Transforming textiles

The rising demand for a wide range of textiles combined with sustainability considerations is driving the industry to re-evaluate its operations and workflows. ABB’s leading technologies and expertise are helping the sector enhance energy efficiency, boost productivity and adopt more sustainable practices.

Web Story

7min

2024-11-12

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The ever-growing textile market was valued at $1.8 trillion in 2023 and is expected to be worth over $3 trillion by 2030.

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This deeply fragmented industry faces productivity issues, rising energy costs and environmental challenges.

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ABB has partnered with textile customers worldwide to offer automation and digital solutions to increase energy efficiency and productivity.

The textile industry was one of the first to emerge in the industrial revolution and it continues to play a critical role in the global economy and our daily lives. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including the production of natural and synthetic fibers, the manufacture of yarn and fabric, and the design and creation of finished textile products such as clothing, home textiles, industrial textiles and technical fabrics.

Generating value for people, industry and the economy

Overall, the global  textile market1  was valued at $1.8 trillion in 2023 and is expected to be worth over $3 trillion by 2030, with a CAGR of 7.8 percent. In terms of growth trends, drivers include the fashion industry, rising demand for technical textiles, falling production costs, and changes in the purchasing habits of consumers, who are increasingly shopping online with many seeking more sustainably produced fabrics and garments. Overall technical textiles are expected to be the fastest growing and most lucrative application segment during the forecast period.

Employing nearly 75 million people globally2, the sector contributes around $2.4 trillion to global manufacturing. However, this rapid surge in demand for diverse textile applications comes with its own set of productivity and environmental challenges.

Paying for energy and productivity inefficiencies

One of the major challenges faced by textile manufacturers is the loss of productivity due to unplanned equipment breakdowns. Every minute of downtime translates into lost production, increased costs, and missed delivery deadlines. Estimating losses from downtime is difficult because the industry is highly fragmented with lots of small and medium-sized enterprises. For the same reason, many textile producers are vulnerable to shifts in energy prices, making energy efficiency a priority.

Environmental challenges

There are also well-documented environmental impacts associated with producing and disposing of textiles and garments. These industries contribute 4-10 percent of global carbon emissions, and this could rise to 26 percent by 20503.  Many producers face limited and often costly options for adopting more environmentally friendly materials and methods. Additionally, practical barriers make recycling used textiles and garments challenging, including inadequate infrastructure for locating, collecting, and processing discarded items e.g. only 13% of materials used across the garment value chain are recycled 4. In addition, the World Bank estimates that almost 20 percent of global industrial water pollution comes from the textile industry. Addressing this challenge is critical to global efforts to decarbonize supply chains and curb greenhouse gas emissions in pursuit of a net-zero future.

Helping our textile customers outperform

ABB has partnered with customers across the world to address a diverse range of challenges, including rising energy costs, complex production processes, evolving consumer trends, and a growing emphasis on sustainability. In response, the industry is embracing digital technologies like automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) to transform its operations.

Switzerland

On in Zurich is rethinking the running shoe. With LightSpray, the Swiss sports brand has developed a revolutionary process to spray ultra-light upper shoes from a synthetic thread in three minutes, which are fused to the sole. With the help of ABB robots, these can be produced directly at the site in Zurich-West. This innovative production is also more environmentally friendly: The spraying process can reduce CO₂ emissions by 75% compared to On's conventional upper shoe production. Material consumption is also significantly lower with this additive manufacturing.

Indonesia

Lenzing SPV, a leading global producer of viscose staple fibers in Indonesia requires reliable power to avoid costly downtime, inefficient resource use, increasing waste and the risk of damage to sensitive equipment. With ABB’s PowerLine DPA UPS, continuous power availability was provided through its online double-conversion technology. Combined with ABB’s modular Decentralized Parallel Architecture (DPA) the system was made flexible, scalable and easy to maintain. The net result was enhanced productivity, resource and cost efficiency and the ability to preserve their renewably sourced materials, such as wood-derived cellulose fibers.

Turkey

Dilmenler Textile Machinery, a prominent manufacturer of textile dyeing and finishing machines, partnered with ABB to enhance machine performance to reduce downtime, increase energy efficiency and seamlessly integrate hardware and software. Using ABB’s machinery drives, general purpose drives and industrial drives along with AC500 PLCs with related Human-Machine Interface’s (HMIs), machine performance was improved, the process was streamlined, and reliability was increased. Ongoing support from ABB’s engineers and global partner network also enables them to provide fast, dependable service to its customers.

India - Sieger

ABB drives have empowered Sieger, a leading Coimbatore-based textile automation solutions provider, to deliver significantly improved productivity, safety, and precision across their end-to-end yarn package handling systems. By utilizing ABB's advanced ACS180, ACS380, and ACS880 drives, Sieger ensures accurate motor speed control that enables precise conveyor operations and uniform yarn cone handling while optimizing energy efficiency.

India - OEMs

ABB has supplied over 3000 energy-efficient motors and drives to textile spinning mills in Tamil Nadu, enabling significant energy savings of 20-35 percent compared to conventional systems. These motors and drives with various power ratings have been deployed in applications such as a humidification plant, Pneumafil & compact suction fan and ring-frame machines. Partnering with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), ABB has contributed to energy conservation and cost reduction in the textile industry.

Helping our textile customers outperform

Sweden

The Wettex-Vileda sponge cloths are produced from renewable resources (paper, viscose, cotton, salt) at their Freudenberg facility in Sweden. To meet efficiency and sustainability goals, the factory installed ABB’s low-voltage MNS 3.0 switchgear and Emax 2 circuit breakers, ensuring reliable power supply. It also upgraded components to more energy-efficient alternatives, reducing the risk of production interruptions, and introduced customized solutions for specific requirements such as tinned rails and double contactors in the emergency stop circuits. The factory has benefited from reduced energy consumption, minimized downtime and equipment longevity.

Germany

HUESKER, a German producer of technical textiles, sought to improve worker safety and efficiency by using robotics to handle heavy, repetitive tasks. ABB provided the IRB 6700 robot, which operates in a circular cell, and manages delicate tasks like securing threads and burning off excess twine. The RobotStudio software enabled quick commissioning by simulating operations beforehand. As a result, the workers could focus on higher-value tasks and the autonomous system now handles up to 2.5 tons per day, improving efficiency and throughput.

Italy

Tintoria Stamperia Gorlese (TSG) specializes in the dyeing, finishing, and printing of synthetic fabrics intended for the clothing, furniture, and other industries. TSG wanted to upgrade their existing machinery to gain valuable process insights, enhance production efficiency, ensure consistent quality, and reduce maintenance costs.

TSG turned to ABB’s load cell technology. ABB’s Pressductor® Radial Tensiometer Load Cells (PRT load cells) provide accurate web tension measurement for jiggers and other machinery in the textile and other industries. Upgrading existing machinery with advanced web tension load cells has led to increased productivity and a reduction of up to 50 percent in installation and tuning time.

With increased digitalization and automation in their operations, textile companies are on a journey to improve their productivity, energy efficiency and sustainability goals in a growth-oriented but fragmented market. By using ABB’s technology and expertise, these companies are now on their way towards being leaner and cleaner, making sure that every thread counts. 

Engineered to Outrun

At ABB, we are on a mission to help industries outrun – leaner and cleaner. With our leading technologies in electrification and automation, we help all industries run at high performance and become more productive, efficient and sustainable so they can outperform.

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