A project led by UKFT Scotland and Paulius Stugla at Strathclyde University.

A systematic investigation of literature within the research area have provided sufficient evidence that Industry 4.0 is creating a positive impact towards improving textile manufacturing. It is also evident that most of these scientific contributions are making an impact towards more sustainable manufacturing principles. However, the industry is seen to have realised only some fractions of the possible Industry 4.0 benefits.

To date, there are very few examples of textile manufacturers working towards a company-wide digital infrastructure. Companies tend to digitalise only certain manufacturing processes via commercial products or services that are available specifically for the textile industry. Functional examples of some Industry 4.0 technologies applied within textile manufacturing are found mainly on the academic level.

There are also some survey publications that closely relate to this research project. These investigate the sustainability factor within textile manufacturing and Industry 4.0, although apply mainly to mass manufacturing.

The research identified that Industry 4.0 as an enabler to be more sustainable within textile manufacturing is already being explored yet applied to the industry to a very limited extent. A methodology for helping manufacturers apply these benefits in practice is currently being developed and case studies will be the focus of the coming year