According to Portugal-based Smartex, which develops both hardware and software for factory operations, the emergence of the Modern Textile Factory (MTF) will be spurred by innovations that slash waste and ensure traceability. The fashion technology solutions provider gathered insights that it believes will help mitigate environmental impact by revolutionizing one of the most opaque parts of the supply chain, gathering recommendations from a focus group of brand, innovator and factory experts.
While the sector has been largely unregulated for decades, with cost prioritized over all else, “The commercial attributes of speed and quality are growing in importance while regulation is coming,” Smartex wrote in a report released last week. “It has been well publicized that the rules of the textile game are changing through legislation—from banning the destruction of excess stock to tracking products through the supply chain,” it added. “In order to prepare the supply chain for this sea change in primary data reporting and investment in more sustainable technology, the Modern Textile Factory (MTF) has to emerge.
