Applications of Artificial Intelligence in
Textile Industry
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence refers to a simulation of human intelligence in smart machines which are
programmed to think like humans, and mimic their actions. It is a wide-ranging branch of
computer science which concerned with building machines capable of performing tasks that
typically require human intelligence. The term AI can also be applied to any machine that
exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.
Why AI Used in Textile Industries?
The high demand for the quality increased leading to the application of automated artificial
intelligence in textile industries recent years. The automation with applications of artificial
intelligence in textile production is becoming much popular due to the technical developments
and the use of modeling and simulation.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining impetus over the last two decades, in the textile industry.
The automation of various instruments by the application of artificial intelligence in spreading,
cutting, sewing, and material handling can reduce the production cost and minimize faults in the
overall textile production.
In many instances of textiles production, there are huge chances of error. The application of the
AI can deal with the production process without error. As a result, over the last decade, the use
of AI is rapidly growing in textile industries for various applications.
Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Textile Industry:
Textile industries are becoming more automated to cater the increasing demand of consumers.
Adoptions of AI reduce the number of faults, and keep the production cost low. It is applied in
all the stages (preproduction, production, and postproduction) of textile manufacturing.
AI is increasingly used to different stages of a sewn seam, design development, in PPC, fabric
spreading, cutting, bundling, in various sewing operations, pressing, ironing, packaging, quality
control, SCM, etc. Some of the important applications of artificial intelligence in textile industry
are discussed in the below section. Out of several types of artificial intelligence, Artificial
Neural Network (ANN) is widely used in textile industry in the following fields:
1. Fabric defect identification: Defects in fabric reduce the value of the textile products. Any
defect in the fabric is passed into the final product, which can result in the rejection. That’s why
fabric it is very essential to check the quality of the fabric before the manufacturing. Fabric
inspection is manually checked by skilled workers using lighted tables with equipment. This
process is slow and many times can allow faults to pass to the product.
In this case, the application of AI can perform this task at a faster rate, with much higher
accuracy and without fatigue. Artificial intelligence can be used to predict the fabric properties
before manufacturing with the help of the neuro-fuzzy or other system by using the yarn, and
fabric’s constructional data.
2. Pattern inspection: Fabric pattern may have multiple aspects such like: weaving, knitting,
braiding, finishing, and printing, etc. By replacing visual inspection with vision-based inspection
could help manufacturers avoid human fatigue and errors in the detection of novelties and
defects. AI techniques like ANN are applied for defect identification in fabric inspection of the
textile industry. The fabric picture to be analysed is obtained from the image acquisition system
and saved in relevant standard image format (.JPEG, .JPG, .PNG etc.). Different Multi-Layer
back propagation algorithm is used to train and test this ANN system. The system learns the
weaving pattern, yarn properties, colours and tolerable imperfections from these images.
3. Colour matching: Colour is an important aspect of textile products. The appearance of a
textile product is perceived to be related to its quality. The colour of a product is judged to be
acceptable/unsatisfactory, or it can be judged in more details to be: ‘too light ‘or, ‘too dark’, ‘too
red’ or, ‘too green’. To solve this problem, AI can be developed that has ‘Pass/Fail’ feature to
help improve the accuracy and efficiency.
4. Sewn seam: In sewn, seams and stitches are used to join two or more pieces of fabric
together. The ease of seam formation and the performance of the seam are the important
parameters are known as “sew-ability.” Fabric low-stress mechanical properties such as tensile,
shear, bending, etc. may affect the sew-ability. Artificial intelligence system can be used to find
the sew-ability of different fabrics during the production.
5. CAD systems: One of the important steps in textile production is pattern making. In this
process, basic patterns are made by the designers and subsequently digitized to computer.
Various CAD software are used in the textile industry for pattern-making, digitizing, grading,
and marker planning. The CAD software helps in achieving high productivity and improved
quality of the product.
