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Conference Speakers

Garry Atkinson, AATCC

Melanie Carrico, UNC Greensboro

Gart Davis, Student of Textile Change, Spoonflower Co-Founder & past CEO/COO

Dr. Dan Harrison, Digital Imaging Materials Consultancy

Dr. Alan Hudd, Alchemie Technology

Dr. Elena Karpova, UNC Greensboro

Kurt Kipka, Apparel Impact Institute

Kerry Maquire King, Wilson College of Textiles, NC State

Graham Page, iAtelier Inc

Danaé Robert, At One Ventures

Johnny Shell, Keypoint Intelligence

Dr. Minyoung Suh, North Carolina State University

Harry Vine, Alchemie Technology

Dr. Andre West, Zeis Textiles Extension, NC State

Conference Focus

IMI & Alchemie Technology’s Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies Conference 2024 will inform and
educate brand owners on the importance of innovative technologies within the dyeing, finishing and printing
sectors that can support them to meet their ESG targets and transform the textile industry’s sustainability.

Traditional ESG Impacts of the Textile Industry

Currently, the textile industry accounts for 10% of global emissions - greater than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Textile dyeing and finishing processes are some of the most polluting manufacturing processes on the planet, responsible for over 3% of global CO2 emissions and over 20% of global water pollution. If business as usual
persists, by 2050 the textile industry is projected to represent 25% of the global carbon footprint.

Industry Focus is Changing
Many leading brands are answering the call and working to create favorable ESG initiatives and developing more environmentally friendly manufacturing and dyeing processes. Technology and research are playing a key role in making
the textile industry more sustainable. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Fashion Industry Climate Action Charter sets targets to degas supply chains and halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Using science-based targets (SBT), the initiative outlines a roadmap for
reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. The Fashion Charter also sets out targets to ensure that 100% of electricity comes from renewable sources with minimal other environmental or social impacts by 2030, owning and exploiting emissions, and putting more emphasis on brands working with their suppliers to reduce emissions.

Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies’ Disruptive Potential
Join us to learn how disruptive digital textile manufacturing technologies will be key

incentives and drivers for meeting brand owners’ goals, reducing environmental impacts,

and enabling more profitable production by:
– Growing demand for more sustainable production
– Enabling economical shorter runs & less inventory
– Immediate & dramatic reduction of environmental impact
– Lowering energy consumption

– Reducing cost & yielding short-time ROIs
– Reshoring & enabling regional on-demand production
– Industry needs more profitable production
– Digital technology delivers immediate, dramatic, environment and cost benefits

Partners

Industry Partners

Media Partners

DigitalTextile2024_1

Conference Agenda & Schedule

Monday, September 16, 2024

11:00 am Registration

1:00 pm Opening Session

Welcome & Introductions

Alvin G. Keene, President, IMI, Carrabassett Valley, Maine

Textile Industry Now & Going Forward

Dr. Alan Hudd, CEO & Founder, Alchemie Technology,
Duxford, Cambridgeshire UK

Zeis Textiles Extension - Dr. Andre West.jpg

NSF NC Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine + New Flex Factory

Dr. Andre West, Director, Zeis Textiles Extension for Economic Development, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

NSF Engine (NCTISE): Creating a global leader in NC “textile belt”
- Advance US capacity for textile innovations
- Maintain environmental sustainability
- Eye toward circularity
- New smart textiles, wearable technology, protective & medical textiles & More
- Aim to disrupt & revolutionize $96B textile industry
New Flex Factory & Prototyping Lab at Wilson College of Textiles NC State
- State-of-the-art textile/apparel processing & cut-&-sew equipment
- Services to entrepreneurs & established companies
- Reduce product development times
- Increase speed to market

Challenges & Opportunities in Preparing Future Textile/Apparel Industry Leaders

Melanie Carrico, Associate Professor/2024 President-Elect Intl. Textile & Apparel Assoc. & Dr. Elena Karpova, Professor, Dept. of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies, UNC Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Current industry state & emerging trends
- Essential skills necessary for future leaders
- Educational challenges we face
Potential of industry-academia collaboration
Future directions for textile & apparel education
Interactive Q&A session
- Shaping future of next generation of industry’s leaders
- Addressing social, economic, & environmental market impacts
- Join crucial conversation of textile & apparel’s educational future

Driving Sustainability through Standards

Garry Atkinson, Senior Technical Associate, AATCC, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Everyone is talking about sustainability and circularity
Without meaningful measurements & comparisons:
- it’s easy to get caught in the “greenwashing” trap
How testing & standards support environmental sustainability & profitability goals
Insight into specific developments for fiber fragment shedding, LED conversion, biodegradation, and more
Future trends & developments

