Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine October Issue 2018 | Page 47

Vetron’s ‘technology modules’ have made it possible to transform a flatbed machine into a longarm machine and vice versa
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Modular sewing
machines
The sewing machines
have now moved away
from their rigid structure
where a sewing machine
was designed to perform a
particular function, leaving no
room for changing of parts to
perform a different function.
Besides, investment in a new
machine is not a feasible
option.
The innovation in this section
brings forth the development
of modular sewing machines
where the components
can be changed and fitted
with a new component to
adjust to future needs. Such
facility no longer requires
buying of a new machine,
thus increasing the flexibility
of the existing sewing
machine. The repairing
would also require replacing
the module with a new one,
thus avoiding down times
and possible bottlenecks in
production.
Vetron by Xi’an Typical is
the first sewing machine
which has grouped all the
components of the sewing
machine into ‘technology
modules’ that can be
exchanged at any time. The
company has made possible
to transform a flatbed
machine into a longarm
machine and vice versa.
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8 9 10
Sewing machine
settings through
mobile phone Digital feed
system in
sewing machines USB port in
sewing machine Voice guided
sewing machines
The settings on sewing
machine have to be adjusted
from time to time according
to the style of the garment
the operator is working upon.
These settings should be
uniform for each and every
sewing machine, but manually
changing the settings over
each sewing machine is a
time-consuming task. Improvement of productivity
on a shopfloor is as
important as timely delivery
of goods to the buyers. Even
the slightest of productivity
increase notes a significant
improvement in efficiency.
With the increasing labour
costs, the advanced sewing
machines are the need of the
hour to save the time wasted
in non value-added activities.
A number of sewing machine
manufacturers available aver
to improve productivity with
the help of their digital feed
sewing machines. Each time a new style is
injected into a production
line, sewing machine settings
have to be adjusted on
every machine. It increases
the changeover time, thus
slowing the production. Each time some sewing
machine breaks down, the
operator informs the line
supervisor and the mechanic
is then informed to rectify the
default. Most of the times,
operators are unaware of
the reasons that make a
machine to stop working.
The newest trend is to adjust
the settings on sewing
machine with the help of an
Android tablet in contactless
mode or over Wi-Fi or even a
mobile phone. The settings,
once changed on sewing
machine, can then be copied
on the complete production
line with just one tap on the
device.
Such a feature enables saving
of time and a quick check
for uniform settings as well
as confirmation of conditions
of sewing machines in a
sewing line, thereby facilitating
set-up changes. Brother
S-7300A and Juki DDL-9000C
offer such features. Pfaff
showed same android tablet
monitoring in CISMA 2013.
Integrating digital feed in
a sewing machine means
separating the movement
of feed dog from the main
shaft which is controlled by
a servo motor. A stepper
motor is introduced into the
machine that independently
drives the feed dog. The use
of a separate stepper motor
allows for precise reverse
feeding, design stitching and
simultaneous condensed and
backtack on the same seam.
The sewing machines are
now equipped with USB port,
so as to facilitate the copying
of settings such as stitch
length and sewing speed
to other sewing machines.
Apart from this, easy copying
of patterns and upgradation
of software can also be done
through the USB drive.
USB ports are becoming
popular amongst sewing
operators as these also act
as handy mobile charging
points or even some USB-
driven personal desk fan
during summer.
There are sewing machines
available in the market that
come with a voice guide
feature where each button
on the operation panel has
a voice-over that informs the
user about technical glitches
like machine breakdown, oil
leakage/level, etc.
Jack offers A5 semi-dry
computerised lockstitch
machine and C4 fully
automatic overlock
machine integrated with this
voice-over feature. It also
informs the operator of any
error and explains how the
error can be resolved.
Some of them are Brother’s
S-7300A, Juki DDL-9000C,
TYPICAL GC6930A and
Duma DM1969M.
www.apparelresources.com | October 2018 | Apparel Online Bangladesh
47