MODSIMTEX project to transform manufacturing of textiles

22 Nov '08

6 min read

One company that makes this product is Heimbach, a partner in the MODSIMTEX project. Heimbach may change the configuration of its machinery as often as one thousand times a year. When the company implements in its production process the intelligent system developed in the MODSIMTEX project, it will be able to deal with all the variables by computer and incorporate them directly into the production line, which will save tons of raw material, energy and work hours that are wasted in trials and errors. Heimbach could save 7% of the total cost of the manufacture of each of its products, a percentage that is highly significant in this type of industry, as it represents millions of euros a year.

This technology could also be used in companies that manufacture geotextiles, such as the stiffeners that are used in the construction of transport and communication infrastructures. Such products also need large amounts of raw materials and constant change and adaptation to the requirements of use.

According to the project coordinator, José Antonio Tornero, an INTEXTER promoter and researcher, the system could be applied to any product in any production process in any company, even in the fashion sector.

A multidisciplinary project
Participants in the initiative include specialists in the technological areas involved in complex textile production, such as the production of high added value textile products, mathematical modeling, numerical simulation, IT applications for textiles, artificial intelligence, electronic and mechanical control, automatic regulation and online monitoring of the characteristics of the product.

In addition to leading and coordinating the project, INTEXTER works in its own field of technological expertise—spinning—with a team of six people composed of Tornero, Francesc Cano, M. Carme Domènech, José Fresno, Javier Casado & Víctor Fernández.

The UPC is also researching the artificial intelligence component of the project, with the participation of the Knowledge Engineering and Machine Learning Group (KEMLg ), which is based in Barcelona.

Fund allocation and project partners
INTEXTER used two criteria to select project partners: they had to be leaders in the sector and in their area of expertise, and companies had to be situated close to a research laboratory associated with the project. Consequently, the consortium is composed of the following university and research institutes: UPC's INTEXTER, the Technical University of Lodz (PTL), Poland), the Technical University of Liberec (TUL, Czech Republic), the Saxon Textile Research Institute (STFI, Germany) and the German Institute for Textile and Fiber Research in Denkendorf (DITF, Germany). The following companies are also members of the consortium: Spolsin (Czech Republic), TFA (Czech Republic), Heimbach (Germany), Roeders (Germany), Santoni (Italy), Infotex (Spain) and BMS (Belgium).

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