july 8, 2015 the robotic sewing machine...title: microsoft word - robotic sewing machine by fbic...

1 Fung Business Intelligence Centre Global Retail & Technology Flash Report: Robotic Sewing Machine Copyright © 2015 The Fung Group. All rights reserved.

July 8, 2015

The Robotic Sewing Machine Soon, retailers may not have to wait for long periods for a clothing shipment to reach their country, thanks to the SAM–1000, an automatic sewing machine that will operate completely on its own, without a human operator. The SAM-‐1000 is being developed by a tech startup called SoftWear Automation, which aims to create “complete production facilities that produce garments with zero direct labor.” Very soon, a big industry that’s mostly offshore could come back onshore to the US.

The SAM-‐1000 machine is designed to cut fabric, assemble parts and stitch them into a complete garment. The US clothing import industry is worth nearly $80 billion, so if the machine succeeds in becoming part of the mainstream garment-‐manufacturing process, many exporting countries may be faced with a large, unemployed workforce.

Garment Manufacturing: A Brief Overview of the Current Process Creating a garment is an incredibly labor-‐intensive process. Even in this age of automation, human intervention is quite necessary through every stage of production. Outlined below are the main steps of the garment-‐manufacturing process:

Source: Textile Technology


Computer-‐aided design (CAD) software helps a manufacturer’s measuring department define the optimum layout of the different parts that need to be cut. Marks are made on the fabric according to this layout, so that wastage is minimized. The fabric is then stacked with the help of machines, and sent to the cutting area, where it’s cut into different parts by cutting machines operated by workers. The cut fabric is then bundled according to style, size and pattern, and sent to the sewing area.

At the sewing stage, there could be several stations, each performing just one operation, such as making hems to the edge of the fabric or sewing sleeves to the body fabric. Once the initial operations are completed, the different pieces are taken to a station where they’re assembled and stitched. Though machinery is involved in all the stages, the process is still heavily dependent on human operation.

The Need for Automation in This Industry Given that clothing needs to be modified according to season, purpose and consumer demand, large-‐scale production is especially labor-‐intensive. Partial automation has aided in faster production, improved quality and increased quantity, but it’s still not a viable option for several countries, including the US and the UK, where the costs of employing labor are high. As a result, these countries are heavily dependent on imports. It’s this dependence that SoftWear Automation hopes to address with the SAM-‐1000, allowing import-‐heavy countries to have their own production facilities that are not labor-‐intensive.

How the SAM-‐1000 Works Fabric, being a dynamic and flexible medium, has always been complex to work with compared to firm materials such as steel and wood. Even a cutting machine needs a human operator, as fabric can drape, stretch or fold, critically altering the finished garment.

When a design is fed into the SAM-‐1000 system, the machine’s high-‐speed camera and software allow it to pick out the individual threads and map their positions, like a grid. Based on the design, it programs the coordinates where the fabric should be cut. The “feed dog” gently pulls and adjusts the fabric through the machine to ensure that it is level and even throughout the process.

Source: SoftWear Automation

SoftWear Automation has also developed a materials-‐handling system, which it has named LOWRY. This system uses a vacuum grip to pick the fabric and other materials and deliver them to the appropriate machines. LOWRY is programmable, so it can be controlled to work with different kinds and sizes of materials.

Source:

SoftWear Automation


The Benefits of a Fully Automated Sewing Machine Replacing human operators with machinery has many advantages in garment manufacturing, especially in terms of output quality and the higher quantities that can be manufactured. There are other benefits, too:

• Onshore manufacturing reduces dependence on other countries.

• Shipping costs can be reduced significantly, translating to a lower-‐priced garment.

• Response time to changing consumer demands is faster, which accelerates speed to market.

• Output quality can be more standardized, as there is less room for human error and thus less wastage.

• Output quantity can be steady rather than varying according the number of workers on the production line.

• The level of customization can be high, as full automation removes the need for commitment to a minimum quantity.

Issues that Need to Be Addressed The SAM-‐1000 is still in a nascent stage of development, and while its advantages seem significant, there are several potential problems that SoftWear Automation must address before the machine becomes a commercial success:

• Initial investment costs in such machinery will be very high, and not all manufacturers may be able to afford it.

• Apart from raw material costs, manufacturers must pay for engineers and other staff with the necessary IT skills to build these machines.

• The machine needs to work with all kinds of material, fibers, yarns and fabrics.

• Sewing and cutting are just one part of the entire garment-‐manufacturing process; there are other stages that lead to a finished garment, and if human intervention is required for those stages, it will again increase costs, because manufacturers will have to hire local labor.

• Manufacturers will also have to hire staff with the appropriate IT skills to maintain and run the machines, which might mean additional training costs.

• The wider effect of such machinery could be fewer jobs in exporting countries—and increased unemployment would bring a whole lot of other problems with it.

• This machine could also reduce the number of jobs at home. If machines perform the entire process of making a garment, all workers currently employed in that area would also be out of a job.

FBIC’S VIEW While the SAM-‐1000 has several advantages and might revolutionize the garment-‐manufacturing industry as we know it, it may not bring the whole process back onshore to the US. The stages of garment manufacturing are complex, and added labor might be required for stages that do not involve cutting and sewing. In other words, this high-‐cost machine doesn’t strip out all the labor costs in making an item of clothing. Accordingly, we have our doubts that the SAM-‐1000 will bring garment production back to the US. In our view, it’s likely to remain cheaper to source abroad, at least in the near term.


Deborah Weinswig, CPA Executive Director—Head of Global Retail & Technology Fung Business Intelligence Centre New York: 917.655.6790 Hong Kong: +852 6119 1779 [email protected]

Cam Bolden [email protected] Sunny Chan, CFA [email protected] Tal Dor [email protected] Marie Driscoll, CFA [email protected] John Harmon, CFA [email protected] Aragorn Ho [email protected] John Mercer [email protected] Swarooprani Muralidhar [email protected] Charlie Poon [email protected] Kiril Popov [email protected] Stephanie Reilly [email protected] Lan Rosengard [email protected] Jing Wang [email protected]

july 8, 2015 the robotic sewing machine...title: microsoft word - robotic sewing machine by fbic...

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