6. Production planning and control: Production planning and control (PPC) coordinates
between various departments of production so that delivery dates can met and buyer orders are
delivered on time. AI can be used to solve of the machine layout, operation assignment, sewing
line balancing, etc. AI can help in achieving the main purpose of PPC.
7. Final inspection: The inspection of finished and semi-finished textile product during their
production is essential to get fewer rejections. The final quality inspection of finished garments
is mainly done by experienced people, which is very time-consuming and may be influenced by
the physical and mental condition of the inspector. As a result, automated AI inspection is
essential to achieve the efficiency and accurate results. Automated inspection can be performed
by the use of AI and image processing for inspection of the quality of the product.
8. SCM: Supply Chain Management in fashion includes the flow of fibres, yarns, fabrics,
garments, trims, and accessories in between different production points or to retail. SCM
integrates various business processes, activities, information, and resources for creating value for
the buyers. Standard Supply Chain Management can manage the cost and business
competitiveness.
Where Textile Industry should Adopt AI?
i. Apparel Retails: In Apparel retail, specifically, e-commerce, is driven by the fashions
trending globally. AI helps computers identify images and recommend those products online
which the customer is more likely to buy. E-commerce platforms, through artificial intelligence
capabilities, are able to leverage the information available about the customers, and their
inclinations, similarities, and differences in the kinds of applications and products they seek for.
In this way AI can actually create a personalised shopping experience.
ii. Reinforcement Learning: Garments industry, specifically apparel manufacturing is a set of
processes carried on repeatedly. AI is used for reinforcement learning can be used to teach
computers to take different actions based on the situational parameters. It is the best possible for
the optimal decisions in that situations. In this way, AI can be used in many processes like cutorder-planning, line balancing, inspection decisions, etc.
iii. Communication: AI can help reduce the manual efforts required for communication via
natural language processing and learning capabilities. It helps the businesses automate
conversations with the buyers. AI can help the business transpire with low error scope and
personalised experience for the buyers.
iv. Data Analysis: Artificial intelligence intervention can help the industry to not just analyse
large data volumes, but also predict consumer trends, making merchandising operation error free,
and more aligned to thet customer needs.
The Impact of AI in the Textile Industry:
a) Trend-Spotting: With artificial intelligence, fashion brands can boost their business by
tracking the latest fashion trends in just minute which would take days or even months.
b) Machine-assisted designs: AI tool can be analysed and learned the interred images and
accordingly generate an altogether new fashion by itself.
c) Customers Experience: From providing customers with personalized advertisement
notifications to alerting them on price drops to clearing their doubts or queries with chat bots to
being a personal stylist. AI can provide customer instant outfit suggestions and fashion brands
can meet their aim of elevating customer experience.
Conclusion:
AI system is one of the best choices in the textile industry to integrate the features like
production, quality, cost, info, applied mathematics method management, just-in-time production
and digital integrated production. Artificial intelligence in the textile industry brings cutting-edge
revolution and disruption that’s never been seen before. The application of artificial intelligence
in textile industry has a bright future similar to other areas of application.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Textile and
Apparel Industry
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Textile:
Are you surprised to hear? Of course, we all know that technological advances and innovations
are constantly on the rise around the world. One of the staggering invention of modern era is the
robot. It is an invention through which we can accomplish many impossible things including our
daily necessities. In the same way, the use of robots in the textile sector can bring an
unprecedented success and unimaginable change in this sector. The use of robots in the textile
industry can bring many benefits such as labor savings, reduction of cycles, improved parts
quality, improved safety, productivity and efficiency. These robots are operated by Artificial
Intelligence (AI). The proper use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be of significant benefit to
the textile industry. Huge amounts of work require a high level of efficiency for continuity and
accuracy in production equipment. To achieve this we need to have “Artificial Intelligence”.
We know how important manufacturing is in the textile sector. Textile manufacturing is a very
big industry. It forms the basis of the conversion of fiber into yarn, yarn into fabric. These are
later dyed or printed to make garments. Different types of fibers are used to make yarn. There are
various processes with the complexity of finishing and finishing processes for a wide range of
product. If we get the help of artificial intelligence to perform these textile processes, the speed
of our work will increase a lot and we will be able to benefit a lot more quickly.
