Novel Knitting Model Based on Automation and Industry 4.0

The textile industry is composed by a complex chain, which comprises several sectors. Each area presents its particularities during product development. Among the sectors, one that stands out is the knitting, as it presents some advantages in relation to the others, such as low financial investment employed, in addition to being very versatile. However, this sector still has many activities carried out manually. Nowadays, technological innovations have opened the way for realizing the smart factory vision with the fourth industrial revolution, which has significant potential to change the whole manufacturing processes and business models. Thus, the objective of this study is to present a new configuration for the knitwear segment, which includes concepts related to industry 4.0 integrated with the processes of the textile sector. For that, a knitting industrial layout plan was developed using the Factory IO® software, in order to operate with autonomy and connectivity through the use of emerging technologies. Based on this, compared to the empirical data of a conventional knitting industry, an increase in the control of the processes in real time of the product quality and operator ergonomics are expected, estimating a gain in time of approximately 27%, in addition to data storage.

Keywords: Industry 4.0; Textile; Weft knitted; Enabling technologies; Process automation; Smart factory