Earlier this year, we spoke with Palaniswamy "Raj" Rajan, Chairman and CEO of Softwear Automation, to get an update on the company’s sewbot technology. The original vision of the company was to be able to enable on-demand made-to-measure production of certain apparel items with minimal human intervention, relying on “sewbots” to accomplish the sewing. Raj points out that garment manufacturing can be complex, with some 18 steps required to make a T-shirt, and 70 to 80 steps to make jeans. While jeans were an initial target based on early R&D, about four years ago the company decided that the technology, including fit technologies, and the overall supply chain were not ready yet for full automation, perhaps for another two to three years. Currently the company is producing T-shirts, a less complex process. Plus, sizing is easier for made-to-measure, and customization is easier. In addition, due to the pollution caused by microfibers from synthetic fabrics, Softwear Automation has also focused in on T-shirts made of cotton, both to reduce the overall environmental footprint and to support the US cotton industry. He points out that 98% of T-shirts are imported, and he believes the company can be responsible for producing a billion cotton T-shirts in the US over the next decade. That being said, the company is not yet selling its equipment, likely for another 18 to 24 months. Instead, they are running the machines internally in full 24/7 production, creating some 100,000 T-shirts per month.

So what’s the alternative? Clearly, with a sewbot, much less labor is required. But the rest of the industry is not standing still. Some on-demand manufacturers, like OnPoint Manufacturing in Florence, Ala., have implemented automated manufacturing lines that, using barcodes and conveyors, direct pieces to be sewn to operators with the particular skill required—such as cap sleeves—whose backlog can handle the work and who have the right color thread installed. This makes completion of a manufactured piece of clothing much more efficient, but still requires skilled sewists to do the work, albeit likely fewer than in a traditional cut-and-sew operation.

Another approach was explained by Rick Frye of Brother in a recent TexProcess webinar [password required for replay]: what the company is calling Electronic Programmable Bridge sewing technology. Frye pointed out that programmable sewing machines have been around since the 1970s, especially for smaller items like athletic shoes, seatbelts, airbags, etc. But its Programmable Bridge technology takes sewing automation to a new level, and can handle larger items with complex stitch patterns.