DAEGU — The Korea Textile Development Institute said on the 26th that it has completed and begun full operation of a micro factory that automates the entire process from textile design to weaving.
The project, supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Daegu city government to spur innovation in textile manufacturing, was built on artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain.
The institute said the significance lies in lowering the "digital transition barrier" long faced by smaller textile companies, by combining the whole process — from planning to production and on-site application — in one stop, including a virtual digital fabric design solution, automated weaving preparation and fabric production equipment, and one-on-one technical support from veteran specialists.
At the center of the micro factory is MetaFabric, a virtual digital fabric design solution.
MetaFabric allows companies to design fabrics on a computer screen before weaving actual material, checking appearance and physical properties in advance through three-dimensional simulation.
It is especially useful when companies discuss new product development with buyers, letting them adjust designs and specifications in real time using virtual fabric, which improves the chances that smaller textile firms will win actual orders.
To turn virtual design data directly into physical fabric production, the micro factory has also installed a lineup of automated fabric production equipment for each core process, including automatic sizing machines, automatic warping machines, automatic drawing-in machines and automatic weaving machines.
Cases of export contracts won through MetaFabric are already emerging.
TNI, a company specializing in functional and industrial fabrics, used the MetaFabric solution in the first half of this year to digitize its existing hand-drawn fabric design data, cutting its fabric design period by about a month from before.
TNI then held online consultations with a U.S. buyer using virtual fabric images produced through that process, and won an export contract after revisions and refinements made in real time.
"The micro factory is an intelligent automation system that provides tailored support for the individual needs of each company," said Kim Sung-man, president of the Korea Textile Development Institute. "We will do our utmost to help companies make active use of it in their business and build global competitiveness."