Dr John Oyekan, lecturer in digital manufacturing in the Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering at the University of Sheffield, gives his insight on digitalisation within the textile & apparel industry.

In this special episode, Oyekan talks about what digitalisation can do primarily to support the textile & apparel industry, specifically focusing on AI and digital twin technologies. He explains that these new tools can help companies to become more efficient, intelligent and sustainable, and that significant financial savings could also be made. Elsewhere, he discusses the relationship between humans and robots, explaining that humans can never be fully replaced and that the ideal scenario is for robots to complete the repetitive manual tasks, leaving humans time to carry out more meaningful work. Oyekan also gives some advice on how to go about introducing digital technologies into a company, and his thoughts on virtual trade shows such as WTiN’s Innovate Textile & Apparel.