Is My Job on The Line?

Ihave officially crossed the age barrier into “can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” There is a technological storm brewing that I am afraid I may not be able to grasp in the future. Soon, I will be the person who has to call in reenforcements – my kids. Until my father passed away at 93, I was his ‘IT guy,’ fixing the oddest of technological issues he had. One day he called to say, “My margins in Word are gone, come over and help me find them.” I found he had the document in “draft” mode.

This issue delves into various technological opportunities and challenges in the textile industry. It is a slow moving train to adapt AI, automation, robotics, apps, and more to this traditional industry. More machine-driven textile production that are shoe-ins, like advanced textiles, are even having issues on-boarding tech, but are still more apt to adopt automation.

Adrian Wilson explores “Just in Time” automation on page 18. This generally means ‘predictive fulfilment,’ which encapsulates everything AI – from generative design tools for enhancing creativity and streamlining initial process steps to quality and wastage control in manufacturing. He reports on companies who are proving the value of AI in the industry.

In Redefining Textile Waste Sorting, found on page 21, the ‘Transform Textile Waste into Feedstock’ project (initiated by TEXAID within the ReHubs initiative) conducted a technology assessment to identify the best available sorting techniques and processes for textile recycling, mainly in sensor-based parameter detection and digital product passports. The overall results identified key roadblocks: incomplete databases needed to run behind the technologies, and the inaccuracy and precision of the scanning. Their findings are very insightful.

In my interview on page 10 with Gilberto Loureiro, CEO and founder of Smartex, we drilled down to specifics in the application of AI to quality control and production processes in very traditional textile factory environments. Smartex has spent the last five years developing ‘there has to be a better way’ tech solutions to enable textile manufacturers to automatically detect textile flaws, identify production problems, and see real-time data in automated applications – replacing slow and inaccurate manual labor methods.

The company published, along with industry notables, “The Modern Textile Factory Report” (find at www.smartex.ai/ the-modern-textile-factory-report-2023) to empower the industry with knowledge, and to influence mind sets to engage with technology. Smartex investors include Anthony Fadell, father of the iPod and iPhone. A company to watch, for sure.

Also in this issue, Marie O’Mahony shares a review of the Advanced Textile Association’s EXPO 2023 on page 24. This year, space, wearables and medical market’s dominated, with many exhibitors (particularly e-textile) serving all three sectors. Her second feature on “Space Sportwear,” page 28, explores the influence of madefor-space textiles and what spacewear us earthlings can even wear! It is a great read.

So, are traditional jobs on the line as technology takes over? Probably. It will become a matter of how humans are needed to manage the technology. As for my job, ChatGBT AI is pervasive in the editorial content creation world. Maybe my future replacement will be an app. Who knows!

Caryn Smith Chief Content Officer & Publisher, INDA Media, IFJ