Spotlighting UK textile manufacturing innovation

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Spotlighting UK textile manufacturing innovation

Adrian Wilson, managing director of AWOL Media and contributor at WTiN, speaks with Jason Kent, chief executive officer (CEO) at the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA), about the lack of awareness regarding UK-born innovation within the global textile and apparel industry.

hello my name is Adrian Wilson um of a
media a longtime Consulting editor for
wtin I'm pleased to be um here today to
talk to Jason Kent CEO of the British
textile Machinery Association hi Jason
Hi Adrian good to be together face to
face yes indeed
yeah it is isn't it yeah yeah but well
let's let's kick off with you you've
spoken at a number of conferences and
exhibitions recently uh and you've been
surprised that the lack of awareness
really of how advanced textile
technology is in terms of Automation and
digitalization yeah we have a thriving
textile machinery and test equipment
sector here in much so world world class
World leading in in Technologies and I'm
quite surprised when I speak at the
conferences you know um delegates say oh
I didn't realize we had such a rich
industry and a lot of Silo thinking
isn't Liv a lot way textile Machinery is
a sector that's often overlooked I
usually used to say by policy makers I'm
guessing that is it's a wider audience
now you know yeah um I think so bottom
line is without textile Machinery there
is no industry there's no garment and
there's no fabric manufacturing so it's
the engine of everything isn't it
created it really is an opportunity to
just um a raise that awareness a little
bit with the wider industry and
everybody else who's who's tuned in
today MH well one I mean I mean one one
big area that btma has a lead in is in
automated fabric systems yeah it's a
nient industry now it's it's it's very
established around the world um and it's
an area of Industry that I think is
probably one of the most significant
game changers you know in terms of
digital technology um that's
successfully operating within the
industry and is reducing costs reducing
wastage yeah majority of Mills around
the world are still using relying on
human inspection yeah you know it's
quite extraordinary because you as you
said it is is a long yeah long adapted
but um it's changing I yeah it's going
to
change I think at least 50% you can look
for using AI for those systems just the
speed of it yeah you know the speed of
it and what the algorithms can do that
that human I can't do you know I mean
it's a consistency really uh yeah I mean
I think you said that is it 65% of of of
you know that's about all the human I
can see yeah of these not that good and
but there has been some really good
people out there in fabric inspection in
the past yeah um but we're getting to a
point now where you know um the bar is
raised yeah I think so and and one
company obviously that's been raising
that they pretty high he Shelton Vision
systems they got an extraordinary
response TI last year didn't last year
you know I wanted an interview with with
Mark Shelton never got one because it
was a bit overwhelmed wasn't it
overwhelmed um on on on the technology
that they was um they were showcasing in
real time the machine was operating in
real time with uh um it's called Web
Spectre yeah and it can it can you know
recognize and adapt to very complex
patterns and I think he had a a
camouflage pattern yes that's right yeah
and you know the the purposely deformed
the fabric and the system could still
recognize even with the deformed fabric
yeah basically it's it's ignoring the
pattern it's looking at the the the
structure yeah yeah exactly which which
obviously with human inspection you
can't see through a pattern you know you
got a pattern running at spe it's
knowing what to ignore really the
incidental data that's what you got to
teach the system isn't it we look at
something but we don't actually we you
know we don't actually see it or we see
it and we don't look at it and right I
started reading into
this we call it inal BL that's right
yeah and AI has overcome that that uh
you know it can completely ignore a
pattern and it can just look at the look
at the structure through it yeah yeah
banking it out clever clever stuff you
know it's eliminating a lot of um false
positives as well in the system you know
and and pretty consistent as a result
yeah yeah I mean you you've there's um
the other btma very veed I mean I mean
they're um yeah I mean we
talked last month about digital Twins
and that is a perfect example with their
um Digi and Ultra viw Sol for color
matching
particular but going a little bit beyond
that now that they're even it's even
picking up texture uh surface texture
seems to be bit a Holy Grail in
thetics
thetics yeah trying to digitize that is
great because you know you could have
the master sample sat here at
headquarters in the UK of a fashion
brand yeah and they could be looking for
the pass off of their first production
running I don't know halfway around the
world yeah yeah and the like cabinet
allows them to do it very very
accurately in real time and get the pass
off with within a matter of minutes
instead of weeks having to pack samples
send them back for approval and and be
given the green light so I mean I think
what a lot of people don't don't
recognize is just how complex the
textile supply chain is in terms of the
back and forward in across continents
you know a fabric can travel well around
the world three times you know just in
that I think all these Solutions these
digital Solutions are are not only
cutting down on waste but are cutting
down significantly on carbon footprint
yeah you you're not having to put people
or or or products on planes
no no that's right well I mean on the
subject of carbon footprint we've
obviously got big changes ahead now here
in Europe with um with the ban on postc
consumer textile waste yeah um and this
is something the AI Technologies Textile
Technologies are going to play a big
role in I think I mean they have to do
