Textile Industry Uses of AI and Automation

By Specialty Fabrics Review

As experienced workers retire faster than new employees can replace them, companies are investing in artificial intelligence and automation tools. Business uses include saving their employees for higher-skilled tasks, improving safety, and developing digital training tools that will help preserve and transfer that generational knowledge quickly.

Companies of all sizes can benefit from cohesive, data-driven systems and teams. However, those teams must also understand the machines, fabrics and workflow. Manufacturers in the process of modernizing and tech-savvy next-gen workers need each other.

Transformative technology at work

Textile manufacturing facilities stand to benefit from technology, including automation, robotics, augmented reality and AI. Facilities cannot implement new technology overnight, nor should they. Instead, it’s about considering legacy systems, collecting data, and then making incremental, informed changes within the company.

“Our textile industry is seeing a truly transformative era, as robotics and advanced automation are redefining what traditional manufacturing looks like,” says Frank Henderson, CEO of Henderson Sewing Machine Co. Inc., Andalusia, Ala.

Henderson says a primary goal of incorporating technology is to produce textile-sewn products with as little human labor as is necessary. Yet he emphasizes that automation does not eliminate the need for skilled employees. Rather, it shifts workers toward higher-value tasks requiring deeper technical expertise. He explains that robotics and advanced automation can now perform a large share of traditional textile manufacturing work, especially in operations involving parts and subassemblies.

“We are not affecting the sewing [with automation],” he adds. “We are affecting the material handling. A sewing operator must adapt quickly between operations, sizes and fabrics. A robotic arm simply moves back and forth.”

Henderson says that in the textile industry, automation is most effective when applied to two-dimensional, flat material handling steps such as pockets, collars, cuffs, bands, sheets, pillowcases and other flat components.

“We want to enable the manufacturing of textile products with fewer people performing repetitive tasks. The people we need are more advanced; they understand fabrics, sewing and the sewing machine. They also understand automation,” says Henderson.

Smart sensors and cameras also support positioning, inspection and quality control, including stitch consistency and placement verification. Robotics in a plant can help move heavy rolls, transport materials or load equipment, saving risks to employees from heavy lifting.

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This is an excerpt from an article published in Specialty Fabrics Review October 1, 2026. Henderson Sewing Machine Co. Inc. is a SPESA member.

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