SBIR Phase II: An additive method for manufacturing customized textile products

Unspun, Inc., San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will demonstrate an additive manufacturing process to produce 3-D woven textile products at scale. Presently, the clothing manufacturing industry still relies on manual sewing machines that were invented over one-hundred and seventy years ago. This system limits the manufacturing process and textile capability; an abundance of steps leads to waste, inefficiencies, and segmented products. Further, due to the low cost of foreign labor, the US textile industry has effectively come to a halt: 97.3 percent of all clothing sold in the United States in 2015 was imported. This project seeks to develop a novel method for manufacturing woven textile products by employing additive manufacturing methodologies to automate the production process, while simultaneously enabling complete customization and on-demand production. This technology will enable premium and competitive textile manufacturing to return from overseas, creating high value-added jobs and a designer community in the United States while also generating tax revenue. In the same way that 3-D printing technology has revolutionized the hard goods manufacturing process, this project seeks to create an entire new industry of additively manufactured textile products, enabling significant opportunities for future innovation. This project develops a novel technology to manufacture near-net-shape three dimensional woven textile products. To develop this technology, this project first proved feasibility through creating constituent textile panels of non-standard shapes with 3-D topography in Phase I, laying the foundation for continued development into fully three-dimensional, seamless, finished products produced in-situ through Phase II. By additively producing garments from a unique 3-D model complete customization to each individual consumer is possible on a large scale, though this has never before been accomplished. Further, through the on-demand production of clothing customized to individual consumers, the need for substantial inventory buildup is eliminated. In this way, additively manufactured textile products are both more desirable to consumers and more economical to producers. As such, the societal and environmental benefits of automated and on-demand textile manufacturing within the United States are significant, including eliminating massive amounts of waste from typical cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques, revamping a struggling American manufacturing industry, and minimizing the economical, environmental, and geopolitical implications of the United States? current dependence on a convoluted global supply chain. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.