Use of Robotics in Garment Processing:
Clothing should be modified according to the purpose and demand of the consumers, large scale
production is labor intensive for these criteria. There are various principles in the literature for
automating the sewing process. The following two challenges must be met in order to realize the
automatic production of garments:
Fig:
Robotics in Garment Manufacturing
(1) Multiplication: In conjunction with three-dimensional (3D) sewing, the concept of a moving
tool refers to very high quality, which reveals repeatability and minor production defects.
(2) Flexibility: In a product, for example, the size of a skirt is accurate due to its fast adjustable
flexible body size. During sewing, much like the more expensive industry, a higher level of
automation or robotics can replace manual work steps. One such device is the robot and
automatic handling. The robot is not tired and can operate with constant accuracy 24 hours / day
except maintenance and repair time. It can increase production performance and quality
improvement.
Robotics for three-dimensional sewing operations:
Robots are used in many methods and research projects to guide textiles through the sewing
process.
1. Integrated three-dimensional sewing system:
Integrated 3D-sewing system refers to a system where the cut elements are sewn in a room in a
3D manner. The system was created to sew a car seat head cushion cover.
2. Three-dimensional sewing with robot for performers:
A special advancement of the last decade has been the one-sided sewing process, in which the
textile is fixed and the sewing head is operated over the textile. These sewing methods are
mainly attractive for composite applications, especially because of the complex geometric
stitching of the material. Since the movement is driven by the sewing head, very large elements
can be sewn in one-sided sewing techniques and the bottom of the workpiece has a seamlessly
moved gripper or low thread system. The use of robots to guide the sewing head has been
established. Important sewing methods can all be managed by a robot or sewing portal.
Fig:
T-shirt sewing robots
Robot-based sewing systems have already been developed for small-scale production only.
Therefore, on the one hand the method of producing garments and on the other hand the method
of producing lots of products (such as headrests, airbags, etc.) have been invented. There are
strict restrictions on its use in various fields of textiles. Further problems for production
automation are sewing techniques (e.g., double locked stitching, double chain stitching), limited
design possibilities, initial and subsequent process steps or handling times. Although there are
several disadvantages before the use of automation and robotics, the days are not far away when
the garment industry will be fully controlled by robots.
We know that our country is very rich in textiles. However, the textile industry of our country
has not yet got the touch of modern technology like robotics. Our country is also moving towards
advanced technology. Many new innovations are being made. The day is not far away when the
work of most of the industrial establishments in our country will be managed through robotics.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Automation in Textile and Garment Industry
Automation in Textile and Garment Industry:
The term automation is defined as the use of equipment and machinery to help make production
easier and more efficient. The textile and apparel industry, which has been around for centuries,
has made many strides thanks to the advent of automation. Automation has been made easier to
produce cloth, yarn, cotton, and other fabrics. In this article we will discuss about the advantages,
disadvantages, and transformation automation has had in the textile industry.
Presently, textile and apparel production is extremely personnel dependent and therefore cost
intensive. The use of automation in textile and apparel manufacturing provides several benefits
and helps the industry to gain competitive advantage and produces good quality product at lower
cost. The automation process also suffers from drawbacks, which are discussed in the following
section.
Advantages of Automation in Textile and Apparel Industry:
There are several benefits of using automatic tools and equipment in textile and garment
manufacturing, which are mentioned below:
1. Increase in productivity: Automation increases the productivity by increasing the efficiency
of the process. When the job is performed by a labor, there are chances of error, reduced
efficiency due to fatigue, and the breaks taken by the worker. However, automated process of
performing the job eliminates these and increases the productivity.
2. Increased inventory turnover: As the productivity of the industry increases, the material
turnover also increases. With manual operations the raw materials, cut components, and semifinished components have to wait longer to get converted into the final garment. Hence, with
automation increased inventory turnover is achieved.
