Assessing the barriers of integrating technological innovations in textiles sector: Implications towards sustainable production

Abstract

With the aftermath of the pervasive COVID-19, the recent war between Ukraine and Russia, and the severity of the resource crisis, the global textiles industry has become a significant concern, especially for emerging economies. Technological advancements combining traditional manufacturing processes with cutting-edge technologies may safeguard the textile industry’s supply chain. To establish stability in the value chain of the textiles sector in emerging nations, it is crucial to precisely identify the relevant barriers to combining advanced technologies with traditional textile practices. Consequently, this study aims to determine the significant barriers to merging technological advancements with conventional textile practices and assess their relationships using an integrated framework. To highlight, measure, and analyze the hierarchical interconnections of the barriers to integrating technical innovations in the textile industry in the context of an emerging economy, this study combines fuzzy theory, Pareto analysis, and total interpretive structural modeling (TISM). Following that, the Matriced’ Impacts Cruoses Multiplication Applique a Un Classement (MICMAC) analysis, clusters of barriers, depending on their levels of driving and dependence power, were developed. Based on the literature review and feedback from experts, a total of 19 barriers were discovered, and Pareto analysis was applied to analyze the major and trivial barriers. Based on that analysis, a myriad of evaluations is done for the top barriers (13- to be precise), and their interrelationships have been investigated using fuzzy TISM-fuzzy MICMAC. Lack of government support policies and insufficient incentives, heavy taxation & inadequate capital investment have been identified as the most crucial barriers. The hierarchical model and study’s findings will assist leaders in the textile industry in applying key concepts in strategic planning and decision-making to successfully combine cutting-edge tools and technologies with traditional textile industry practices and ensure a sustainable global textile supply chain.