While the high-end denim manufacturing in Japan and the U.S. is focused on traditional practices, shuttle looms and hand-stitching, SoftWear Automation Inc. is looking to entirely automatize the process of creating jeans.
After 24 months of development, SoftWear Automation has entered the final phase before the launch of new work cells that use highly automated sewing machines to create jeans. The machines will be used to ramp up denim production for Walmart.
SoftWear developed the machines in collaboration with Georgia Institute of Technology. The new machines, dubbed Sewbots, will be able to accurately place two pattern pieces, transport them and sew the outside seam without any human assistance.
According to Walmart, the Sewbots will support “the reshoring of apparel manufacturing in the U.S., and other high labor markets, cutting lead times to consumers, creating in-demand, highly-skilled jobs, and freeing manufacturers from the endless search for low-wage labor.”
