From the Sector

Eton Systems – a member of TMAS, the Swedish Textile Machinery Association – is taking part in the current Microfactories System Innovation project which is working on the development of a fully automated workflow for second hand garments.

Eton is contributing its well-proven transport system for material handling to the project, which also involves specialists at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, the Automation Region innovation cluster at Mälardalen University and the national collaboration platform iHubs Sweden.

High volumes
According to ThredUp’s 2025 Resale Report, the value of the global second-hand apparel market is already worth an annual $256 billion this year and growing at 10% annually to reach a value of $367 billion by 2029.

Additionally, the online resale segment alone is forecast to double over the next five years to around $40, billion reflecting higher growth of 17%.

“The volumes are now so large that handling must be automated for it to work,” says Jan Molin, CEO of Eton Systems. “The new EU regulations requiring separate collection of textiles are having an impact, but we are also seeing an increasingly positive attitude towards reuse and greater awareness of the textile industry’s environmental impact.”

AI categorisation
As part of the project, a test facility is being established at Science Park Borås involving garments being placed on custom product carriers within an Eton Systems conveyor system and transported through a series of stations. 

The garments are inspected using a vision system, after which AI is employed to categorise them based on parameters such as manufacturer, model and size. Any damage is analysed and the system also provides recommendations for possible repairs.

“The collected information is fed into a calculation model that, based on market data, makes suggestions for a sales price,” Molin explains. “Finally, the garment is photographed for marketing and then transported to a warehouse awaiting sale.”

Historic automation 
Eton’s material handling system was developed as early as the 1960s for the company’s own shirt production in Gånghester outside Borås. At the time, material handling was estimated to account for up to 80% of the manufacturing time. 

The company’s Unit Production System (UPS) was developed as an automated ceiling-mounted conveyor system that moved the shirts one by one through the various work steps, the company was able to move from mass production to one-off production.

“It provided many benefits, including shorter lead times, greatly reduced material handling time and better ergonomics for operators,” says Molin. “Quality defect costs were also reduced because defects could be detected on individual products instead of at the batch level.”

The UPS concept was very successful and in 1967 was spun off into the stand-alone automation company Eton Systems, which now runs its operations in a modern production facility in Nordskogen in Borås. Its customers are global with an emphasis on clothing production, home textiles and furniture manufacturing, but the system is also used in, for example, the transport and handling of plastic parts for the automotive industry.

Opportunities for Swedish industry
The textile industry has a major environmental impact, not least through extensive overproduction. Clothing companies often order large volumes from the manufacturers and what does not sell is sold out or destroyed. 

The Microfactories System Innovation project builds on previous projects that have mainly focused on developing small-scale, local and needs-based production. Now the focus is on the growing market for reuse.

“We see enormous potential in second hand,” says Molin. “It is an area that is growing rapidly and where there is room for innovation and new business models. There is also the opportunity to move technology from other industries.”

Work on the project started in 2024 and will continue for four years. For Eton Systems, participation means both a chance to test new applications for its technology and to strengthen the company’s ability to innovate.

“Collaboration with universities and innovation environments helps us to be at the forefront,” says Molin. “We can participate in freer and more visionary development, without having to take on all the work ourselves. But above all, it is about contributing to a more circular industry, where materials can be used for longer and in a smarter way.”

Accelerating circular systems
“It’s very encouraging to note this growing willingness by many consumers to embrace the second-hand market as an important component of the drive towards accelerating circular systems,” adds TMAS General Secretary Therese Premler-Andersson. “Automation and digitalization as developed by Swedish companies like Eton are increasingly innovating ways in which this market – and more generally textile manufacturing and retailing – can be sustained and made ever more efficient in the general fight against textile waste.”

The Microfactories System Innovation project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, Region Västra Götaland and Region Västmanland.

Electronics For Imaging, Inc. (EFI™) announced that it has signed an agreement for Fiery, LLC, to acquire all interests in Inèdit Software, the leading RIP (Raster Image Processor) and color management software company serving all brands of digital textile printers worldwide. Inèdit’s software products, including neoStampa, neoTextil and neoCatalog, serve the digital textile and specialty printing markets, and will enable Fiery to broaden its suite of solutions targeted at those markets. EFI Reggiani will continue its strong working relationship with Inèdit as an OEM partner.

“Fiery is a key OEM partner for EFI, supplying RIPs and color management tools for our packaging and display graphics businesses,” said Frank Pennisi, EFI’s CEO. “With this transaction, Fiery will now support our textile business as well, enabling EFI to focus on its core businesses of systems, production software, and ink. In addition, as part of Fiery, LLC, Inèdit will be able to take advantage of additional growth opportunities. We believe this transaction brings strong benefits to both companies while ensuring continued availability of software products that are important to the textile printing industry.”

Fiery plans to continue with the leading Inèdit brand as an independent product suite, supporting current and prospective partners and customers with its strong software development capabilities and deep understanding of the digital textile printing industry. Financial details and a timeline for completion of this transaction are not available at this time.

Leading Japanese computerized flat knitting technologist SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan, together with its sales representative in Saudi Arabia Star Sewing Machines Trading L.L.C., will participate in the upcoming 21st International Expo for Textile, Garment, Printing, Yarn and Fabric Machinery, Technology and Innovations (Saudi Stitch & Tex 2025) to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this month.

