ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on automation and robotics in the garment manufacturing industry for cutting, spreading, and sewing. To contextualise the development of automation in the garment manufacturing industry, the chapter will open with a brief history of automation and industrial change from the 1950s and concurrent advancement in mechanised, semi-automated, and automated sewing machine systems and automated cutting and spreading technology. The chapter will consider the challenges of automating interchangeable designs and non-standard materials as well as the current drivers of automation in the apparel industry, including increasing labour costs, pressure from consumers to meet sustainable manufacture through localising manufacture, on-demand manufacture plus the positive developments in computer hardware, software, AI, and robots that have also acted as enablers of automation. The chapter will move on to provide a review of the latest advances in sewing, cutting and spreading automation and will finally consider the future of automation in the apparel manufacturing industry. To provide the most current insights regarding recent and emerging advancements, key contributors include representatives from PFAFF, JUKI, Durkoff Adler, Yamato, Mitsubishi, and Vi BE Mac, who were interviewed at the Texprocess industrial machinery exhibition in Frankfurt in June 2022, and also Jonas Hillenburg Vention.
