The textile industry is one of the oldest and most important industries in the world. It’s also an industry that is constantly changing and evolving. One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the introduction of automation. Automation in the textile industry is changing the way we dress, and it’s having a big impact on the way clothing is made.
Automation in the textile industry has changed the way we make and sell clothes. It has also forced companies to rethink some of the basic aspects of production. One of the biggest impacts is that automation is now helping to raise wages and improve working conditions. Automation in the textile industry is just one example of how technology can be both a benefit and a threat to how we live our lives.
What Is Automation In Textile Industry
The textile automation market has the potential to develop by USD 405.99 million between 2021 and 2025, with the market’s growth pace accelerating at a CAGR of 2.44%.
Automation in the textile industry refers to the use of machines and other technologies to increase efficiency. Without automation, production and retail workers would spend most of their time looking after the machines they’re using to make fabric. Instead, they can now focus on other aspects of production that require higher levels of skill.
There are machines that perform almost every step of textiles production, from growing cotton and turning it into thread through to the weaving of fabric and the sewing process. Many of these machines can be used to perform multiple tasks, meaning they can do the work of several people at once.
The use of automation in the textile industry has also changed the types of jobs that are required. No longer are workers stuck doing menial tasks like threading needles or winding bobbins. Instead, they’re able to concentrate on more challenging work that requires higher levels of skill. As a result, pay and benefits have improved as well.
The Need For Automation In Textile Industry
The worldwide textile market is expected to develop at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0% from 2022 to 2030, with a value of USD 993.6 billion in 2021. Automation in the textile industry was born out of the need to increase efficiency in a business that was vulnerable to outside influences.
As textile production shifted to developing countries, companies had to find ways to keep costs down, while maintaining quality standards. It’s not uncommon for workers in developing countries to be paid very little money and work long hours. Automation allows textile companies to produce more at a lower cost and pay their workers better than they could in the past.
Workers need their wages if they’re going to be able to buy clothes, so automation also helps clothing manufacturers meet demand by increasing production levels without needing more staff members.
In the long run, this helps clothing brands keep their costs down. By reducing staff levels, clothing companies are also able to develop more advanced technology and reduce their environmental impact.
The Impact Of Automation On The Textile Industry
Automation in the textile industry has already had a significant impact on the way we dress. One of the biggest impacts is that automation is now helping to raise wages and improve working conditions.
Without automation, companies would be forced to pay their employees more money, which would mean reducing profits. Automation allows clothing manufacturers to keep labor costs down while still meeting consumer demand and improving profit margins.
Automation reduces costs by reducing staff required to operate machines. Employees are also freed up to concentrate on more advanced tasks, like manufacturing the fabrics and colors that clothing is made of. Robots can perform these tasks more efficiently than human hands, which means that garments can be produced faster and at a lower cost.
Benefits Of Automation In Textile Industry
The textile and apparel industry is a critical textile sector of the economy, providing employment for millions of people around the world. The textile industries are also a major contributor to the global economy, with apparel and textile manufacturers generating billions of dollars in revenue each year.
Automation in the textile industry has made production more efficient, while improving working conditions and wages. People are also spending less time in the workplace, which means they have more free time to spend with their families and hobbies.
1. Improves Quality
One of the main benefits of automation is that it allows clothing manufacturers to produce garments more quickly and with higher quality standards than ever before. When employees are performing menial tasks like winding bobbins or threading needles, there is a greater risk of making an error that could result in poor quality garments.
Automation reduces these risks because robots don’t lose concentration, forget how to do a step or make human errors like poor thread tension that leads to uneven seams. Natural fibres led the market and will account for more than 45% of worldwide revenue in 2021 due to their widespread use in the fashion and clothing industries.
2. Reduces Costs
One of the biggest costs for producing clothing is labor. Lower levels of staff work allows clothing manufacturers to pay less in terms of wages, while still maintaining the quality standards we expect from our clothes.
Human staff also take longer to train, which means they have a greater risk of making mistakes that could result in a low quality garment. Robots can be programmed and monitored more efficiently, reducing risks and allowing them to perform tasks more quickly than human hands. As a result, garments produced with this improved level of automation are both cost-effective and produce high quality outcomes.
