Changing the future of the textile production flow
Effects on textile dyeing and printing manufacturing methods

A body scanner for 3D display (JIAM 2005)

JIAM 2005 OSAKA, the International Apparel Machine Show, was held in May of 2005 at Intex-Osaka. The main attraction of this year's exhibition was a rapid apparel design and production system using three-dimensional representations. System designers from Japan and overseas competed in demonstrations and showed how the foundations of apparel production methods are going to be changed in the immediate future. This is not the only breakthrough. These demonstrations also suggested the possibility that related dyeing, and printing/finishing technologies could be combined into a new system that supports 3D clothing design.

In the 1970s, the fashion consultant, Yasuhiro Hamano, envisioned a future textile industry that becomes a system capable of rapidly adapting to the needs of the marketplace. In other words, he thought it should be possible to quickly conduct all business by looking at a computer screen with the various kinds of data necessary for planning for merchandise and production, the results of commerce, and the like being promptly reflected in business plans. At the time, personal computers were neither developed nor widespread, and Mr. Hamano’s vision was dismissed as little more than a dream.

It was not until this year's JIAM that Mr. Hamano's predictions could be proven through demonstrations showing that the greater part of each step of production could be automated. It was progress in software development that supported these advances. Due to various advancements in different kinds of applications, the programming necessary to design apparel and automatically plan necessary its production as well as manage production flow has been realized.

In addition, one cannot overlook the fact that security and encryption, essentials of computer processing also became feasible on a broad scale. Also, with the rapid development of wide area Voice over IP (VoIP) systems, Asahi Kasei AGMS Co. gave a demonstration of a VoIP system using a large display emphasizing its practical applications for business meetings.

3D Apparel Design Systems – Special Feature: Virtual Model Display

The special features of the 3D apparel design systems introduced at this year's JIAM are twofold:

With these demonstrations, it is certain that the production of apparel in advanced nations will have reached an age where buyers and sellers will finalize products engaged in discussion on a one-to-one level, and customers will be able to conclude negotiations having double-checked the clothing they want to wear on a color display with 3D models.

computer-displayed apparel can meet any user-desired style (JIAM 2005)

Apparel design systems can now display virtual models in 3D (JIAM 2005)

Moreover, with the growth of the Internet, it is recognized that web promotion will also increase. One gets the strong impression that this new method of promotion will achieve better results than with the current method of direct mail. The reason for this is as shown in the sample web browser screen shots shown in pictures 2 and 3: a virtual model will try on each color and pattern of a piece of clothing that a user clicks on in 3D on the web. The model will rotate 360 degrees controlled by the user’s mouse and show him or her how the clothing fits. The user can see all possible combinations of items from any angle. With this software, the virtual models can walk on-screen just like in a fashion show.

At JIAM we were shown proof that this era of great advancement in computer animation and games that we have reached will make the high-level 3D display of apparel possible to any extent. To give an example of this, when ordering custom-tailored clothing, customers can quickly have clothing sized for them by getting their measurements taken automatically in a computer operated fitting room (see picture 1). These systems will also display styles of the customer's choosing when he or she touches the patterns show on the computer display inside of the fitting room. If the customer presses buttons for the colors that have been prepared, the system will display the piece of clothing in the selected color, and if they like it, they can select it. The system operator will then design apparel from the customer's preferences. Several companies gave competing demonstrations of the speed of these systems, and there is no doubt that members of the apparel industry watched on in desire imagining how they would revolutionize the way apparel is made and sold.

Future Impact on Cloth and Dyeing Industries:
Adoption of a "Made-to-Order" Production System

With the realization of the 3D apparel display and design systems at JIAM 2005, a strong possibility has been shown that the impact on weaving, knitting, dyeing, printing/finishing processes will be a complete transition from the current "ready-made" system, where goods are manufactured in advance and then sold, to a "made-to-order" system, where goods are manufactured to meet completed sales transactions.

Mr. Takeo Yamaoka, the president of Japan Sewing Machine Manufacturers Association

At a press conference (held) after JIAM 2005, Mr. Takeo Yamaoka, the president of Japan Sewing Machine Manufacturers Association, had the following to say.

"This time at JIAM 2005, business talks were not limited to targeting Japan, they also came to include various Asian countries." Regarding this, Mr. Yamaoka had the following to say. "According to the current working methods of apparel makers in Japan, the amount of apparel goods planned for each of the four seasons that are manufactured in advance is dropping. For example, we may have a situation where the amount of goods manufactured pre-season may be as much as 40% with the remaining 60% produced during the season as supplementary production.The top-selling days of the week in each season are the three days Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We are continuing with a production model to meet demand during this three-day peak.

"Because of this, apparel makers act to minimize goods in stock. To prevent overstock, they abandon goods that do not have good sales over the three-day peak from Friday to Sunday. This has become a factor limiting profits in the apparel industry.

“This has made the difference clear between apparel consigned abroad and locally produced apparel. I think that methods for planning production to meet the three day peak demand in Japan have been worked out at this year's JIAM." Mr. Yamaoka concluded.

Concerning the number of European and overseas exhibitioners, Mr. Yamaoka had this to say."A lot of people have said they were glad that they held expositions at JIAM 2005. This is likely because there were many buyers from countries such as China, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Russia, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, and South Korea, and they we able to display machinery suitable for the manufacture of these buyers' goods with a positive outcome."

As Mr. Yamaoku related, if Japanese apparel makers are serious about avoiding overstock by producing goods in accordance with each of the four seasons aiming at the Friday to Sunday peak, the many demonstrations of apparel production systems with 3D displays should must have made a big impact. It can also be said that other advances such as the successful demonstration of IC tag technology signified that there will be a great transformation of the distribution system to come.