Originally developed to allow the US military to continue sourcing uniforms from the United States where textile production has shrunk over the past two decades, Santora says his solution is like ‘Tesla for sewing.’
“We use sensors and cameras to map fabric and then use robotics to steer the fabric and the sewing needle,” he explains, saying the main technical challenge for using robots to manufacture garments is because textiles distort, “unlike hard goods such as in the automotive industry where robots are everywhere,” he says, “in the production of soft-goods, robots have failed.”
He argues that rather than simply replacing garment workers in developing regions, it could help to avoid the trend to constantly move sourcing operations to the very lowest cost labour regions and instead help the industry to: “deliver that capability anywhere in the world, enabling brands to deliver goods more efficiently – and with a lower impact.
Producing t-shirts, for example, in this way, “could immediately remove 10 per cent of its carbon footprint immediately,” he tells Schragger.
Why not put the kettle on, make yourself a tea (or coffee) and take 17 minutes out of your day to listen to what’s coming next for our industry in terms of automation and how it will impact our industry.