Investing in Fashion

Danaé Robert, Senior Associate, At One Ventures, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Fashion industry in need of large-scale innovation
No shortage of innovative ideas, but many fail to achieve success
“Valley of Death” - Challenging gap between innovation & adoption
Strategies for successfully navigating the “Valley of Death”
Ensuring that groundbreaking innovations reach their full potential

Bringing Digital Textile Dyeing to the USA – A Sneak Peak at Future of Textiles

Dr. Alan Hudd, CEO & Founder, Alchemie Technology, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK

The necessity and value of protecting the planet
Drivers & technology advances needed for innovation
Technology & IP protection is fundamental to credibility
Building confidence & business value
Lessons learned from successful industrial inkjet applications
Managing chaos during fast global commercial growth & scaling for manufacturing

Live Demonstration: Alchemie's Low Carbon Digital Textile Dyeing Technology

Introducing Discovery Lab System
Replicates Endeavour’sTM digital textile dyeing production
Hands on understanding of Alchemie’s digital liquid application solution
Generates dye recipes and fast colour matching
Eliminates traditional lab dip processes
Enables hassle-free recipe-to-production

6:00 - 8:00 pm Networking Reception

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

8:00 am Session 2

Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies

Johnny Shell - Keypoint Intelligence.jpg

State of the Industry: Digital Textile Printing

Johnny Shell, Principal Analyst, Textile & Apparel Printing, Keypoint Intelligence, Fairfield, New Jersey, USA

Digital transformation in textile printing: A fundamental transformation
- Challenges of the traditional textile industry
- Environmental & economic repercussions of current manufacturing model
- Wasteful practices that have long dominated this market
- Pressing need for sustainable alternatives
The rise of digital inkjet printing
- Game-changing impact
- Enhanced efficiency & precision
- Sustainable alternative to traditional methods
Future outlook & market trends
- Future of decorated apparel
- Market trends & growth trajectory
- Print volume, ink chemistries, & hardware volumes by global regions

Digital Textile Printing: DTG vs. DTF

Dr. Dan Harrison, Founder, Digital Imaging Materials Consultancy,

Pittsford, New York, USA

Direct to garment (DTG) inkjet printing
- Highly successful digital substitute for analog screen printing
- Limited to dark & light-colored cotton textiles
- Textile pretreats, super opaque white inks, & wet on wet printing developments have contributed to success
- DTG has not evolved into printing synthetics – specifically dark colored polyester & nylon sportswear
Direct to film (DTF) inkjet printing
- Leverages mature image transfer decal technology
- DTF printing cost includes transfer film, but ink usage less than DTG
- No pretreating is required for DTF
- DTF workflow is somewhat more complicated than DTG as an adhesive powder needs to be applied to the wet printed image before pressing the transfer sheet onto the textile
DTF opens synthetics applications not addressable with dye sub technology
- Lower DTF ink deposition gives much softer hand than DTG
- DTF image quality is much better, sometimes exceeding high-quality screen printing

Robotics & Automation in Clothing Manufacturing: State of the Art

Graham Page, CEO & Co-Founder, iAtelier Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Countries have explored automated clothing manufacturing since the 60’s
- These countries stand to benefit the most in today’s world of shifting supply chains, adversarial geopolitics, increasing pollution, & labor shortages
- No country wants to rely on others for critical manufacturing supplies including clothing
Robotics & automation in textile manufacturing
- Understanding automated clothing manufacturing over past few decades
- Current uses
- Recent developments & research
Remaining technological challenges of full automation

New Technologies to Reduce Textile Dyeing & Finishing Global Emissions

Harry Vine, Product Specialist, Alchemie Technology, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK

Clean-tech textile digital manufacturing company founded in 2014 to target growing need for digital printing technologies in the textile industry
Developing unique proprietary technologies for Digital Manufacturing Applications
Landmark disruptive patent-protected core technologies
- Digital textile dyeing – Endeavour
- Digital precision liquid coating – Novara
In the UK Queens 70-year Platinum Jubilee: Digital technology is set to bring about sustainable “Textile Revolution”
Reshoring to revitalize western textile manufacturing
Positioned at the premium-end of the textile capital equipment market
Targeting high capability suppliers to the major brands
Textiles become a “Clean-Tech” industry for the next decade & beyond
The future: Digital dyeing, digital printing, & digital technical textiles