SHIMA SEIKI will be exhibiting at Saudi Stitch & Tex for the first time with a lineup of knitting machines and design software.

SWG®091N2
SHIMA SEIKI’s SWG®091N2 compact WHOLEGARMENT® knitting machine can produce a wide range of WHOLEGARMENT® items in their entirety without the need for linking or sewing. The SWG®-N2 series “Mini” range is suited to the production of small knit items and accessories such as gloves, socks, hats and scarves as well as pet wear, cozies, shoe uppers, bags, card cases, glasses cases, smartphone covers and other personal items, as well as functional items such as for sports and medical applications. At Saudi Stitch & Tex SWG®091N2 will be shown in 15 gauge.

N.SSR®112
N.SSR®112 is a computerized flat knitting machine that offers leading technology in an economical yet reliable package. Featuring industry-leading innovations such as the R2CARRIAGE® that yields quicker carriage returns for greater efficiency, spring-type moveable sinker system, DSCS® Digital Stitch Control System, stitch presser and takedown comb, Made-in-Japan quality, reliability and productivity, as well as user-friendliness and cost-performance combine to satisfy the high expectations of the world’s fashion industry. Shown in 12 gauge at Saudi Stitch & Tex, N.SSR®112 is even capable of WideGauge® knitting whereby a number of different gauges can be knit into a single garment.

SDS® KnitPaint-Online
KnitPaint is proven software used by knitting companies across the globe to create knitting data for programming SHIMA SEIKI computerized flat knitting machines. Previously available only as part of SHIMA SEIKI's SDS®-ONE APEX series all-in-one design system, with SDS® KnitPaint-Online, KnitPaint software becomes available as standalone software that carries over the same familiar KnitPaint functions, but enhanced with basic planning and design functionality as well.

APEXFiz®
SHIMA SEIKI’s APEXFiz® subscription-based design software supports the creative side of fashion from planning and design to colorway evaluation, realistic fabric simulation and 3D virtual sampling. Virtual samples are a digitized version of sample making that are visually accurate enough to be used effectively as prototypes, replacing physical sampling and consequently reducing time, cost and material that otherwise go to waste. When a design is approved for production, knitting data which is automatically generated can be converted easily to machine data, allowing smooth communication for digitally bridging the gap between design studio and factory. Before going to production however, the same virtual sample can be used in retail, for example in e-commerce, to gauge consumer response to items before going to market, effectively realizing production based on demand forecasting. In such a way, inventory can be optimized to minimize deadstock waste. APEXFiz® therefore helps to realize sustainability while digitally transforming the fashion supply chain.

A new prototype of a knitting machine creates solid, knitted shapes, adding stitches in any direction – forward, backward and diagonal – so users can construct a wide variety of shapes and add stiffness to different parts of the object.

Unlike traditional knitting, which yields a 2D sheet of stitches, this proof-of-concept machine – developed by researchers at Cornell and Carnegie Mellon University – functions more like a 3D printer, building up solid shapes with horizontal layers of stitches.

“We establish that not only can it be done, but because of the way we attach the stitch, it will give us access to a lot of flexibility about how we control the material,” said François Guimbretière, professor of information science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and information science and the multicollege Department of Design Tech. “The expressiveness is very similar to a 3D printer.” 

Guimbretière and co-author, Victor Guimbretière ’29, who is in Cornell Engineering, presented the work, “Using an Array of Needles to Create Solid Knitted Shapes,” at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Busan, Korea on Sept. 30.

Guimbretière first became interested in solid knitting while tinkering with a knitting machine in the lab of co-author Scott Hudson, professor of human-computer interaction in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, in 2016. A few years later, Guimbretière built the prototype from scratch in his basement during the COVID-19 pandemic, using primarily 3D-printed components.

The machine has a bed of knitting needles arranged in a 6x6 block, with each composed of a 3D-printed symmetrical double hook attached to a brass support tube. The front and back parts of the double hook move independently, which allows the machine to knit or purl, depending on which half picks up the first loop. To control the machine, the researchers developed a library of code for each type of stitch, which can generate a program for each product.

Because the knitting head that dispenses the yarn can move directly over the array of needles to any location, the design offers excellent flexibility to create complex knitted structures. Previous solid knitting machines lacked this flexibility, which greatly limits the shapes they can produce, researchers said.

So far, the team has successfully knitted objects shaped like a C and a pyramid, which demonstrates the machine’s ability to create complex shapes and overhangs.

Currently, the prototype is still slow, prone to dropping loops and sometimes catches the yarn on the wrong needles, but Guimbretière has plans to make the machine more robust. Additionally, it should be easy to scale up the design, he said, simply by adding a larger bed of needles. 

With further improvements, this type of approach may be useful for medical applications, such as knitting structures that support the growth of artificial ligaments or veins, Guimbretière said. Solid knitting allows the user to create different levels of thickness and stiffness in the final product, so it may be useful for accurately mimicking biological structures.

Amritansh Kwatra ’19, now a Ph.D. student in the field of information science at Cornell Tech, also contributed to the study.
Partial funding for this work came from the National Science Foundation.