Abstract

The textile and clothing industry belongs to one of the most important global industries in Europe. Over the last 15 years or so numerous relocations have taken place (production capacities were moved to other production sites). The trade of textile products in the European Union is regulated by the agreement between EU and third countries on the basis of technical and environmental regulations and rules. The interior trade of textile and clothing articles in the EU is regulated by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing within the frame of the World Trade Organization which implies respecting agreement rules. Euratex (the European Apparel and Textile Organization - Brussels, http://www.euratex.org) follows these regulations. The European Union is the largest world market of textile and clothing products. The recession volume which affected this sector resulted in an adequate response whose goal is to keep the acquired positions. As one of the directives in this paper the authors suggest keeping up or making more complex machinery and equipment, sewing automata and functional units in medium-developed industrial areas, and they emphasize the significance and application of intelligent systems as the basis for improving the position within the European textile industry.

Key words: EU textile industry, 3D body scanner, CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design, Computer Aided Machining) technologies, e-commerce, practical intelligent system

1. INTRODUCTION

The EU industry provides more responsibility for a large number of medium-developed countries, especially from Asia. There is a great difference between these countries and Europe. The EU industry has got higher productivity and responsibility for innovation, quality, creativity, design or fashion, permanent reconstruction and modernization. The sector adapts to new technologies to a greater extent, respecting information, communications technologies and methods of new production. The EU industry plays a leading role in the development of the new production in the field of making textile fibres and technical textiles. Medium-volume manufacturers employ ca. 20 workers. Mean profit based on the invested capital varies from 10-60% depending on stocks. These activities differ by thousands of small jobs, especially in the cotton industry playing a key role in employment and profit, and they are often concentrated in particular regions. Many companies expand their intensive production into underdeveloped countries and the Mediterranean. Due to the geographic position of these countries, the EU manufacturers are capable of changing market requirements and can control the contents by management and quality of expanded production.

2. TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The textile and clothing industry belongs to one of the most important global industries in the world. It consists of important profit stocks and development of many countries in the world, and partly of developing countries. It accounts for 5.7% of the production value of the world's production in US$, 8.3% of the value of producer goods and more than 14% of world's employment. In the EU 120,000 textile and clothing companies employ more than 2 million workers, accounting for 7.6% of the total employees in the EU industry. Production and work force are characteristic of the corresponding degree of the regional concentration within the community. Most of the work force is female. Many companies expand their intensive production into underdeveloped countries and the Mediterranean. Due to the geographical position of these countries, the EU manufacturers are able to change market requirements and to control the contents by management and quality of expanded production. Investigations and technological development are also used by the EU countries as political means in the process of integration. Associate members participate in the total budget and pay the annual high membership dues, whereas their research institutes, universities, industry, small and medium sized companies simply take part in projects under the same conditions as EU member countries. The industrial policy of the European textile and clothing industry emphasizes the need for promoting innovation and clothing sectors by means of research, development and innovation, improvement of production quality and purchasing rationalization. The primary object of high technology cluster for competitiveness and continual development of the European textile industry is: to maintain research activities and development of new technologies, to define innovative strategies for better competitiveness and modernization of the European textile sector, to ensure new transfer mechanisms of terminating the expansion, compensation and application of thematic research network and technology, to increase the intensity of fundamental European textile researches by combining expert knowledge into a unique harmony by a connective project having a clear strategy.