3. Increasing Employment
The use of automation in the textile industry is creating jobs for employees who are able to perform advanced tasks. Workers no longer have to spend most of their time operating machines and performing menial tasks.
Instead, they can focus on more challenging work that requires higher levels of skills and knowledge. Low pay, long hours and low job satisfaction are not uncommon in developing countries, which is why automation is such a boon to the textile industry.
4. Reduced Dependency On Cheap Labor
As mentioned above, low pay and long hours are typical situations for workers in developing countries. This is because these countries need cheap labor to supply clothing companies with garments at very competitive prices.
Automation means that clothing manufacturers are no longer reliant on cheap labor to make their clothes. Instead, they can pay their workers more and develop products with advanced technology.
5. Improves Quality Of Life
The textile industry is known for being one of the worst industries in terms of quality of life for its employees. The long hours and repetitive nature of their work can lead to workers suffering from mental health issues, including stress, anxiety and depression.
Automation aims to improve the lives of textile workers by allowing them to spend less time on tasks that don’t require advanced skills. In developing countries, this could mean an easier life with less pressure to perform hard manual labor for long hours without rest or training.
6. Reduces Environmental Impact
Automation in the textile industry means that garments are being made more efficiently than ever before. We need to produce less clothing to meet growing demand because factories can now produce garments faster and with higher quality standards.
Less waste material is being produced by factories, which means they are using fewer resources and creating less pollution. In addition, clothing companies that invest in automation require less workers, which means they’re able to reduce their carbon footprint.
7. Improves Safety Standards
In developing countries where labor laws aren’t strictly enforced, training for new employees is often non-existent or conducted in unsafe conditions that put workers at risk of injury.
This results in an industry that is exposed to dangerous working conditions, which often result in injuries, illnesses and fatalities. Automation reduces these risks by reducing the amount of staff required to operate machines and free up more time for employees to focus on more advanced tasks.
8. Develops Technologies
The textile industry is a vital part of the world’s economy that cannot be left behind due to advanced technology. New automated processing techniques allow apparel companies to work with more advanced materials, produce garments faster and use less natural resources like water or electricity.
The textile industry also creates new ways of providing products that are fun or fashionable while looking stylish at the same time. The global artificial intelligence in fashion market was worth 270 million US dollars in 2018 and was predicted to increase at a CAGR of 36.9 percent from 2019 to 2027, reaching 4.4 billion US dollars by 2027.
9. Reduces The Use Of Resources
Automated machinery has been able to produce fabrics for decades. Most of the processes involved in producing fabrics with high quality have already been automated, which is why we can enjoy life today with clean clothes and well-made garments.
The textile industry is also seeing a move towards a circular economy, where they focus on recycling and upcycling to save resources instead of continually producing new supplies of materials. This reduces the waste that would normally be created by products made from natural resources like cotton or wool, while reducing water pollution and carbon emissions.
China, India, and the U.S. are the major producers of cotton and cotton-based products in the world. Chemical-based textiles are expected to account for 97,075.9 kilotons in 2021, owing to their importance in the textile production industry as a whole.
Drawbacks Of Automation In The Textile Industry
There are many different steps in the garment manufacturing process, and the apparel industry relies heavily on sewing machines and industrial robots to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Textile manufacturing is a complex and labor-intensive process, but the end result is always worth it.
Despite the many benefits of automation, it cannot be said to be perfect. As with many new technologies, there are always drawbacks that may make some companies think twice before investing in this equipment. Below are some of the drawbacks that can be found with the automation of the textile industry.
1. Cost-Effective
Automation is expensive and not all businesses can afford to install high-tech machines in their factories or workshops. While the expense may be worth it in the long run, it can take a while for these investments to pay off and show results – especially if you’re a start-up business that’s just starting out and has only limited funds available to start its operations.
2. Not Always Reliable
Some automated machines may fail to work even after troubleshooting and repairs have been done on them. This can disrupt your production schedule and affect your bottom line, especially if the machine breaks down at a time when you need to rush out products for customers, who are expecting them. It’s important to ensure that you have backups in place that can take over if a machine fails to function properly.
3. High Risk Of Injury Accidents
Injuries are just as common in the textile industry as they are in other industries where heavy machinery is used on a daily basis, such as construction or mining. Heavy machinery can cause serious injuries and damage to machinery if not well-maintained or if it will break down. This can lead to accidents that put workers at risk of serious injuries, diseases and even death. With the use of mechanical automation, there is a higher threat of injury than without it.