3. Improvement in quality: As mentioned above, automation leads to reduced amount of error
of garments because of human intervention is eliminated. This leads to the products with less
defects, improved quality, and reduced rejection rates.
4. Replacement of repetitive and monotonous work: Majority of the garment manufacturers
use progressive bundle system (PBS) of production. In PBS one worker performs a specific job
and passes to the other. Hence, the work becomes repetitive and monotonous for the worker.
This can lead to fatigue and reduced efficiency. However, automation can help to avoid these as
all these repetitive works are performed by the machine.
5. Reduction of variability among products and product batches: As the involvement of
labor is reduced, the variability of the products produced by different workers is also reduced.
Similarly, the variability of the same product manufactured in different batches (manufactured
over different times or in different industries) is also reduced.
6. Performing jobs beyond human capability: Automation can perform some jobs, which
needs high skills of the labor. As today’s garments are moving toward the integration of
electronic devices and other gadgets, high skill is needed many times to perform these
operations. Automation can achieve these objectives much easily.
7. Reduction of direct human labor costs and overheads: Automation helps to achieve
increased productivity and efficiency. Automation also helps to perform the task of multiple
operators. Furthermore, the need for training of workers for each new style and other qualityrelated training is reduced. Hence, the cost of human labor and labor overheads are reduced.
Disadvantages of Automation in Textile and Apparel Industry:
Automation not only provides several advantages in garment manufacturing but also suffers from
some drawbacks (disadvantages), which are discussed below.
1. High initial cost of installation: The initial cost of installing automated tools and equipment
is high compared with the unit cost of garment. The cost of investment may be beneficial when
the automation is applicable to many products over a period.
2. High cost of research and development: The cost involved in the research and development
of automatic tools in garment industry is high. Therefore, it may take long time to realize the
benefits and cost savings from automation.
3. Security threats: As the automatic systems lack intelligence, it is common to encounter errors
when there is an unexpected change from the normal operation or deviation from the immediate
scope. The automated subsystems cannot apply the general principles for simple logic to solve
common problems.
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4. High cost of maintenance: Automated equipment need special spare parts too, to repair and
skilled people to do the repair and maintenance. Hence, the cost of care and maintenance will be
higher compared with the normal machineries.
5. Unexpected production delays: This situation will arise when the automated equipment
malfunctions or ceases to function. As it will take longer time to repair the automatic equipment,
there will be production delays. The whole product line will be suffered in case of mal- or nonfunctioning of automatic equipment.
6. Limited scope: Automation cannot be extended to all the processes involved in garment
manufacturing. Some processes are hard or more expensive to automatize. Fabric flexibility,
proper alignment of two components joined together, correct tension during sewing, and slippage
of fabric during garment manufacturing are some of the factors that limit the scope of automation
in garment manufacturing.
7. Lack of flexibility: Automation is not a flexible and convertible process in production of
clothing. Garment manufacturing demands more flexibility as there are many style and size
changes in a short time. Automation should allow the switching of production line from one to
the other without much hassle. The use of digital electronics is helping to achieve more accuracy
and flexibility in the product line.
6. Unemployment: Many workers may lose their jobs because of automation as automatic
equipment can perform the job done by multiple workers. Hence, the workers doing the job will
be at the risk of losing their jobs by automation. However, there will be some new jobs emerging
because of the automation, which will provide employment. A recent report published by the
International Labor Organization revealed that about 88% of workers in Cambodia’s textile,
clothing, and footwear industry are at high risk of losing their jobs because of automation.
Various advanced technologies such as 3D printing, CAD, 3D body scanning, and robotics
application are the potential areas that need less people. Similar problems will be faced by the
garment manufacturers in many other developing countries. The use of automatic cutting
equipment and the increased use of robots in sewing (or sewbots) will be the most influencing
areas. Several manufacturers in the Europe, the United States, and China are facing the problem.
Although there is no immediate threat in ASEAN region, it will impact more with increased
automation.