Fashion Apparel Industry 4.0 and Smart Mass Customization Approach for Clothing Product Design

Abstract

Fashion Apparel Industry 4.0, which created what has been called a “smart factory,” is now a paradise of real-time efficiency. With its work force and manufacturing ability, it is able to keep pace with fashion trends and work closer to market to achieve a mass customization program. This paper examines the potential of clothing configuration within the personalization and mass customization concept. Within the modular structured smart factories, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, creating a virtual copy of the physical world and making decentralized decisions. Even if some manufacturers have managed this approach successfully, others have only poorly grasped it. The increase in purchase returns for personalized and customized clothes both in stores and on the Web creates headaches for retailers because it affects their brand image, customer perception, and loyalty intention. The first problem is related to the 4.0 manufacturing aspects with measurements, adaptation of patterns, and flexibility in methods and manufacturing deadlines. The second is the lack of knowledge and experience on the part of the manufacturers to properly use the configuration systems. It has become increasingly important to understand how to create an approach for configurator implementation for the clothing personalization and mass customization program. For producers to make the most of this approach, they need to better understand what can be done in terms of clothing personalization and mass customization capabilities. We discuss custom clothing in conjunction with the effects stemming from the evolution of mass production practices. This led us to explore from different angles the problems related to the automation of standard sizes and integration of “fits” done in traditional ways as well as computerized ways with respect to product adaptation. In this paper, we also analyze the mass customization concept and propose technological and transparent operational approaches aimed at initiating useful discussions to better understand these issues and the new culture that has been created.