The technology needed for sustainable and local manufacturing already exists according to PhD candidate and Shima Seiki knitting machine pioneer Patricia Chircop. We just need to reorientate ourselves around it.
Picture this: you’re on a mission to find the perfect jumper to match your favourite pair of pants. After two weeks of searching, you finally find it on a French fashion website. You add it to your cart, hit ‘Buy’ and an alert appears:
“We don’t ship to your region.”
Now imagine that you could order this perfect shirt to be manufactured locally, to your exact measurements and delivered to your door in less time than a flight from Europe. Saving you money, minimising fuel for freight, and using low-waste manufacturing techniques thanks to Shima Seiki knitting machines.
This is the potential that PhD candidate Patricia Chircop sees for the manufacturing industry thanks to existing technologies, a decade of experience and many conversations with her industry peers.
Shaking up the manufacturing industry
The idea for Patricia’s research was sparked by the fragility of the world’s supply chain due to compounding geopolitical instability.
“We had rising fuel costs at the same time as China going into lockdown. It really made me think about how we can use existing technology better.”
A typical manufacturing process sources raw materials from one place, produces the product in another and ships it across the world to be sold. As part of her planned four-year research project, Patricia is exploring ways to reorientate this existing business model to one that uses a network of local Shima Seiki knitting machines that can manufacture products on-demand.
She’s dubbed this a ‘future factory network’. It would enable more products to be manufactured locally, eliminating the cost and fuel associated with freight.
“Doing a PhD is such a beautiful opportunity to be able to step back from my own practice and look at it with a new lens and look at the potential cause of the problems I see."
“I've been a sole practitioner for a long time. To become part of a bigger community, like a university, and get feedback from academics about the value of what I'm doing is amazing.”
The potential of existing technologies
Another benefit of the innovative and unique Shima Seiki knitting machine is that it can create highly customisable garments in a single piece, reducing the amount of fabric that is cut off from seams in a standard manufacturing process. Using a range of threads from thermo-fusible yarn to raw materials and wool, it’s already proven useful in a range of industries including medicine, space, sports and industrial design.
Patricia has been a Shima Seiki champion since the early days of her career when she completed training in Japan (the birthplace of the machines). Since then, she has used them for a wide range of projects: recycled wool for lighting structures, customised cycling gear to fit like skin and fashionable, but protective, motorcycle clothing.
Patricia explains the value of the machines using compression bras for breast cancer patients as an example:
“A person who had a mastectomy has different needs. They need compression in different places. The beauty of this technology – because it's digitally controlled – means that you can incorporate things like body scanning technology and get good custom fits.”
Staying ahead of the pack
Patricia’s business KNOVUS owns one of only a few Shima Seiki knitting machines in Australia. And, UTS is home to the latest top-of-the-range XR model (one of only six in the world), making UTS the perfect place for Patricia to undertake her PhD.
“If KNOVUS is known for innovation and we've currently got one of the only machines in Australia, for me to get the experience on the XR model at UTS really keeps me ahead of the pack.”
Patricia’s successful career so far has brought together her Shima Seiki expertise, business acumen and knowledge of the industry. Paired with her passion for more ethical and efficient manufacturing solutions, she’s well placed to build her vision of the future factory network.
“It's a perfect time to do a PhD mid-career because I've got the experience and I've got the industry credibility and knowledge.”
