Itema Group imagines a smart future for weaving in partnership with SECO

Itema Group, leading manufacturer of weaving solutions, unveils at ITMA 2023, the world’s main exhibition for textile machinery industry, a preview of its plans to launch an innovative as-a-service solution, developed in partnership with SECO, aimed at introducing a set of value-added services based on artificial intelligence and dedicated to the textile industry.

In a highly competitive and high-tech sector, improving machine efficiency represents an important advantage for all the players across the value chain. In this perspective, the end-to-end solution imagined by Itema is designed to provide users with real-time suggestions on the optimal machine set-up parameters: a substantial innovation compared to the solutions currently available on the market, mainly based on remote monitoring of the devices’ operational status.

Itemalab, the Itema Group company specialized in products and processes innovation, will develop innovative sensing systems and advanced interconnection protocols of the weaving machine. The aim is to extract functional parameters extensively and accurately from the Itema weaving machines, so that it will be possible to compare the real machine with its digital reference model elaborated from industry best practices in terms of machinery setting.

SECO will contribute to this development with its IoT, data orchestration and AI expertise: in fact, through the CLEA platform it will be possible to perform advanced inference activities to identify correlations between several data categories. By adopting adequate cybersecurity protocols, this information will be used to feed virtual models (digital twins) specifically developed to reproduce the optimal setting and behavior of the physical devices: this will enable to return insights on the machines’ functioning and, by means of dedicated artificial intelligence algorithms, provide both user customers and Itema designers with valuable suggestions on improvement actions to be undertaken.

In this way, Itema’s customers will be able to increase the productivity and performance of their machines, enhancing the operators’ user experience and simplifying the management of highly complex equipment from a mechanical, electronic, and operational point of view.

At the same time, it will be possible to plan and optimize maintenance interventions by specialized technical personnel, as well as develop solutions meeting the strictest performance expectations from customers.

“We look towards a future that is already here, made of technology and data. Digital technologies are enabling tools that can improve human-machine interaction and optimize productivity and performance. A weaving machine is a complex equipment that combines mechanical, electronic, and textile principles. Having this in mind, the digitalization and design of new software solutions are essential to bring useful innovation for both the weaver and the entrepreneur, through processes streamlining and optimization that would otherwise be complex and time-consuming. Creating synergies with an excellence in the software world such as SECO is the key for Itema to start a sharing of experience, knowledge, and ideas that can lead to valuable inspirations for our customers”, said Ugo Ghilardi, CEO of Itema Group.

Itema

Itema Group is a group active in the production and marketing of advanced weaving solutions, composite material products, and integrated services.

The parent company Itema^® is today among the world leaders in the supply of weaving machines. It is also the only manufacturer in the world to produce weaving machines with the top three shuttleless weft insertion technologies: rapier, air-jet, and projectile. Itema Group is also active in the industrial sector through Schoch^®, manufacturer of accessories for the textile industry, and Lamiflex^®, supplier of components in composite materials for the textile machinery, industrial, aerospace, and medical sectors. Itemalab^®, the advanced innovation incubator of Itema^®, offers transversal systems engineering and business process re-engineering services also to third parties.

Itema Group, in 2022, achieved a turnover of € 337.5 million and has 1,100 employees in 7 production plants and 15 offices worldwide. Headquartered in Colzate, in the province of Bergamo, 60% of the shares of Itema today belong to the Gianni Radici heirs family, while the remaining 40% belongs to the Arizzi and Torri families.