In the age of Industry 4.0 where more customers look for personalized products, the enterprises must keep pace with digital manufacturing to outperform the competitive global market.

In response to the rising expectations of textile products, the 19th International Exhibition on Textile Industry (ShanghaiTex 2019) will be grandly held on 25-28 November 2019 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

Under the theme of “Smarter Textile ž Better Life”, the exhibition facilitates the textile industry to leverage smart manufacturing technologies for opening up new market opportunities and build a better life for consumers.

It is expected to gather more than 1,200 exhibitors to showcase a range of top-notch textile machines, cross-border technologies and applications, helping the enterprises to expand their businesses and drive towards “AI in Manufacturing”.

In order to optimize the textile and fashion supply chain, four thematic zones will be featured in ShanghaiTex this year, they are "Textech Galaxy”, "Go Digital”, "Material & Cross-Border Innovation” and "Go Green”, highlights include a series of innovative technology covering Industry 4.0 and AI manufacturing in “Textech Galaxy” and “Go Digital”.

The exhibition is committed to helping designers and manufacturers to break away from the traditional production, with the aim of meeting future demand and tap into new markets.

As introduced, the exhibits will be covered in the following 9 thematic zones:

• Spinning, Man-made Fibre & Techtextile Machinery Zone
• Weaving Machinery Zone
• Knitting & Hosiery Machinery Zone
• Printing, Dyeing & Finishing Machinery Zone
• Digital Printing Machinery Zone
• Spare Parts And Accessories For Textile Machinery Zone
• Dyestuff & Textile Chemicals Zone
• Sustainable, Eco-friendly Technology And Recyclable Materials
• Textech Galaxy / Textech Startup Planet

Complimentary business matching service is also provided to facilitate direct contact between the buyers and suppliers, in order to improve the effectiveness of exhibiting and visiting.

Newly established Textech Startup Planet

In recent years, there is a significant rise in the number of startup companies. They help large enterprises achieve a bigger market share and break away from the traditional businesses through innovative products and technologies. For example, the startup company Goxip works with world leading brands and e-tailers, such as Adidas, NET-A-PORTER and ASOS, using its image recognition technology to help the users quickly access their ideal products. As a result, Goxip has gathered around 60 million users every month, with an average spending of US$40 for each order. It brings tremendous opportunities to the business partnership.

In view of this, ShanghaiTex 2019 will be complemented by the new TexTech Startup Planet, providing a platform for the startup companies worldwide to showcase a series of textile and fashion related products, which in turn allows the global investors and manufacturers to seize business opportunities.

Exhibits include: new yarn and fabric, innovative wearable technology, creative new retail model, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), 3D measurement, eco-friendly production & recyclable materials, etc.

Concurrent events discuss hot topics

A series of forward-looking conferences and events such as “Mapping Sustainable Style for Denim Symposium”, “Digital Print Conference”, “The International Healthcare and Textile Sci-Tech Innovation Conference” and “The 2nd Wearable Technology x Textile Design Competition (WTTDC)” will be organized during the fair, providing a platform for exchanging views on the latest market trends.

This year, WTTDC will be held again to encourage young designers to apply their creative thinking on combining textile with technologies, in order to find solutions for a better life.

ShanghaiTex is sponsored by Orient International (Holding) Co., Ltd., China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai Sub-council and China Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai Chamber of Commerce; and is organized by Shanghai Textile Technology Service & Exhibition Co., Ltd., Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. and Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd.

Concurrent conference unlocks the potentials of AI for textile manufacturing

Computer technology, especially AI’s rapid development over the past twenty years has changed our lifestyle and society. The textile and fashion industry will step into The Fourth Industrial Revolution soon as the mature technology application in production process will become more usual, the technology will be further optimized according to the market needs.

To fully unlock the potential of AI in manufacturing, ShanghaiTex 2019 will also join hand with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to organize the second “Artificial Intelligence on Fashion and Textile Conference (AIFT 2019)”, the very first academic conference on the latest AI developments and applications in the textile and fashion industry organized since last year.

AIFT 2019 explores the ways driving towards “Industry 4.0” and “The New Era of Retail”. It is not just an annual academic exchange platform gathering the researchers, engineers and professionals, it is also an international cross-industry event not to be missed.

The speakers of AIFT 2019 include Prof. Calvin Wong, Cheng Yik Hung Professor in Fashion at the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Prof. Anne Toomey, Head of Textile Programme Royal in College of Art, London and Prof. Chua Tet Seng, KITHCT Chair Professor School of Computing in National University of Singapore.

Key topics of the speeches cover internet of things, textile and apparel supply chain modeling, textile material defect detection, textile material color measurement, wearable devices, 3D image modeling for fitting, retail sales replenishment and fashion sales forecasting, carrying out a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities and challenges in textile and fashion industry brought by the AI.

Other than the three thematic speeches, AIFT 2019 invites global researchers in the field of textile, fashion and AI to submit papers, in order to share their thoughts and suggestions on the topics such as Basic Theories, Principles and Techniques of AI and the Applications on Fashion and Textiles, promoting the development of technology and helping the audiences to find business inspiration.

AIFT will develop a long-term cooperation with ShanghaiTex 2019, with a forecast that an Artificial Intelligence Alliance will be established together with a number of institutions during the opening of AIFT 2019.