Live Demonstration: Alchemie's Low Carbon Digital Textile Dyeing Technology

Introducing Discovery Lab System
Replicates Endeavour’sTM digital textile dyeing production
Hands on understanding of Alchemie’s digital liquid application solution
Generates dye recipes and fast colour matching
Eliminates traditional lab dip processes
Enables hassle-free recipe-to-production

12:00 - 1:00 pm Networking Lunch

1:00 pm Session 3

Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies Implementation

Automated Cutting & Sewing Technology Toward Textile Industry 4.0

Dr. Minyoung Suh, Associate Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Introduction
- Garment manufacturing labor market
- On-demand garment manufacturing
- Direct-to-Garment (DTG) printing
Automation in cutting
- Productivity enhancer
- Versatile cutter
- Vision technology
Automation in sewing
- Handling technology
- Joining technology
- Alternative techniques
The future
- Smart factories
- Textile industry 4.0 & 5.0

Environmental Sustainability Analysis of Rotary-Screen Printing (RSP) vs Digital Textile Printing (DTP)

Kerry Maguire King, Textile Professional, Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management, North Carolina State University,

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Worldwide need for more sustainable textile supply chain
Coloration process most problematic segment of supply chain prompts emphasis on innovation
DTP: Emerging coloration technology with potential to improve sustainability
Environmental sustainability analysis study undertaken to compare RSP & DTP
Study performed in realistic factory setting at vertically integrated textile company
16-color design on 1,000 m cotton fabric with reactive dye with both RSP & DTP
Environmental impact data collected on consumption, usage, and wastage
Findings suggest DTP favorable to RSP for environmental sustainability impacts

Kurt Kipka - Apparel Impact Institute.jpg

Scaling Decarbonization Solutions in the Apparel Sector

Kurt Kipka, Chief Impact Officer, Apparel Impact Institute, Oakland, California, USA

Intro to Apparel Impact Institute (Aii)
Size of the prize: Aii’s roadmap to net zero & quantification of GHG reduction needed to achieve the industry’s science-based & net zero targets
Industry approach to reducing carbon emissions
Examples of success & learnings to date
Call to action & how to get involved

Digital Integration, Digital Coloration & Cybernetics: The Future ‘On-Demand’ Textile & Sewn Products Supply Chain

Graham Page, CEO & Co-Founder, iAtelier Inc., Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

To solve the most pressing problems in the Textile & Sewn Products Supply Chain, a digitally integrated, cybernetic supply chain must be developed to enable on-demand manufacturing in the west
A digitally integrated, cybernetic supply chain is required to fully realize the potential of digital tools being developed at the design and ‘consumer facing’ front end of the sewn products industry.
A digitally integrated, cybernetic supply chain will be characterized by digital on-demand manufacturing, reduced overproduction, and sustainable processes, particularly in the coloration step of the supply chain.
Robotics with novel end effectors will be fundamental in the handling of raw materials and cut parts at scale.

A 2024 Checkpoint: What the Textile Industry Needs to Thrive in the

21st Century

Gart Davis, Student of Textile Change, Spoonflower Co-Founder & past CEO/COO, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Expected changes: Worsening environmental/social impacts, domestic production challenges
Unexpected changes: AI tools going from joke to real & powerful, China-direct ecommerce unseated Fast Fashion, Influencer power taking over ecommerce, CLO Virtual Fashions merging physical and virtual textiles
Changes shifted my ideas of good & bad - forced re-evaluation of my hopes for our incipient digital textile revolution
Reflections on:
- What is the new good/the new bad?
- What commercial opportunities are being created as the world shifts?
- What strategies can entrepreneurs deploy based on these opportunities to reverse textile's worsening environmental & social impact?
- What new tools are needed & what are the next steps?

5:00 pm

Adjournment

Speaker-Display Sponsorship

IMI and Alchemie Technology are pleased to offer the Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies Conference 2024 Speaker-Display Sponsorship to enable digital textile manufacturing technology suppliers and developers to give a presentation on their technologies and have a display during the conference.

Our goal is to develop a “digital textile community” focused on generating excitement about rapidly expanding digital textile manufacturing technologies

For additional information on sponsorship opportunities, click here OR contact Al Keene al@imiconf.com

Hotel Reservations

The Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies Conference 2024 is being held at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hotel reservations are the responsibility of each program participant. The conference room rate is $179 per night and includes internet service. Early booking is advised as the group rate is guaranteed only until September 2, 2024.

The cut-off date to receive the $179 group rate has been extended through September 6, 2024.

