Panaz based in Burnley, Edward Taylor Textiles in Blackburn and Dukinfield-based Tibard have become the latest companies to adopt industrial digital technologies designed to boost growth and productivity.

They are among 62 businesses that are investing in a range of industrial digital technologies, including data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), 3D-printing and robotics, to solve business challenges across a range of manufacturing functions and deliver an additional £52 million in gross value added (GVA) for the North West economy over the next three years, according to a press release.

Three hundred North West SMES have secured support, including specialised advice and £1.6 million in funding, in the first year of the Made Smarter programme.

This support includes expert impartial advice and one-to-one support, digital roadmapping workshops to help manufacturers take their first steps to transform their business, eight-month leadership and management training programmes offered in partnership with Lancaster University, as well as funded three-month student placements.

By adopting these cutting-edge technologies, businesses benefit from improved productivity and revenue, increased exports and job creation, providing new skills to workforces, enhanced integration with supply chains and reduced environmental impact.

The £20-million pilot programme was launched in November 2018, becoming operational in January 2019, and runs until March 2021. The pilot will inform how best to support SME manufacturers in the adoption of new industrial digital technologies.

Big Thinx, based in Bangalore, has been chosen by Italy-based luxe brand Prada for its maiden fashion tech accelerator program. Big Think works with e-commerce brands, fashion rental companies, bespoke clothing companies and uniform or work-wear businesses across the world. BigThinx’s neural networks create a personalised 3D virtual avatar from 2D images for fashion brands and their customers, using artificial intelligence using just two full-length smart phone pictures for its products Lyfsize and Lyflike to accurately predict body shapes and sizes. The app calculates 44 precise body measurements and body composition ratios with over 95 per cent accuracy in women and 98 per cent in men. The primary use case for the product is fashion and clothing companies. In the program, Prada will immerse itself into the inspiring, creative process, drawing on new ideas and connections.

Using technology effectively in fashion to optimise productivity is a big business opportunity. The convenience and ease of online retail stitched up with offline benefits of discovery and trials is an unbeatable combination. And in fashion it’s all about the right size and fit. E-commerce companies grapple with returns on clothing of which about more than half are zipped back due to incorrect fits. That’s where BigThinx wants to play.

The new Vitoni automated jeans machine includes an automatic pocket creasing machine, a pocket seating machine, an electronic slim round bed pattern sewing machine and an automatic pocket decorative machine.

The machine has a single or double needle, a thread break warning device, an easy to jig change and easy to program touch screen. It can sew all shape of pockets and can produce 200 to 300 pieces double station operations per hour.

Vitoni belongs to Focus Garment Tech, which deals with one-stop solutions for all industrial sewing machines and garment equipment from cutting, sewing to finishing. The company is committed to giving satisfactory after-sales service and prompt response for problems of any sort arising at any time. It provides total solutions for the apparel industry especially for denim factories. Bangladesh is the main market for Focus Garment Tech, and it has a 50 per cent market share in Bangladesh.

Focus Garment Tech is one of the subsidiary companies of Chu Cheong, a multinational trading group with diversified interests involving property investment, distribution of a wide variety of products including electrical appliances and garment manufacturing equipment and supply and installation of air conditioning systems for residential projects.

Denim brand Lee is introducing a new signature denim collection that is made without using water as part of the dyeing process. The pieces are fabricated using a foam dye applicator, which removes the need to use water, as well as cutting the chemicals required by 89 per cent.

The US label is championing sustainability over several areas. Lee will prioritize the health, safety and well-being of its workers, as well as encouraging them to volunteer at organizations and for causes that will make a positive impact on the world. The brand will pursue sustainable solutions in the development and production of its products, highlighting cleaner energy, waste reduction and water conservation specifically. Finally, the brand will explore innovative design solutions combining technology-enabled eco-conscious design and manufacturing.

Lee’s new sustainability platform is the roadmap that will guide its actions and help drive meaningful progress toward more positive environmental and social impacts. Lee has relaunched the first ever denim it made for women in the 40s and 50s. While the vintage sizing has been updated to reflect modern sizes, the thread choices, hardware and manufacturing processes are the same as they were back then. These pieces represent a time when Lee took what was made for men and created jeans made specifically for the female body.

Italian textile machinery shipments fell eight per cent from October to December 2019. Orders from the domestic market fell seven per cent.

After a difficult year, the Italian textile machinery sector is looking to 2020 with some degree of concern. For the current year, there are many unknown factors, both at an economic and political level, that do not appear in the short term to point to a recovery in demand for textile machinery in major markets, China, Turkey and India.

Creativity, sustainable technology, reliability and quality are the characteristics which have made Italy a global leader in the manufacturing of textile machinery. Exports make up more than 86 per cent of total sales. And 30 per cent of Italy’s revenue from the sale of textile machinery derives from the production of technical and innovative textiles. Demand for such products has consequently also driven demand for ad hoc machinery specifically designed for this sector. The offering promoted by Italy’s textile machinery industry is thus expanding to the new demands of customers operating in this specific sector. Italy is the world’s second largest producer of machinery for the textiles industry. In production of machinery for tanning, and footwear and leather goods industry, Italy accounts for over 50 per cent of world production.

