaging, material handling, palletizing or cartonizing, transportation, replenishment, machine tending, etc.

Benefits of Pick and Place Robots in Garment Manufacturing

• Suitable for assembling, bin picking, inspecting, placing, and palletizing
  
• Perform repeated tasks accurately at a high speed
  
• Improved productivity with precision
  
• Reduction in downtimes caused by errors
  
• Garment Sorting
  



3. Fabric Inspection

Fabric accounts for 60%-70% of the total cost of a garment. Therefore, fabric inspection is a crucial part of apparel production as it helps define the quality of the final product.
Fabric inspection is performed to produce and deliver quality garments and minimize the rejection of cut panels or rejected garments due to fabric defects. Thus, it must be done accurately.

In contrast to manual inspections, which may sometimes not identify defects, automated machines can boost the efficiency of the fabric inspection process. Robots use different techniques, such as spectral, structural, statistical, and model-based approaches for fabric inspection. To assess the severity of fabric errors, software or modeling tools manipulate the fabric image, using one of the methods. Whenever the number of defects in a fabric lot exceeds a certain limit, the fabric lot is rejected.

Benefits of Automated Fabric Inspection in the Apparel Industry

• Quick detection of defects
  
• Reduces the reoccurrence of defects
  
• Increased production accuracy
  
• More consistency
  
• Deskill
  



4. Sewing Robots

Sewing is an important department in garment production where the parts of a garment are joined by making stitches. Sewing tasks once thought to be difficult to automate due to the fabric’s flexibility and the amount of precision required to handle small and loose fabric threads, which are prone to stretching and misalignment, can be automated successfully today with sewbots.

Sewbots, also known as sewing robots, are automated machines designed to perform various sewing tasks. They combine robotics and advanced technology to automate the traditionally manual process of sewing. Sewbots can handle tasks such as stitching, cutting fabric, attaching buttons, and even complex embroidery.

During the initial development stages, sewbots were able to sew simple fabric products. However, today’s advanced sewbots depend on machine vision in order to spot and adjust to fabric distortions. This resulted in a great advantage for factories as they can now make apparel or fabric pieces with complex designs efficiently and faster. A sewbot can sew around ten to fifteen times more clothes than a trained sewing professional.

Today, some garment factories depend on humans to guide fabrics through automated machines while some temporarily stiffen the fabric, enabling robots to build perfectly finished apparel from solid pieces of cloth. Once the rigid cloth parts are sewn together, the stiffener is removed at the end of the production process. Sewing robots are also equipped with machine vision that enables them to see and make adjustments when fabric becomes misaligned or creased.

Another technology, called laser welding, is gaining popularity in the apparel industry. Fabric welding enables manufacturers to produce garments with high-quality seams and move away from traditional stitching that puts holes in the fabric. In this method, heat and pressure are applied to the seams of the fabric to join them together using heat-sealing machines.

Benefits of Sewing Robots in Garment Manufacturing

• Produce more garments in less time
  
• Reduced human errors
  
• Improved quality of garments
  
• Reduced labor cost and overall production cost
  




5. Garment Pressing using Automation and Robotics

Garment pressing is the process of removing undesirable creases from garments to enhance their aesthetics. Automating this process using machines, such as pressing robots and shirt finishers and steam tunnels enables manufacturers to get rid of unwanted wrinkles quickly. These machines use a combination of heat, pressure, and moisture to reshape the fabric as per the requirements.

Benefits of Automated Garment Pressing Machines

• Press and iron more garments in less time compared to manual pressing
  
• Get desired quality garments at a comparatively small expense
  
• Improved worker safety
  
  

The Way Ahead

The apparel manufacturing sector has been witnessing an upward growth trajectory. According to Statista, the revenue generated by the global apparel market is projected to increase from approximately 1.53 trillion USD to almost 2 trillion USD by 2027.

At this current pace of change, switching to automation is the need of the hour in the apparel industry. It can help your manufacturing operations to be more agile, enabling you to capture market opportunities and respond quickly to diverse customer requirements. However, introducing robotic automation in factories can be challenging without proper support.

One type of automation or robot may not be suitable for every apparel manufacturing unit. Manufacturers need to understand and define their problem before seeking a solution for it. They should work with technology integrators to set their company on the right path.



How Can Solvei8 Help?

New technology adoption requires time, cost, effort, expertise, and implementation strategy. That is where Solvei8 can help. Our expert knowledge in digitization and automation of manufacturing units enables us to assist our clients in discovering and achieving new possibilities with effective technology implementation and reskilling their operational teams. If you’re planning to begin your manufacturing factory’s automation journey, connect with us today to learn how Solvei8 can help you keep pace with automation technology to enhance your existing processes. Send your queries to hello@solvei8.com!

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