Turkey’s knitting industry is rapidly gaining recognition as a provider of high quality and quick response for the European fashion market. As increased competition with China and other Asian markets becomes inevitable however, Turkey must shed its image of a simple manufacturing base and attract more business by acquiring the capability for its own product planning and proposals as a key to its own survival. At ITM Texpo Eurasia SHIMA SEIKI proposes the Total Fashion System which unifies the apparel supply chain from planning and design, yarn selection, evaluation and production to sales promotion; all in one smooth and efficient workflow made possible with its SDS-ONE APEX3 3D apparel design system. This applies not only to knitting, but to a wide range of other fashion-related industries as well. At the same time, Turkey is undergoing rapid growth as an exporter and its economy is booming. While economically sound, like all other textile markets before it, this presents a dilemma to its textile industry in the form of increased wages.

In such a labor-intensive industry this makes it increasingly difficult to remain competitive. SHIMA SEIKI’s WHOLEGARMENT® knitting technology realizes an alternative to labor-intensive manufacturing, creating unprecedented knitwear with new forms of added value.