Frasers has acquired a 12.5 per cent stake in the British luxury brand Mulberry. Mulberry has had a long-term presence in Fraser department stores and with the company planning to open more upmarket Frasers stores there seems to be clear commercial reasoning behind the move. Mulberry is a global luxury brand with a rich British heritage. A key strategic priority for the Frasers Group is the elevation of its retail proposition and building stronger relationships with premium third-party brands. Frasers looks forward to working more closely with Mulberry for the benefit of shareholders of both companies. The move to buy a stake in Mulberry represents Frasers’ biggest step in the luxury direction yet.

Mulberry has had more than its fair share of challenges and this can be seen in its share price. It reached 1,132.50p in September 2016 but began to fall sharply exactly two years ago and now it is possible to buy a Mulberry share for 250p. That puts the entire market capitalisation of the company at just over £150 million. So Frasers doesn’t have to pay a huge amount for its stake.

Seven of House of Fraser’s 50-plus stores will be turned into a new luxury mini chain called Frasers. Frasers will stock more designer labels while House of Fraser will cater to a more mass market audience.

Cotton yarn is 65 per cent of yarn production in India. Non-cotton and blends form the other 35 per cent. Going forward, focus on cotton is expected to reduce with more attention being paid on the non-cotton segment. Diversification to other fibers can make India more competitive in the global yarn market.

Over the last two or three months, yarn exports from India have picked up and overall the industry can be better if this situation continues. For the industry to be in good condition, 100 to 110 million tons of export of yarn from India have to happen. Some 47 million spindles are working in India and on an average the country produces 350 million tons of yarn out of which 100 million tons need to be exported. In 2019, till October, the average was below 70 million tons of export. The financial ecosystem is not conducive to lend to the textile ecosystem. That is a challenge. Once finance is available, there will be no stopping the Indian spinning sector from modernizing and expanding in a big way. Also India is weak in post spinning. There are no high speed looms and the dyeing and processing segments are also weak in India. In the garmenting sector, India has small-size units and scale is a big issue.

Among the investor friendly initiatives taken in the budget are abolishing the dividend distribution tax. This is likely to promote more FDI in the manmade fiber segment including processing textile machinery manufacturing in the country.

Another milestone of the budget is the National Technical Textiles Mission with a four-year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24 at an estimated outlay of Rs 1480 crores. The technical textile segment is a sunrise sector in the entire textile industry in which nearly 90 per cent of the fibers used are manmade fibers. The National Technical Textiles Mission is expected to lift the Indian manmade fiber textile segment to a greater height and lead to a growth in per capita consumption of manmade fibers in India. At the same time this initiative is seen as helping generate more employment in the country. Similarly steps initiated toward boosting infrastructure are meant to address the existing infrastructural gap for export and structural issues in the country. The budget has also taken steps for encouraging Make in India initiatives by protecting domestic manufacturing units. Moreover digital refunds of state and central taxes to exporters will help the entire textile industry. The MSME turnover threshold for audit has been increased to Rs 5 crores from the existing Rs 1 crore.

The non-readymade garment sector in Bangladesh has failed to reap full advantage of the bonded warehouse facility. Bangladesh provides duty-free import benefits to exporters under the bonded warehouse scheme but the benefit is mostly enjoyed by apparel exporters. The scheme allows duty-free imports of raw materials of export items. Export diversification is linked to the existence of the bonded warehouse facility as it provides scope to buy raw materials at international prices.

Around 84 per cent of Bangladesh’s export basket is filled up by readymade garments. High tariffs to protect domestic industries have deterred producers in other industries from exporting and instead made them cater to the domestic market. If these manufacturers have access to bonded warehouse benefits they can think of export diversification. Bangladesh’s source of cost competitiveness is low-cost labor but raw materials and intermediate goods are subject to tariffs. To be competitive, Bangladeshi exporters need to be guaranteed imported inputs at world prices. That is, imports must be available at duty-free prices, upfront. Bonded warehouse benefits ensure duty-free imports, creating a level playing field on the global market. This will ensure labor cost advantages can be exploited fully. As long as tariffs exist and remain high, the bonded warehouse benefit is a must for export success.

A group of textile companies recently approached the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) against a move by Reliance Industries and India Glycols seeking imposition of anti-dumping duties on a raw material used to make polyester. In a letter to DGTR, an association representing companies like Indo Rama Synthetics India, Filatex India, Garden Silk Mills and Bombay Dyeing, Director General BS Bhalla have argued that imposing such a duty on the material — mono ethylene glycol (MEG) — would lead to a ‘significant’ loss to India’s textile units. It would increase the cost of textiles and the ability of textile units to increase the prices commensurate with the increase in costs is very limited.

The association, which represents 21 end users claiming to account for two million metric tonne per year of MEG consumption, also submitted that India’s current MEG production capacity fell short of the demand of the product by around 36 per cent.

India imported around $532 million worth of ethylene glycol from countries in 2018-19, and around $320.18 million between April and November 2019, according to data from the Commerce Ministry. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and United Arab Emirates were the top exporters of this product to India last fiscal.

Last year, Reliance Industries — in a petition supported by India Glycols — had alleged that there was dumping of MEG from the abovementioned countries as well as Oman.