LEIPZIG, Germany — October, 7, 2015 — For German manufacturers of garment and leather technology, 2014 was an extremely successful year: Sales were up 27 per cent in real terms on the previous year and incoming orders rose by 16 per cent in real terms, as well. Also in 2015, the demand for German garment and leather technology has been high so far.
Further Growth In Sales And Revenue In 2015
“From January to August 2015, sales had already increased by 6.5 per cent in real terms, as had incoming orders by 2.8 per cent,” said Elgar Straub, Managing Director of VDMA Garment and Leather Technology, on the occasion of the Garment and Leather Industry Meeting held on October 7 in Leipzig. “Especially in internationally turbulent times, these figures highlight the global success of German manufacturers of garment and leather technology,” continued Straub. “The customer branches of garment and leather technology continue to invest in the renewal of their production lines all over the world.” Flexibility, productivity, sustainability and highest quality standards are the main reasons why solutions of German high technology suppliers are in great demand on a global level.
VDMA Garment and Leather Technology Association includes the sections Sewing and Garment Technology, Shoe and Leather Technology, Laundry and Dry-cleaning Technology as well as Processing of Technical Textiles. In the last year, exports of German garment and leather technology could be increased in total by 4 per cent from 708 million Euros to 738 million Euros. The main destination countries were China, the US and France.
Industrie 4.0 And Serial Production With Batch Size 1
Due to factors such as flexibility and rapid industrial development within the sector, but also continuous cost optimization, the garment industry and other textile processing industries are facing new challenges. Those factors also motivate Industrie 4.0. Already at this stage, garment production faces a digital interconnection of design, production and logistics. IT solutions are increasingly implemented along the entire value chain and are therefore considered to be an important innovation driver within the sector, constantly optimizing the value creation process.
Communication of workpieces and processing machines, thus “serial production with batch size 1” has almost become reality in the garment sector and other customer branches.
„To meet the challenges of this important issue, the VDMA Garment and Leather Technology set up a Task Force Industrie 4.0 consisting of member companies and their customers,” said Straub. “The opportunities which this group of experts considers for the entire garment technology and industry are relocation of the production of high and medium priced products, creation of flexible production lines as well as cross-department definition of interfaces between machines and IT.”
Posted October 13, 2015
Source: VDMA