can't do it without algorith mon away to
have textile W floating around there's
going to be an awful lot of raw material
isn't there swimming in it uh yeah but
yeah
um you know there's going to be some
very disruptive Technologies um that's
going to be introduced as a as a result
of this I mean a lot of them as well are
being adopted from what's already been
developed in Plastics and paper you know
these these have there's been
legislation that's that's made those
those Industries move a little quicker
than textiles has had so far part of
what you know we're trying to do here in
the btma so you know um being at the
international composite Summit yes is is
is significant for us because um it
needs cross industry collaboration yes
very much the automotive Industries the
Aerospace Industries have got a problem
with reprocessing fibers yeah uh and and
Recycling and they're looking to our
industry to to to to help solve these
challenges yeah so you know it it is
great to see that you are actually
seeing some cross industry
collaboration and new chapter in itar is
is going to be introduced for recycling
for recycling and sorting yeah suddenly
all these names appear in the likes of
tomra and pank and these people you know
that nobody's being aware of up to now
and suddenly they're integral part of
that Loop really yeah yeah I I think
you're right the the you know the cross
industry conversations is a little bit
overhyped in a way in this sector
because um I think everybody's just
expecting for some quick wings and a
Magic Bullet no it's it's it's just not
going to happen um but we've got some as
you say we've got some nent technologies
already um that gives us a firm footing
within the textile Machinery sector yes
to help make you know a significant
contribution to um it's okay with the
pilot plant it's when you go to scale
into industrial yeah yeah everybody's
having that problem aren't they with the
new technologies that I mean some
someone was talk talking to me yesterday
about about lensing you know the introdu
introduction liar
cell that's that's 40 years ago that's
the the new fiber that has actually got
to in what they got about 1.2 million
tons now but that's so that's a 40e
process slow to adops
yes but you know whether you can you can
speed things up to the extent that the
legislation way that's going to drive it
Adrian because you know um consumer um
characteristics consumers are not going
to change their no it's within their DNA
we're we're a materialistic race of
people who who like to buy something new
want to wear something new yeah I can
sadly it's going to be legislation
that's GNA have to drive it in the end
and the French are already some way
there ones that they're doing yeah I
mean that that their extended producer
Responsibility program came in in 2008 I
believe you know they' had almost 15
years um they've introduced a really
interesting thing um that they have a
component um God what's it called it's G
out me but they they are actually
paying bonuses for recycled product Ecom
modulation e modul the Ecom modulation
yeah format that's right and you you're
getting like um thousand thousand Euros
back yeah if you if you can include
recycled materials per ton yeah of
everything I mean it's on a huge scale
is that when you think about and that's
that's going to drive it further forward
and I think the Technologies like
digital twins are really going to
underpin this um because you know we've
always been used to as as as engineering
innovators you know designing something
going back to the drawing board
modifying it improving it if and you
always find these Machinery when you
produce them they're always installed
halfway around the world you know yeah
so if you're looking to do improvements
or or or or or change something on the
machine it's always been a bit unwieldy
in the past but I think with this
concept of digital twins now yeah which
is not just the 3D CAD model no no it
replicates everything the raw materials
going into the machine the variabilities
the humidity of the atmosphere yes even
the variability of The
Operators and the maintenance schedules
and all these things are
um you was on about trying to get
something to Market quicker yeah and I
think this is really really going to
underpin getting I guess you're almost
commercial solutions to Market much yeah
at the stage of even a box fresh Factory
that you know is going to work to
standard from day one yes you know
without all the long prototyping and
commissioning and all these things and
yeah I think that's a an important
technology that's really going to help
accelerate
yeah overcoming these challenges very
much so yeah so so looking sort of the
bigger picture um so digitalization and
AI a changing the rules in the
manufacturing you know and distribution
and selling of products almost across
the board here AR there it's complex
supply chain yeah we mentioned that
there's a lot of processes within it and
you know um it's starting to become more
common place yeah you know um the
barriers is
incompatibility and getting cross
industry buying yes which has always
been a headache um what again with
digital twins what I'm now seeing now is
a creation of the data that digital
twins are um getting from the real life
Machinery yes there is a vast amount of
secondary data out there now that other
developers are using up and down the
supply chain yeah yeah so it's assisting
them so you know um developers further
down the supply chain have a much better
idea on the material character
istics um with all the secondary data
than than they did have yes so I think
you know um we've we've always been good
at collecting data we've never been very
good at at actually doing anything with
it but I'm actually starting to see um
you know um polarization of pockets of
Industry now saying look we've got all
this data it's really really useful bit
like what very VD have done and they're
actually
having allowing the rest of the supply
chain to have access to some of that
data yes yeah yeah it's very important
not only help marketing but um you know
