#Weaving

2022-06-23

Data-based success for fabric manufacturers

Producing quality fabrics is much easier with automated inspection. Uster EVS Fabriq Vision gathers quality data and presents it in an album, which is used to certify the quality of each fabric roll, with total traceability. It combines quality assurance and process optimization – automatically – in a solution which is already popular in technical textiles.

Automated fabric inspection delivers quality and optimization along the process chain

In a survey, customers reported that data from the Uster fabric inspection system was useful in quality assessment of the final product, as well as reports for customers. Traceability data was viewed as a particularly strong point for customers serving the automotive industry. Suppliers to this sector, and to other sensitive applications, value Uster EVS Fabriq Vision as a solution which meets the high standards of traceability, they need throughout the production chain.

Smooth and fast

Fabric producers need to guarantee reliable quality, which demands a consistently high rate of defect detection. Uster EVS Fabriq Vision ensures this is by using automated control during intermediate and final inspection, removing the need for manual inspection.

Multiple spectroscopes inspect the material. Unique image processing algorithms identify all defects automatically, recording them in a dataset for each produced roll – which is also used for traceability. A defect map is automatically generated, to help operators understand the allocation of defects in the fabric roll. This information is also available at an offline PC in the Fabriq Album software, which is a valuable tool for optimizing data for final cutting or further processing steps.

Effective – and people-friendly

A good investment shows up in spreadsheets for performance and sales – but it’s also confirmed by feedback from shopfloor personnel, as with Uster EVS Fabriq Vision.

Staff working daily with this fabric inspection system soon recognize that it’s a game-changer, because the inspection routine is increasingly automated. It works smoothly and quickly, in real time, checking every roll and locating every defect, at line running speeds.

Fabriq Album has even more people-friendly tools to make life easier for users. With manual classification, defects can be given customer-specific codes to identify each defect clearly. Unwanted images, or defects which can be ignored, can be removed automatically from the dataset, but are then retained in a hidden layer, for completeness of the dataset.

The future starts

The Fabriq Album software ensures optimum inspection efficiency and throughput. Machine learning capabilities and the implementation of AI-assisted defect classification extend the use of quality data generated by Fabriq Vision. Uster Fabric Inspection solutions bring the added benefit of helping customers to prepare for a digital future.

Uster’s use of Artificial Intelligence for automated fabric inspection was the subject of Michelle Salg’s talk at Techtextil Frankfurt. The Uster Product Manager for Fabric Inspection spoke in the Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence session, on June 22. Anyone who missed it can see all the details from her white paper available at uster.com/adc.

Data-based delivers

Leaders in fabric manufacturing – including knitters – can use Fabriq Vision to help make their own customers more successful. The key is the Fabriq Album. The whole finishing process contains different steps, sometimes executed by various companies. The dataset in Fabriq Album, generated by automated fabric inspection, is effectively a quality status report of process inputs, allowing manufacturers to manage all process steps for optimal output. Therefore, Fabriq Album empowers quality control and optimized end-products along the production chain.

The quality report, automatically created by Fabriq Album, can be provided to customers as an add-on, to give full transparency for every meter of the fabric. In technical textiles, and everywhere fabric inspection is needed – or should be – Uster Fabriq Vision can tap the potential to deliver major benefits for business.

Measure and control the fiber – optimize yarn quality

Producing consistent yarn quality is an everyday challenge – and a very difficult one. Detailed knowledge and understanding of the fiber raw material is absolutely critical to achieving the best possible quality in the yarn. To help spinners, Uster experts have put together guidelines for avoiding yarn irregularity claims, in a special edition of the Uster News Bulletin.

Uster presents novelties at ITMA Asia + CITME 2025

There’s news from Uster Technologies to be announced for the industry’s upcoming event in Singapore. The Uster 360Q universe is growing with new products, solutions and services. Innovation developments can also be recorded in the fields of man-made fiber testing and fabric inspection. Uster innovations address the industry’s trending topics as mill management and process control, optimization of delivered fabric quality and yield.

Challenges of making yarn from recycled fibers

What does it take to spin quality yarn from recycled fibers? Uster Technologies brought textile industry leaders together to discuss the role of technology, data and automation – as well as the current challenges in using recycled raw material. Experts from Rieter, Säntis Textiles, Otto Yarns, and TVU commented on the current situation and looked into the future of spinning in a panel discussion organized at Uster headquarters.

Itema America acquires Palmetto Loom Reed, strengthening local manufacturing and service in the U.S.

Itema America, the U.S. subsidiary of Italy-based Itema Group, has acquired – through an Assets Purchase Agreement – Palmetto Loom Reed, a Greenville, South Carolina-based manufacturer of weaving reeds and one of the last remaining domestic producers of these precision components in the United States.

Stäubli demonstrates how innovation translates into real benefits for weaving mills at SITEX 2026

One of India’s most prominent textile industry events, SITEX 2026, is held from February 21 to 23 in Surat. Committed to empowering Indian weaving mills with state‑of‑the‑art solutions tailored to regional needs, Stäubli will present a selection of solutions designed for performance, reliability, and power efficiency. Through its weaving preparation, cam and dobby shedding solutions and Jacquard technologies, Stäubli highlights its global expertise tailored to the specific needs of the local market.

Itema exhibits the two best-selling high-end rapier weaving machines of the Region, R9500EVO and Galileo-RX at SITEX 2026

Following the opening of its new Surat Service Center in November, Itema will exhibit at SITEX (Stand 286) from February 21st to 23rd at the Surat International Exhibition and Convention Centre (SIECC). Surat has long been one of Itema’s most strategic markets, a role further reinforced by the inauguration of the Surat Service Center last November. Equipped with an advanced electronic repair center, a weaving machine behavior simulator, and a local spare parts warehouse, the new facility strengthens Itema’s presence in the region while bringing the company even closer to its Customers.

DIENES at Techtextil 2026: Flexible pilot lines for bio-based fiber development

The growing relevance of bio-based materials in technical textiles is accompanied by increasing demands for reproducibility, high-quality data, and scalable process routes. Especially when working with cellulose and its derivatives, chitosan, lignin-based approaches, or bio-based PAN as a carbon-fiber precursor, R&D teams face variable feedstock quality, tighter process windows, and the need for reliable comparability across trials. This calls for flexible, data-driven experimental setups that can be reconfigured efficiently when recipes, solvents, and raw-material batches change.

Gunold showcases embroidery product range and services at Texprocess

At Texprocess 2026, GUNOLD will present numerous hands-on examples related to embroidery in Hall 8, Booth E20. The focus is on creative embroidery designs as well as the extensive product range of threads, nonwovens, and accessories for embroidery and embellishment. “Trade visitors can once again look forward to many new and creative embroidery designs. Of course, we will also showcase the matching products required to bring these ideas to life,” announces Marketing Manager Stephan Gunold.

A Powerful Opening: Global thought leaders launch the International Cotton Conference Bremen

The International Cotton Conference Bremen will open on 25 March 2026 in the Parliament building of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with a keynote session of exceptional calibre. Distinguished international experts will set the stage for the conference by offering incisive perspectives on the most pressing challenges and the defining trends shaping the future of the global cotton trade. Their insights will span a broad spectrum — from geopolitically driven disruptions affecting global supply chains to the opportunities emerging from innovation-led agriculture capable of supporting a growing world population. Together, these opening keynotes will frame the dialogue of the conference, highlighting both the complexity of today’s market environment and the pathways toward a resilient and forward-looking cotton sector.