Robots aim for a new job: sewing blue jeans
Researchers have yet to develop a robot that can handle most of the highly flexible fabrics like humans manipulate them with their fingers. But a German company has developed a robot that can sew jeans.
denim is also too soft to no robot can handle during the stitching process, but the inventor of a startup did not further fine-tune the robot, but reinforced the denim with chemicals. Robots can handle hardened fabrics like they would be with car bumpers. After the stitching is complete, the garment will be washed to restore the original softness of the jeans. This experiment has excited those who hope to bring clothing production back to Europe and the United States.
After the prototype, the manufacturer has started mass production. They received orders from a jeans manufacturer in Los Angeles to produce jeans on a mass scale in the United States. Some well-known jean brands have also shown interest in robotic jeans manufacturing machines, including Levi Straus Co.
Although every Western clothing brand that outsources clothing to developing economies in Asia and Africa is also very eager to bring sewing back to its home country. However, they did not talk about it openly because it caused a shock wave among clothing workers in low-cost countries. Even a Levi spokesperson simply confirmed that the company was involved in the early stages of denim production through robotic machines, but refused to talk further.
The apparel industry is a value of over $1 trillion, while the textile industry is the only industry in the world with a turnover of over $1 trillion but not yet fully automated. Jeans are an important part of clothing manufacturing. The shift in denim production to advanced economies will accelerate research to make robotic sewing machines for other fabrics.
