Posted February 24, 2015
By Devin Steele (DSteele@eTextileCommunications.com)
RALEIGH, N.C. – Complete garment knitting technology isn’t a new concept, but it continues to make strides in revolutionizing knit apparel production – a big plus for U.S. companies seeking gain a competitive edge.
Shima Seiki Ltd., a Wakayama, Japan-based machinery maker with U.S. headquarters in Monroe Township, N.J., demonstrated its latest advances in versatility and speed in its WHOLEGARMENT® technology and all-in-one design system last week at North Carolina State University’s College of Textiles. A number of textile and apparel company representatives attended the two-day event, which featured two Mach2X computerized flat knitting machines of different widths, along with the smaller version, the SWG021 capable of producing smaller 3D textiles. Also demoed was the SDS-ONE APEX3 design system.
A knitted garment typically consists of separate pieces – the front and back panels and the sleeves – that are sewn together afterward. The WHOLEGARMENT machines, however, produce one-piece, three-dimensional garments, which require little or no post-production labor. This also results in less waste and, ultimately, a more comfortable garment that lacks the “bump” that comes with a seam and offers better performance.
“Our latest machines have the capability of 3D knitting, which can produce most any shape while eliminating the sewing process,” said Matt Llewellyn, Shima Seiki vice president. “This is most beneficial for industries such as high-performance clothing, industrial, medical and many more textile sectors. By eliminating much of the labor and manufacturing a higher performance product, the U.S. market can be more competitive.”
N.C. State event
Shima Seiki demos WHOLEGARMENT® technology
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Michelle Letendre of LMS Textile Consulting, LLC Brighton, Mich., and Matt Llewellyn of Shima Seiki USA view a loom in the weaving lab.
Representatives of Worldwide Protective Products watch a machine in a College of Textiles lab.
Dr. Lisa Parrillo Chapman (L) of NCSU and Luciana Davies of LMS Textile Consulting, LLC view a machine in the lab.
Michelle Letendre of LMS Textile Consulting, LLC Brighton, Mich., and Matt Llewellyn of Shima Seiki USA view a loom in the weaving lab.
“This opens the door to new performance textiles in many new markets,” he said. “With the increasing demand for specialty textiles and new high-performance apparel, our machinery can offer the solution to the next generation of advanced textiles.”
North American presence, N.C. State partnership
Currently, Shima Seiki has 79 customers using its machinery and design systems in North America, with more than 6,000 knitting machines in use. In addition to sales and support of machines and textile design systems, the company has R&D capabilities and promotional production of its latest WHOLEGARMENT machinery in the U.S.
Shima Seiki USA, which was incorporated in 1985, has 40 employees based in New Jersey, New York and California. Its New Jersey base was chosen because of the proximity of flatbed knitting mills in Philadelphia and New York, Llewellyn said.
“Since that time, these knitting markets shrunk due to imported textiles, but with the growth of industrial, medical, safety and existing apparel manufacturers, we expanded our presence in New York, California, Canada and Mexico,” he said.
Shima Seiki USA and NCSU’s College of Textiles have a long relationship. The school purchased its first WHOLEGARMENT and fully fashion machines more than a dozen years ago. Since then, N.C. State has begun utilizing Shima Seiki’s latest machinery that was shown at the open house.
For more than a year, the company has hosted frequent seminars at the College of Textiles to educate and inform the industry on the latest capabilities of flatbed knitting such as 3D shaping, WHOLEGARMENT and the use of high-performance specialty fibers that were previously not possible to knit, Llewellyn said.
“N.C. State has been an amazing source of new talent entering the textile industry and a great source of knowledge for the industry through its Fundamentals of Textiles course,” he said.
Textile students use the design system to create design files to input into the machine to make garments, said Tyler Case, a Shima Seiki technician who was on hand for the event.
“Once you have the system and the machine mastered, you can pretty much knit anything you want to,” he said.
Also as part of the open house, attendees toured the College of Textiles labs.
The SWG021 (10 inches in bed width) specializes in apparel such as gloves, hats and scarves, or any garment small in nature.
Meanwhile, the capabilities of the SDS-ONE APEX3 advanced textile design and simulation workstation were also exhibited. The system is currently being used by mass retailers, factories and industrial/medical industries to eliminate or reduce many samples while drastically reducing the time to receive the samples from suppliers, Llewellyn said. Having this ability reduces costs and increases efficiency, and the Apex3 gives the designer more capabilities since the simulations are backed up with the technical specifications of the fabric to send to the factory, he added. The system can create or scan new yarns and simulate woven, flatbed and circular knit, along with prints, and many merchandising and fashion tools, he said.
Of note: The company’s new SRY183LP (not on show at N.C. State) is capable of inlaying fibers that were never before possible to input through a knitting machine, Llewellyn added. And specialty yarns such as metallic and monofilament yarns can be knit as well, expanding opportunities into areas other than fashion, he added.