Reservations can also be made by calling Hilton Reservations (877-667-7214) or +1-704-364-2400 and identifying the event as

the "IMI Alchemie Digital Textiles Conference".

Hotel

Reservations can be made online at https://tinyurl.com/DigitalTextile2024HiltonRes

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark

The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark is less than ten miles from the Charlotte Douglass International Airport. Taxi service from the airport to hotel is available. Estimated Uber and Lyft fares are $25-$40. For those attendees driving, the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark is conveniently located to both I-77 and I-85. Hotel parking is complimentary for conference attendees.

The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark is conveniently located in the SouthPark neighborhood adjacent (a 2-minute walk) to the upscale SouthPark Mall. At nearly 1.8 million square feet, SouthPark Mall is the largest shopping mall in Charlotte and the Carolinas.

Among the 150+ stores, SouthPark Mall features Abercrombie & Fitch, Apple, Burberry, Dillards, Gucci, Lilly Pulitzer, Lego, Louis Vuitton, Macys, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Paul Simon, Saint Laurent, Tiffany & Co. and much more. There are also numerous additional shopping and dining options in the adjacent area. The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark offers shuttle service within a 3-mile radius of the hotel. In addition to being home to the mall, SouthPark is also a residential area and one of the larger business districts in Charlotte.

Overlooking Symphony Park (great place for a relaxing walk or jog), The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark has an outdoor pool with a waterfall, a fitness center, and dining (The Market Café & The Bankers Club Lounge). As the only SouthPark all suites hotel, The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark offers 207 newly renovated, well-appointed 700+ square feet spacious suites with kitchenettes or wet bars, Sweet Dreams® by DoubleTree sleep experience, wireless high speed internet access, coffee & tea by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, two remote control flat screen TVs, two telephones, voicemail & data port, and Crabtree & Evelyn® bath products.

Charlotte is known as the International Gateway to the Southern US and Charlotte’s Douglas International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world. It serves over 40 million passengers per year with competitive fares and convenient fight schedules from more than 140 nonstop destinations. Nearly 60% of the US population is within a two-hour flight of Charlotte.

Charlotte is the center of the United States’ sixth largest urban region with over 7 million people living in a 100-mile radius. Charlotte is a major Southeastern US hub with major manufacturing, energy, healthcare, educational and financial facilities. Nearly 300 Fortune 500 companies have facilities in the Greater Charlotte metro area which is a major manufacturing force.

The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark along with City of Charlotte www.visitcharlotte.com and State of North Carolina www.visitnc.com provide excellent opportunities to extend your visit into a memorable vacation experience.

The DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Charlotte-SouthPark address is:

6300 Morrison Boulevard

Charlotte, NC 28211

USA

Phone: +1 704-364-2400

Fax: +1 704-367-9912

https://tinyurl.com/IMIDoubleTree2024

IMI sponsors conferences and courses worldwide to assist in understanding technology developments, markets, and applications requirements. IMI conferences and courses offer unique opportunities for leading hardware, technology development, consumables, software, and user companies to learn, network, and develop a comprehensive understanding of current as well as future developments impacting successful product implementations, market
entry/expansion, and technology utilization. Since 1990, IMI has held over 700 programs attended by well over 25,000 technical, marketing, and management personnel from companies around the world.

IMI programs are designed to enable attendees to obtain the latest technical, market, and application information while allowing time to network with other attendees in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Attendance at an IMI program enables attendees to meet with an industry’s leading experts in a single location over a short period of time thus maximizing
information transfer efficiency and minimizing travel and time expenses.

For Additional information, contact:

IMI
Carrabassett Valley, ME USA
Phone: +1-207-235-2225
Email: imi@imiconf.com Web Site: www.imiconf.com

Alchemie’s mission is to transform the textile industry with dyeing and finishing solutions that eliminate the environmental impact of these polluting processes.

The key benefits of our digital approach to textile dyeing and finishing are:
– Reduction of energy consumption by > 85%
– Elimination of waste water emissions by > 95%
– Significant cost reductions of > 50%
– Digital manufacturing agility to address the
~25% of materials waste in the supply chain

About Alchemie’s solutions:
– Alchemie Endeavour™ is a breakthrough waterless, low-carbon, digital dyeing technology,
– Alchemie Novara™ is a non-contact, low energy, low chemistry, digital finishing solution
– Alchemie Discovery is a lab system that replicates production of Endeavour™, and can be
used for recipe development, color matching, and new material process development.

Details on all of Alchemie Technologies' activities can be found on our website www.alchemietechnology.com