Contrary to a positive rise in sentiment during the third quarter of 2020, the final slog of the year exemplified that digitalisation news will continue to ebb and flow in positivity as the textile & apparel sector contends with the ongoing pandemic. According to WTiN’s data tools, which used natural language programming to analyse 160 internal and external articles, the sentiment of the Textile 4.0 sector has declined from +0.48 to +0.43 in the Q4 2020 period.
The theme of Industry 4.0 therefore took a hit – declining from +0.48 to +0.42 – and analysis reveals this drop in sentiment owes itself to the continuous economic challenges the sector faces. As businesses face more lockdowns, particularly in the UK, it is likely investment and R&D budgets will be pulled back. Consequently, plenty of businesses are calling for industries across the globe to push through and invest in digitalisation to boost growth in the wake of Covid-19 – an essential gamble.
Sentiment scores for digitalisation in the textile & apparel industry throughout 2020
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was one such voice urging the implementation of digital infrastructure, and noted that its research shows investment in new systems, technologies, and greener initiatives could “pay back more than two to one in economic growth within two years”. This suggests that Industry 4.0 technologies have become high-risk in the current state of the economy but that there are great benefits for making the transition. Nevertheless, sentiment has thus declined as a result of ongoing economic struggle.
Reinventing the wheel
Of course, that’s not to say Industry 4.0 stands in stagnant waters – research and development (R&D) continues to strengthen as those within the digitalisation movement push its progress and application potential. Sentiment for R&D rose slowly yet steadily from +0.66 to +0.68, supported by new academic funding projects, ongoing innovation in manufacturing and belief in the economic stimulation digitalisation can provide.
Notably, the UK’s Future Fashion Factory announced thirteen additional R&D projects had been approved in the programme’s third funding call, which aims to support innovation in fashion and fashion technology. This funding round includes a project that will develop a new digital system for 3D-woven fashion design; an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fabric production planning system; a colour-based machine learning tool for designers; and the development of a high-quality virtual garment simulation system. The new projects bring the Future Fashion Factory’s funding total up to US$2.6m, highlighting that Industry 4.0 in academia and R&D continues to thrive.
R&D rose in sentiment from +0.66 to +0.68 – one of the only areas we see a positive
increase – between Q3 of 2020 and Q4 of 2020
Industry itself appears to acknowledge that innovation in the sector is unavoidable, even despite the current pause in investments. In a special long-form article, WTiN Intelligence: Textile 4.0 explored the ongoing application of additive manufacturing in the textile & garment industries, though did highlight that the 3D printing of textiles is an area that lacks growth due to infrequent investment opportunities and its position as a niche technology. But perhaps as more big brands turn to similar technologies in the future – aware of its lucrative potential – the industry may find itself reinventing the wheel, so to speak, and Industry 4.0 emboldened by a new and exciting technology.
Overall, the theme of R&D reveals that digitalisation is highly regarded as an inevitable and essential move, and as the tumultuous year of 2020 came to a close, that it is the only alternative in a rapidly shifting world. In our podcast, Dr John Oyekan, lecturer in digital manufacturing at the University of Sheffield, explored his belief that digitalisation can significantly support the future of the industry, with particular attention on AI and digital twin technologies, and added that they can help companies to collate significant financial savings – something many businesses are searching for. This supports the push for a gamble on digitalisation for future monetary benefit.
Though it stands on shaky ground in terms of investments, Industry 4.0 stays firmly relevant in industry conversation as the only option moving forward. This belief is supported in a later episode of The WTiN Podcast, where Lutz Walter, director of innovation and skills at EURATEX, concurs that digitalisation can provide significant opportunities for long-term survival.
Flickering industry
Despite all the positives in R&D news, a notable contribution to the overall Textile 4.0 decline comes from the theme of events, which saw a 16.88% decrease in sentiment (from +0.77 to +0.64). In the previous quarter, the sentiment had risen exponentially by 54% thanks to reports of digitalised events which sought to quell demand on a calendar brutally wiped out by the pandemic; but as those events soon passed, the calendar quietened during the last quarter.
Sentiment did however remain fairly stable thanks to WTiN’s Innovate Textile & Apparel virtual trade show, which brought audiences to explore digitalisation and Industry 4.0 concepts in virtual halls, conferences and roundtables. The talks demonstrated a dedication to the digitalisation movement, particularly as supply chains and logistics are ravaged by the pandemic, and revealed the necessity of a move towards smart factory concepts that enable more efficient manufacturing and protect the industry from future crises.
Events saw a 16.88% decrease in industry opinion – from +0.77 to +0.64 – between Q3 of 2020 and Q4 of 2020
Elsewhere, trade and sustainability were also contributors to the decrease in sentiment for the sector. The former saw a colossal decline of 58.3% (from +0.6 to +0.25), characterised by news of Bangladesh’s negative experiences during the pandemic and supply chain bottlenecks, while the latter declined marginally by 3.17% (from +0.63 to +0.61), held afloat by news of technologies able to support social and environmental sustainability in the industry.
Sustainability decreased in industry opinion by 3.17% – from +0.63 to +0.61 – between Q3 of 2020 and Q4 of 2020
Trade saw a decrease in industry opinion of 58.3% – from +0.6 to +0.25 – between Q3 of 2020 and Q4 of 2020
Outlook
Although much uncertainty ravishes global industries, the one consensus is that innovation will be the only tool for survival – this means we can expect to see more companies pushing for Industry 4.0 adoption, technological investments and R&D efforts. What’s more, despite the wavering sentiment scores of Textile 4.0, the themes within the sector suggest that digitalisation will not only drive recovery from the economic downfall of 2020 but also improve the resilience of the value chain and support efforts to improve the ethical impact of the textile & apparel industries.
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