help other the production process yeah
and then you've got the machine learning
assisting that at the same time you know
the machine teaching that's exactly it's
the teaching it takes time I think
everybody expects you know a piece of AI
Machinery algorithms generate the're
babies out they you got to tell them
what to do all yeah but you also have to
tell them what not to do I found that
recently uh with some of our members on
the developments that they've been doing
that you actually have to teach you know
the machine learning algorithms look you
don't if if if it's done like this this
is not acceptable yeah so to ad that
it's quite an interesting it is it is
it's an interesting one but um yeah I
mean in a way it's all of this that's
taking place all these new tools are
promising a shift from Fast fashion
this this is this is general you know
about making only what's being ordered
on demand selling of products largely
via
online systems I mean it's happened with
digital printing already I think you
know there there are a lot of um people
operating in that field I mean I can see
a you know the ideal world is a lot of
micro factories and small players in uh
networking together um to deliver to
deliver products um we all want Mass
customization we all want to wear
something unique or have some fabric
That's Unique um we want it
yesterday was a case at a lower price
you know uh I like to call it predictive
fulfillment you don't know you want it
but you got it you got it yeah yeah you
think I'm glad yeah um and and I think
that you know um with AI um and digital
twins I I I think you know it be able to
predict at a higher level what
microfactory partners are best at
delivering the service yeah and on a
global level yeah I'm not saying it will
it will replace um you know purchases um
but it will system very very much on uh
their agility to swap the the supply
chain will be a lot more Dynamic yes
yeah and reacting as a result reac to it
I mean the aim is obviously a more
sustainable and less wasteful supply
chain but then we get to the elephant in
the room really don't we you know it's
it's currently having an unintended
negative impact really these algorithms
are Emer are just allowing the emergence
of even faster faster fashion at present
how we're going to put the break on that
well the technolog is neutral isn't it
um it depends on the intentions of those
using it I mean yeah it's a bit like you
know the buying a car analogy you know I
can buy a car and that could drive it
recklessly but the manufacturer never
intended no no I guess not that so um I
mean as far as near Shing going you it's
not what's happening you've got all the
Clusters in
China who were able to respond so
quickly to what's just Leever leveraging
the technology that it becomes very very
attractive right Brands to um be able to
offer you know a much more attractive
proposition right right yeah yeah so you
think we're looking at digital networks
as smaller players and microfactories
eventually coming through I mean there
is some evidence of it happening of it
um I don't think it will all be like
that but we we have to develop digital
technology um for the masses yeah yeah
highly customized yeah um but compatible
you know so you're facing these
dichotomies all the way through the The
Innovation
process the best
outcomes
yeah um I mean I think another thing
that that maybe should be mentioned is
is the importance of open Innovation
here you know for the past 50 years
automation systems just being locked
proprietary you know and and driven by
Hardware making them difficult to
integrate with new it
applications uh it's hard to change them
Demands a lot of labor intensive
versus
Androids versus betax yeah but these
these automation systems that are coming
through a vendor agnostic you know it's
decoupling the hardware from the control
application software and I think it'll
make a huge difference to what
people perceive that is is going to work
for them in terms of Automation and I
think the industry mindset is has has
shifted a little bit in recent years as
well you know for machinery manufactur
is my experience was you know you you
gain a competitive Advantage by locking
people into your digital ecosystem yeah
yeah uh but then you suddenly become
aware that the industry is so rapidly
expanding the supply chains are getting
so complex that unless you are a massive
massive player who can um Supply from
from fiber to finish it then um you're
actually starting to exclude yourself
now bying people you know companies out
of your with with your you know digital
eem that's right yeah it's an
interesting so it is it is an
interesting um fall through the future
it's a fast moving situation isn't it at
the moment when you think about it I
mean I think 10 years from now it's
going to be unrecognizable from what
we've got today um what I will say
though is you know um the BTA member
member companies are are world leaders
in what they're doing with um digital
Innovation yeah uh we're helping support
them as well getting into new digital
Technologies like augmented reality and
virtual reties by running accessibility
workshops yeah for them because a lot of
them are smmes they haven't got the time
the knowledge or able to attract the
funding needed to support some of these
projects so we've got um we've got a a
member working group on digital
technology access right um has been
formed and that's that's making in roads
on making this technology more
accessible um but I think it's just
important for everybody to know what we
are doing um on the digital side of
things yeah um it's very established
it's very well received within the
industry it's used around the world yes
and uh we we've got to T that to the
next steps and and our biggest
challenges are are is Recycling and
sorting yeah yeah that's why we're going
next yeah yeah Jason it's been great app
really
good general not ramble too much we can
always ramble I think between us but
yeah no thanks thanks very much for your
time this morning it's it's been
instructive a pleasure thank you okay
thank you