Short-Warp Weaving and the Textile Mini-Mill
MIT SEMINAR SERIES IN MANUFACTURING AND
PRODUCTIVITY
Place: Room 35-225 Time: 12:00 P.M. Tuesday, May 9th, 2006
Professor Samir Nayfeh
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Modern looms produce woven fabric rapidly and automatically once set up, but there are a host of operations required to prepare the yarns and draw them into a loom. Fabric production is therefore economical only in low-wage countries and with long production runs and lead times. But changes in the marketing and consumption of clothing require designers to respond quickly and in small batches to data generated at the point of sale.
We are developing a system that prepares weaves rapidly and automatically, making it possible to economically produce small batches of fabric to order. We hope to move the industry from arge-scale to small-scale production and to close the gaps among design, manufacture, and sale.
