Sewing as technology
With the outburst of Industry 4.0, the textile industry is witnessing the outbreak of innovations in sewing process. These innovations are transitioning the status of textile manufacturers from being manually relied to tech and digitally focused. Apart from helping in shortening time to market, these trends have taken competition to the next level, which surely will become a survival necessity in the coming future.
Pedal less sewing
Foot pedals in sewing machine is one area where sewing machine operators spend most of their time to get control while sewing complex stitches and the critical parts. The industrial sewing machines are slowly coming up with the concept of pedal less sewing machine, rendering electronic control of stitches.
The first sensor-based technology that offers full control over industrial sewing machines without pedals. The natural working movements of the users are mapped as if by an invisible hand and the data collected used to begin the new step.
Another sewing machine provider that is providing the option of pedal less sewing. In its C4 overlock machine, it offers three operation modes – full intelligent mode, semi-intelligent mode and computerized mode. In full intelligent mode, machine can work automatically without foot.
Automatic bobbin changer
A single needle lockstitch operating at high efficiency comes to a sudden halt when the bobbin thread is consumed fully and requires replacement with a new bobbin. Usually carried out manually, the process consumes additional time rendering a plunge in productivity.
For uninterrupted sewing, automatic bobbin changers are becoming the need of the hour. The technology has successfully commercialized the use of automatic bobbin changers which stocks eight bobbins in the exchange plate and can be integrated with SNLS machines.
Embroidery machines, on one hand, are finding greater utility of automatic bobbin changers while the industrial sewing machines are still new to this. The Smart Bobbin Changer can take only 6 seconds to replace the bobbins for all heads, reducing the downtime of the machine due to bobbin replacement. Another embroidery machine player, can also employs pneumatic bobbin changer in its embroidery machines. Recently it has announced auto bobbin changer in its single needle lockstitch model.
Real-time monitoring in sewing machines
The textile industry is now moving fiercely towards Industry 4.0 and digitalization is one outcome of the same. With discrete gonotrophic locations of textile units, it becomes almost difficult to control and monitor the status of production. Real-time monitoring is what textile industry is harnessing the most out of shop floor.
The smart sewing machines are networked over a server which can be viewed over a smartphone or a tablet, from anywhere in the world. The intelligent machine network solution allows to view the status of a whole production line or even a single machine in real time. This real-time status not only helps in the detection of probable obstructions during production but also mentions the scope of productivity improvement.
