India ITME Society has announced free Virtual Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) exclusively for India ITME 2021 exhibitors on 4th & 5th December 2020. Since the flagship textile machinery exhibition “India ITME” scheduled in December 2020 had been postponed to 8th – 13th December 2021, in lieu of this postponed business event this interim Virtual Buyer Seller Meet is organized to bring back momentum to the networking & revitalize customer connect from the comfort of home / office.
On 3rd December, a day prior to BSM, India ITME is organising a Virtual Technical Seminar which is expected to be attended by over 1000 industry professionals from across the world. As part of the technical seminar, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Yves-Simon Gloy will be conducting the Knowledge Session on the topic “Lot Size 1 – The Wish to Make It Right for All Customers”.
Prof. Gloy studied mechanical engineering with a specialization in textile mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen, France and Canada. After receiving his diploma, he did his doctorate at the RWTH Aachen Institute for Textile Technology on the subject of “Self-optimization in the weaving process”. Then he did research as a post-doc at the institute. Most recently, he was a member of the ITA’s executive board, where he heads the textile machinery / production technology division. During 2018-2019 Prof. Gloy worked as Managing Scientific Director at the Saxon Textile Research Institute (STFI) in Chemnitz. At the RWTH Aachen, he habilitated in 2019 on the topic “Industry 4.0 in textile technology”. He is also active in numerous committees and as an expert. He is an Adjunct Prof at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA. He is the author of over 260 specialist articles. Since 2020 he has been active as a senior consultant for Gherzi van Delden GmbH, Chemnitz and as an entrepreneur is dedicated to the topic of Production on Demand in Berlin.
In an exclusive chat, Prof. Gloy spoke in detail about how changing customer preferences and the relevance of the Lot Size 1 approach for the textile industry.
Here are the edited excerpts.
Beginning the interaction by offering an overview of the topic and how it impacts the textile industry, Prof. Gloy explains: “In order to produce textiles economically and successfully, modern and highly efficient means of production are usually used. Air jet looms z. For example, rattle easily at 1400 rpm in continuous operation. These means of production along the textile chain function in the sense of an economies of scale. A planning-oriented approach is often used as a basis: centralized knowledge management and a strong use of resources. It’s about synchronized processes, standardized products and high-frequency production.”
“Lot size 1 runs counter to this approach. The means of production should be able to produce an individualized product every time. A lot of article changes and set-up times are associated with this. Production scientists speak of an economies of scope. It’s about aspects like one price flow, flexibility, dynamic and more complex product creation processes. This is often based on a value orientation approach: decentralized near-process decision making, elimination of waste, standardized methods,” he adds.
“Both approaches are justified and offer advantages and disadvantages. It will be interesting to overcome this polylemma in the production of textiles and to manufacture them in batch size 1 using mass production methods. So, this promises to combine the advantages of the approaches.”
Lot Size 1 is the complete opposite of mass production. Does Prof. Gloy think the change is already taking place? Answering in the affirmative he says: “Yes, it is already taking place. Companies are experimenting with the best way to resolve this polylemma. E.g. adidas with this approach has Storefactory – knit for you or MyZXFLux. Recently H&M jumped on this concept and is experimenting with individual denim production.”
“All these implementations are accompanied by adaptations to the means of production in an evolutionary way. In production planning, product design and customer interaction, digitization and Industry 4.0 solutions are more and more used. As always, it is interesting to take a look at other industries. There are very successful solutions in the automotive or food (mymuesli) sector,” he pointed out.
Driving factors
Elaborating on what is driving the need for such a change in production and consumption of textiles and apparels, Prof. Gloy reveals: “A big driver in B2C is the great desire to express individuality. In many cultures around the world, this is a strong value and driving force of the respective society. A nice example of this are row houses in Germany, which initially look more or less the same as desired. But as if by magic, the residents customize their house over the years and beautify it with additions and colours. In the B2B area, it is simply the large variety of different questions from a wide variety of industries for which textile products provide the right answers. For example, a narrow fabric that is used as a headband for protective masks, knee brace or retaining belt in the car.”
Sharing some examples of product categories in which this concept is becoming increasingly relevant Prof. Gloy mentions: “In my opinion, it is above all consumer goods, i.e. clothing, shoes, accessories, and home textiles, which are affected. In the field of technical textiles, it is about the fulfilment of technical functionalities and less about the satisfaction of needs for individuality. This area is also more strongly shaped and specified by standards.”
“But exciting things are happening in the field of special machine construction. Another exciting area is medical technology, where textiles enable customer-specific treatments. The trends described can already be observed strongly in high-wage countries, but are by no means limited to these countries,” he adds.
Sharing his views on whether this approach will result in reduced need for mass production of textiles and garments and a move into more customer specific products, Prof. Gloy observed that many philosophies will certainly prevail on the market, in the extremes and in all the gradations in between.
“So, there will always be textiles that are mass-produced and which are strong and tailored to individual needs. Certainly, there will be solutions which reduce the polylemma described above, but not which can resolve it forever. Much can be successful in the market as long as it is based on a valid business model,” he says indicating the possibilities.
Prof. Gloy feels that it is important for textile engineering students who are looking to enter the world of textiles to understand and estimate consumer preference.
“The consumer pays for your products, his demand is driving your business. It was never a bad idea to put the customer first. Besides that, a fundamental understanding of textile production technologies and ways for Lot 1 production will for sure help the students to give answers to upcoming question in textile production. The capability to design and evaluate technologies will help a lot. And I always advise be critical! Asks for! Check the premise! And then bring a better answer in the synthesis”, he opines.
With specific reference to markets like India, does he think that the concept of Lot size 1 is already relevant? With the increase in ecommerce, does Prof. Gloy see this concept becoming more relevant? Replying to these key questions, he remarked that like a lot of developments, it will take it time, but it is becoming more and more relevant.
“Especially e-commerce is a booster for these developments. The customer can visit your shop 24 hours a day, worldwide and configure easily on a PC or a smart personal device his product. He can easily share his design with friends. And at the end he can even more quickly share pictures of the product over social media. Is there a better way for marketing?”, he said highlighting the enormous opportunities that are possible with the concept.