General details
EDIHs involved
Challenges
CANMARTEX’s main activity is the development and design of new technologies for large diameter circular knitting machinery. CANMARTEX identified a challenge in the sector: Every year, 100 billion kgs of knitted fabric are produced worldwide. Between 5-10% of this fabric is rejected due to defects caused during knitting. Current control systems are based on the detection of events that generate a machine stoppage, such as the breakage of a thread or a needle, but there are other incidents that once occurred escape the control of the devices implemented in the machinery. These defects are only detected at the final inspection after the fabric has been dyed and before cutting. Multiple causes trigger the appearance of defects in the fabric, some produce specific irregularities such as fibre accumulation or material contamination in spinning. Others generate continuous errors caused by irregular twisting, texturing or dough in spinning. The current detection of defects is carried out after weaving meaning late detection is common and, the consequent volume of fabric manufactured in a defective manner becomes industrial waste.
It has been calculated that the cost of the wasted material due to defects not detected on the knotted process jumps from €1 (if detected just after knitting) to €6 when detected at the end of the production process of the fabric. Therefore, the challenge faced by CANMARTEX was to improve the early detection of different kinds of defects in order to improve economic efficiency and cut down on industrial waste.
Solutions
Given the complexity of the challenge, CANMARTEX concluded that specialised knowledge on advanced manufacturing technologies was required. As CANMARTEX did not have knowledge or experience in this field, the company approached Eurecat, the entity leading the Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics node of the DIH4CAT EDIH, and with proven knowledge and expertise in this field.
The main objective of the project developed between CANMARTEX and Eurecat was to design and implement a total predictive quality control system to minimise fabric defects while the fabric is been knitted. Through the use of new techniques, such as state-of-the-art sensors, specific vision and image treatment algorithms and Predictive Quality Models, the developed solution identifies in real time the status and wear of critical machine components such as needles and plaits, as well as verifying the quality of the fabric that is been produced. The predictive quality system developed deals with the exhaustive and constant review of production, managing the self-correction of the elements involved in production and, if required, stopping the production and notifying it immediately to optimise the use of machinery and material consumption.
The co-operation started in 2019. The technologies to be used to address the challenge were identified. The DIH4CAT supported the project through investing in the initial proof of concept of the different technologies to be used for plaits wear detection and needles wear detection, The good results obtained with the Prove of Concept, lead to the full development of the solution and its presentation at the ITMA 2023 Exhibition raising great interest and expectations both in fabric producers as well as other knitting machine manufacturers.
Results and Benefits
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As a consequence of the impact and huge interest received by potential users of the developed solution, CANMARTEX and Eurecat decided to jointly create a new company in order to bring the ARACNE solution to the market. The new company called ARACNE, was created in May 2023 and it is currently working with manufacturers setting up the first systems at industrial scale. CANMARTEX has invested over €500,000 in the development of the solution with internal funds allocated to the project (€361,787.50 was financed with a loan awarded by the programme Convocatoria Retos-Colaboración 2019 awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities from 2020 to 2023), whilst DIH4CAT has supported the company with several financial instruments adding a further €91,725 to the investment. Details hereunder:
As a result of the developments undertaken with the above resources, the results of the cooperation between CANMARTEX and Eurecat are listed hereunder;
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Perceived social/economic impact
The impact of the technology developed by Canmartex is very important. It directly affects a sector in question (textile manufacturing) which is deeply in crisis and where there is an urgent need to reduce environmental impact. The approach taken is also new and complementary to circular economy, bio materials, eco-design and recyclability, and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. As a result of this solution the resilience of companies in the knitting industry is also improved, through the improvement of their competitiveness and productivity. The approach of the developed solution is to act on the origin of the problem (what produces the defects) and eliminate the possibility of rejected material due to faults on the fabric, has a very large direct impact. The textile sector is growing and deploying advanced digital solutions such as ARACNE (the brand name of the developed solution between CANMARTEX and Eurecat) in this sector will undoubtedly have a very high impact on the environment.
The ARACNE solution has been developed considering machinery that could be in some cases 30 years old. The ARACNE solution can be deployed on machines currently in use, allowing textile producers to increase their digitisation level.
Measurable data
With regards CANMARTEX, the ARACNE project has resulted in:
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A 20% increase in sales of machinery from 2022.
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An increase of 10% in the price of the machines which has led to a higher turnover related to the increase in sales and the added-value of the product.
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The new company ARACNE will employ 4 people in 2024 specialised on data related advanced digital technologies.
Fabrics can have multiple defects such as holes, scratches or stains during manufacture that result in parts that need to be discarded.
The number of UNDETECTED defects produced during the FABRIC PROCESS ranges from 2% to 15%, depending on the item, material or process There are other defects associated with external processes such as dyeing and cutting that accumulate defects. Only a small percentage of manufacturing is inspected, randomly and mostly manually.
It is estimated that a defect generated during the weaving process, UNDETECTED, if it reaches the garment, multiplies its cost by 6. The economic losses can be millions, depending on the number of machines that the company has.
For instance: each machine produces approximately 900 kg of waste per year. An average knitting company has more than 100 machines in a production plant, so the loss in waste is 90,000 tons of material per year, which in direct cost (6 euros per kilo) means almost 600,000 euros in raw material alone. In these costs are NOT considered, neither the cost of energy nor human labour.
During the project, over a thousand samples of fabrics with defects were analysed to identify the cause of the defects. 41% of the defects were caused by wear, breakage, twisting of mechanical elements (needles and sinkers). All these defects can be avoided with the Predictive Needle Control System and the Predictive Qualitative Sinker Control System developed by CANMARTEX and Eurecat Combining the different technologies developed on the project as a predictive and detection solution, we can predict more than 50% of defects before the fabric is made and avoid another 15% of the defects with photonic regulation systems before the start of production. The rest of the defects (35%) are detected in the machine itself with an advanced vision system, so we can affirm that 100% of the defects are identified during the weaving process.
DMA score and results - Stage 0
Result of DM0: Digital Maturity Level: 62%
Lessons learned
SMEs have great potential due to their agility and knowledge of the industrial domain in which they work, but they do not have deep knowledge of the advanced digital technologies Industry. Cooperation between SMEs and specialised research centres that have an intense understanding of technologies has proven to be a successful strategy to speed up innovation. However, for this to work, there is a need for an ecosystem that allows such close collaboration: Involved parties must be prepared to collaborate, to listen and take in to account what are the specific challenges of the market. A partnership between an SME and a knowledge centre, such as an EDIH, is a very effective way to be able to develop a high-impact project.
Other Information
NOTE: The ARACNE solution has been presented in different trade fairs and has received numerous awards for its innovative approach in resolving a challenge in the market. It is worth highlighting that ARACNE was selected at the ITMA 2023 for the Innovator Xchange and for the Innovation Video Showcase, as well as receiving the Award “Best IA solution applied to industrial manufacturing” Factories of The Future at ADVANCED FACTORIES 2023.
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