4. High Maintenance Costs
Automating machinery requires maintenance. You will need to make regular inspections and scheduled repairs on these machines should they break down or stop working altogether. That means hiring more staff to ensure that the job gets done properly, which is expensive in itself.
There are certain machines that require little maintenance but you will still have to pay for this. On the other hand, if your machines break too frequently, this means higher costs in maintaining them.
5. Risk Of Decreased Efficiency
The use of automation in a processing workplace means that you have to rely on machines instead of workers. Your employees are no longer needed in their original jobs and are now working on something else like maintaining these machines or replacing parts and repairing them when they break down.
Productivity decreases because all your employees are doing is maintaining these machines instead of doing what they were hired to do. Some businesses cannot afford to hire a lot of workers, so they get fewer work done than before.
6. Dangerous Work Conditions
As we have mentioned earlier, textile factories are dangerous places where workers can be seriously injured when machines break down. Automated machinery can be quite dangerous to use because of how fast they move and the parts involved in their operation.
Machines also require a lot of care and maintenance work before they can be started up again after a particle breakdown or machine failure. Having more people around means more chances for accidents to happen, which is why most business owners would want to limit the number of workers around these machines as much as possible.
7. Manual Wages
The use of automation in a textile factory means that there are less people involved in the production and process. As a result, there will be less work to do and therefore less money paid to the workers, which could result in increased wages for them.
You may also have to pay more for maintenance of these machines because you need more people to take care of them. While it’s better for businesses to have many workers and fewer machines, it’s not always possible. The alternative would be having fewer machines with highly-skilled and trained operators who do not require much maintenance work either.
Different Types Of Automation In The Textile Industry
The garment industry is increasingly turning to automated equipment to help speed up production and improve efficiency. Textile automation, such as automated sewing robots, is playing a big role in garment manufacturing. This technology is helping to create garments faster and with fewer errors.
There are different types of automation that are commonly used in textile factories around the world. It’s important to know exactly what these machines can do and how they improve production.
It also helps to know their drawbacks so you can take measures to avoid them or lessen the likelihood of their occurrence. Below are three types of automation equipment used in textile factories:
1. Robotic Automation
Robotics is a powerful piece of technology that’s capable of performing tasks that are difficult for humans – even risky ones, such as handling dangerous objects or putting them down on a hard surface without damaging it.
Robots can help improve production in textile factories by doing the work that humans used to do. However, it’s very important to ensure that the equipment is well-maintained and contains working parts that are free of defects.
2. Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Machines
Computer numerical control machines are the most common form of automated equipment used in textile factories today. CNC machines are hard workers that can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks and repetitive factory tasks.
The machines can be instructed to make small adjustments as needed, which is why they’re able to produce clothing faster than human workers who must work individually on each piece if they’re making items manually.
3. Spinning-Frame Automation
Spinning frame automation is a process that is used to spin yarn from various raw materials. Spinning frame automation allows the machine to do the work on its own, without any need for human interaction or supervision.
This means that more items can be produced compared to a system where humans are doing the work manually, especially when the workers are moving manually. However, robots can also be used in this form of automation because they are able to perform other tasks as well, such as inspecting and monitoring spinning frames during operation.
Final Note
The international labor organization has been working to automate multiple fabric processing steps in order to improve textile processes and apparel manufacturing. They have developed a system that can be used to automate multiple fabric processing steps, including fabric cutting, sewing, and finishing. This system is designed to improve the efficiency of textile processes and reduce the need for manual labor.
Textile factories that use automation to produce garments are becoming more common. This means that the textile industry will continue to evolve and improve, while adapting to the needs of customers worldwide. Current automation techniques are already able to produce garments with varied fabric qualities and that look chic, fashionable and of good quality at the same time.
A new market analysis predicts that the worldwide beautiful textile market will be worth USD 5.55 billion by 2025.
Advances in automation will allow clothing manufacturers around the world to use new methods in their factories, so they can minimize risks and increase quality outcomes for their customers.
The textile industry is aiming for a near future where products are manufactured with little human interaction, using advanced technologies like robotics and 3D printing instead of having people working alone on machines.
Last Updated on October 6, 2023 by himani
