The third and final North America Digital Textile Conference took place this summer, making way for a new state-side event: Innovate Textile & Apparel Americas. Tansy Fall reports.

Each edition of the North America Digital Textile Conference (NADTC) – held in New York alongside Messe Frankfurt’s Texworld exhibition – has welcomed an array of delegates from businesses across the breadth of the textile value chain. Brands including VF corporation, Ralph Lauren, Under Armour, Jockey International and Michael Kors have all been in attendance alongside designers, print bureaus, large print houses, finishing companies and technology providers.  

Digital textile printing has caught the attention of all parties due to its high CAGR and production flexibility. And, this has aligned with the US’ reshoring initiatives and related foreign direct investment (FDI) announcements. In 2017, a reported 171,000 manufacturing jobs were added to the US economy and there were many instances of these jobs opening up in the textile sector.

One of China's biggest textile and apparel manufacturer's Shandong Ruyi Technology Group, for example, acquired a property in Arkansas, US, to produce, warehouse and distribute several textile products. Fellow Chinese textile business Tianyuan Garments Company signed an agreement with SoftWear Automation of Atlanta to develop a fully automated T-shirt production line at Tianyuan's newly acquired US plant, also in Arkansas.

This and other textile investments in digital technology have led to the digital textile conversation opening up in the US. Whilst the NADTC has sought to educate delegates on colour management, digital printing business models, and ink and substrate developments, among other print-focused areas, this dialogue is now being expanded upon to incorporate up- and down-stream operations from the printer and the possibility of complete supply chain digitalisation.

Print houses globally are already investigating new digital methods for business expansion; from providing fabrics b2c via ecommerce solutions to investing in automated cutting equipment and sewing capabilities for apparel and homeware manufacture. Moreover, capturing data across production processes, shared with print house suppliers and customers, could enable production planning and streamlining.

For this to become a reality, an overhaul of the currently textile supply chain is needed. And for this to happen a new arena for conversation needs to be created.

Innovate Textile & Apparel Americas

This has led to the establishment of a new WTiN event aimed at bringing together all of the major aspects of progressive digitalisation. The three-day conference series, titled Innovate Textile & Apparel Americas, will take place in Raleigh, North Carolina, on 1-3 May 2019, in partnership with the North Carolina State University College of Textiles. It will offer an in-depth exploration of digital technology, materials and business strategy, each in a self-contained one-day programme.

Its elements are:

  • The Textile 4.0 Conference, exploring emerging digital business models and introducing the latest application opportunities in smart factory development, including robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and virtual or augmented reality.
  • Re:Think Materials, providing expert technical insights for product developers, including: market opportunities in connected textiles; conductive fibres and yarns; textiles for energy harvesting and storage; printed textile electronics; and the application possibilities of graphene and other ‘2D’ materials.
  • Textile Business Futures, presented in conjunction with top textile and apparel industry consultants Gherzi and providing an intensive one-day introduction for C-level executives to learn about digital business strategy, risk management, return on investment, leadership and culture change.

The launch of Innovate Textile & Apparel Americas follows an inaugural European event (ita.wtin.com), scheduled for November 2018 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, sponsored by Oerlikon, Softwear Automation, Inspectorio, SPGPrints, MTiX, Archipelago and Lubrizol, and organised in partnership with Gherzi. This, in turn, builds on the success of the 2017 Textile 4.0 Conference, held in the same city.

WTiN managing director Mark Jarvis says: “Digitalisation has impacts beyond manufacturing or supply chain technology, to affect product development and to pose difficult questions for business leaders who must make far-reaching decisions on strategy and investment. We have received enthusiastic interest from America in the establishment there of an edition of Innovate Textile & Apparel and are honoured to be working with both NC State and Gherzi to deliver the highest-quality programme for all forward-looking companies and institutions.”

Dr Lisa Chapman, NC State University Faculty Scholar and digital technology and design expert, emphasises the importance of preparing leaders in the area of textile and apparel digitalisation. “State-of-the-art digital design tools can be used to improve the design workflow,” says Chapman, “and bridge the communication gap between product development and the manufacturing process. WTiN’s partnership event with the College of Textiles will provide an educational forum on the use of emerging digital technologies, to more broadly disseminate information and encourage the use of new digital design processes.”