From 1994 to 2005, the US lost more than 900,000 textile and apparel jobs to offshoring. Fast-forward to 2018. The pendulum is swinging back and textiles are returning as lean, highly automated, environmentally conscious production facilities. Within the last six years, there have been significant announcements by foreign-owned textile companies investing in the US, with site selection choices clustered in the Southeast, including the first Chinese-owned Cut Make Trim factory in Arkansas.
Despite this industry reversal, the seamstresses are not returning. While the knowledge can be shared to upskill workers, people don’t have the desire to work in a traditional textile factory.
To solve this and accelerate the growth of US-based textile manufacturing, Softwear Automation is announcing SEWBOTS-as-a-Service, a rental lease service to allow manufacturers, brands and retailers to source and manufacture here in the US at a lower cost than outsourcing and with greater predictability and quality. While everyone understands the benefits of “Made in America”, the focus of this program is to offer US textile manufacturing more control, greater margin, faster turn times and less inventory.
SEWBOTS-as-a-Service creates immediate ROI benefits while enabling scale across retailer, brand, and manufacturer. For a monthly fee starting at $5,000 per robot, a factory can add annual production capacity of up to one million units (product dependent). This enables a manufacturer to bring on a Sewbot for just over $55/shift (based on 7 days a week and 3 shifts a day).
SEWBOTS-as-a-Service is focused on bringing scale to basic sewn goods production within the country of destination (a local supply chain). This focus allows manufacturers to move current seamstresses to premium products while creating a more reactive, reliable and sustainable textile ecosystem.