The International Apparel Federation hosted the first session of Texprocess Forum on May 9, Texprocess/Techtextil, Germany. The subject of the session was ‘Industry 4.0’. The first sub session featured Karsten Newbury of Gerber Technology, Philippe Ribera of Lectra and Dave Gardner of Spesa. Industry 4.0 and the digitization of the apparel industry in particular is a powerful way to enable new and better business models. A company’s strategies must include digitization, the speakers said, since it is not small firms but slow firms that get eaten.
The second sub session featured Ger Brinks of Saxion University, André Wissenberg of Oerlikon and Fernando Pimentel of Abit of Brazil. They made clear that the introduction of virtual reality, the use of robots and artificial intelligence is happening in the industry, but it is a complex process. Inevitably fully automated garment production will be possible on a profitable basis.
The third sub session presented the audience with Rosanne van der Meer of the Girl and the Machine, Dieter Stellmach of the Denkendorf Institute and Tansy Fall of IoTex Magazine/WTiN. They showed how start-up businesses are using industry 4.0 technology to offer consumers new experiences, for instance, by selling a product before it is made, involving the customer fully into the design. So service becomes a major part of the value proposition.
