Application of smart factory in the field of high-class garment production (Part 1)

The successful integration of artificial intelligence and intuitive control interface at Hugo Boss has opened up a great potential for development for high-end garment manufacturers.

High-end garments have a common feature: Many stages have to be done manually to ensure the quality of the output, so large quantities of production consume a lot of resources and effort. However, with the development of technology, many manual operations can now be accurately performed by the robot arm. In addition, flexibility in the production process can still be guaranteed thanks to the collaborative robot application (Co-bot). Operators now don’t need to be directly involved in the machining process, but instead control the robotic arms to create the product.

“The interesting thing is that technology helps us master machines, rather than vice versa,” said Joachim Hensch, chief executive of Hugo Boss. He oversees the factory in Izmir, one of four own production units with nearly 4,000 employees of Hugo Boss. This factory is part of the evolution of the fashion industry, where production must flexibly meet the needs of consumers. He often talked about his career as a tailor and quickly learned that fashion works differently than his imagination. In the 1990s and 2000s, consumers often follow and go directly to fashion stores to buy goods; However, with the advent of technology such as media, customers often contact via social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

“Cheaper” is not the only factor

In general, cheaper sourcing helps businesses increase profit margins, however, in this day and age, “cheaper” is not enough for businesses to stand firm. Change and relevance are now the most important. Therefore, the mass production cycle needs to be faster and more flexible to ensure it meets the needs of consumers. The birth of technology is the solution to the problem of progress and quality.

Basically, the garment industry is still heavily dependent on manual activities and human intervention, the processes have not been automated and many manufacturing brands are mostly hiring cheap labor. outside instead of applying advanced technologies with high cost. Hugo Boss’s smart factory is a typical example of a leap in the field of high-end garment production. Instead of a production process with many separate stages, the smart factory shows that the process involves only people and machines interacting with each other.

According to statistics at the business website, the factory produces 900,000 men’s suits a year as well as 2 million women’s shirts and 500,000. The plant has also begun to receive initial orders at pilot stores in Asia.

In a nutshell, Hugo Boss smart factory solution is at the forefront of applying technology to the apparel fashion manufacturing cycle, they will provide the products, services and knowledge necessary for businesses. others follow. It can be said that for each business, there will be its own ways of consulting, managing and training.

Productivity and Quality Office