Wakayama - Twenty years after the last ITMA Milan, computerized flat knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki returns to Italy’s fashion capital to mark the 20th anniversary of its revolutionary WHOLEGARMENT technology.
At ITMA 1995, the last time ITMA was held in Milan, Shima Seiki introduced the world’s first WHOLEGARMENT knitting machine. Capable of producing a garment in its entirety on the knitting machine with no seams, it was revolutionary technology that was proclaimed “The Magic of the Orient” by the industry press.
This year, Shima Seiki returns to Milan to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology under the slogan “Innovation Coming of Age.”
Just as a 20-year old assumes new responsibilities as an adult and begins contributing to society, Shima Seiki says that WHOLEGARMENT is likewise expected to take on an instrumental role in mainstream production in the coming age.
“Appropriately for WHOLEGARMENT the official theme for ITMA 2015 challenges us to ‘Master the Art of Sustainability’, the company said. “By its nature, WHOLEGARMENT is considered one of the most sustainable forms of garment production to date, requiring only a minimal amount of resources to produce a single garment. The capability for WHOLEGARMENT to bring production back on shore to local domestic markets further increases the sustainability factor by eliminating time, cost and energy otherwise spent in shipping from off-shore locations.”
Visitors to Shima Seiki’s stand can look forward to a compilation of two decades of ongoing research, development and refinement in WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology. The result of this effort is a new version of Shima Seiki’s flagship MACH2XS WHOLEGARMENT machine featuring the company’s original SlideNeedle on four needlebeds. Other machine highlights include first-time exhibits of new technology for both WHOLEGARMENT and conventional knitting machines for various applications including fashion, home furnishings, sports, medical, automotive, aerospace and other industrial textiles.
Demonstrations will also be held on an updated version of Shima Seiki’s SDS-ONE APEX3 3D design system that provides comprehensive support for the entire knit supply chain from planning and design to production and sales promotion. With a new 3D graphics engine for producing simulations with even higher quality, ultra-realistic Virtual Sampling minimizes the costly time, energy and resource consuming sample making process for quick and efficient evaluation and shortened lead-times.
Shima Seiki said it expects ITMA 2015 to be a springboard to a new era in knitting, with further proliferation of WHOLEGARMENT machines and design systems. “This is not simply a matter of number of machines or sales figures, but upon examining the world’s market conditions and taking into account possible future scenarios, it is about a much bigger picture,” the company says.
“How our customers can successfully maintain a profitable business; how the industry can transform itself from one relying on labor to one fueled by information and creativity; and how a sustainable design-manufacture-distribution system can be established with limited resources and limited factory capacity despite steady growth in global population. So far, we cannot imagine such a future being fulfilled without WHOLEGARMENT and APEX3.”