The textile industry plays a crucial role in the global industry. The global textile market size was valued at USD 993.6 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0% from 2022 to 2030 [1]. Increasing demand for textile supply chain over years turned this industry to implement a vertically organized, sustainable value chain which was being aided by trends such as sustainability and digitalization. The textile industry works on many major principles and processes which require digitalization implementation in their sector.
Prior to high demand and fast fashion trends in the textile industry, the adoption of digitalization is one of the greatest opportunities that help the retail sector. According to findings by van et al (2022) [2]
, IoT-based WMS can be used to manage a complex and integrated supply chain network by modeling it into simpler structures that are equally understandable by the developers, as well as the business owner. The prototype system integrated with the IoT was successfully deployed within a textile factory’s warehouse which helps in the enhancement of system efficiency by the installation of the scanner to efficiently track the goods status hence reducing in time taken in storing goods in the inventory and easy the updating process for a good recording. The smart warehouse system can keep track of their orders and shipments at any time during the order booking till the checking out of the product from the inventory. This gives it an edge over traditional warehouses with no IoT integrated.
On other hand, digitalization also has been incorporated into the newest smart technology in the textile industry. Smart textiles consist of discrete devices fabricated from—or incorporated onto—fibers. One of the applications of smart textile is a fully operational 46-inch smart textile lighting/display system consisting of RGB fibrous LEDs coupled with multifunctional fiber devices that are capable of wireless power transmission, touch sensing, photodetection, environmental/bio signal monitoring, and energy storage [3]. The systematic design and integration strategies are transformational and provide the foundation for realizing highly functional smart lighting/display textiles over large area for revolutionary applications on smart homes and internet of things (IoT).
Smart textile-integrated microelectronic systems (STIMES), which combine microelectronics and technology such as artificial intelligence and augmented or virtual reality, have been intensively explored [4]. Several main aspects are covered: functional materials, major fabrication processes of smart textile components, functional devices, system architectures and heterogeneous integration, wearable applications in human and nonhuman-related areas, and the safety and security of STIMES. The major types of textile-integrated nonconventional functional devices are sensors, actuators, displays, antennas, energy harvesters and their hybrids, batteries and supercapacitors, circuit boards, and memory device. Through sensory application, NADI X, a pair of yoga trousers with built-in sensors that vibrate to bring users into alignment as they move through various yoga positions, include digital capabilities that facilitate communication between retailer and client [5]. As we enter step the new industrial revolution, global retail decision makers are willing to use the Internet of Things to enhance consumer experiences. Digitalization helps textile industry in many aspects of things.
DTAM projects will help many other industries aiming to implement digitalization in their organizations and more professional people will be trained to cater the demand.
References
[1] Pandey, D., Retail Marketing: A Critical Analysis.
2020.
[2] van Geest, M., B. Tekinerdogan, and C. Catal, Smart Warehouses: Rationale, Challenges and Solution Directions. Applied Sciences, 2022. 12(1): p. 219.
[3] Choi, H.W., et al., Smart textile lighting/display system with multifunctional fibre devices for large scale smart home and IoT applications. Nature Communications, 2022. 13(1): p. 814.
[4] Shi, J., et al., Smart Textile-Integrated Microelectronic
Systems for Wearable Applications. Advanced Materials, 2020. 32(5): p. 1901958.
[5] https://www.wearablex.com/pages/how-it-works
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