U.S. textile manufacturers continue to invest in technology to make their plants more competitive. Air-jet weaving machines, Quick Style Change (QSC) and electronic jacquards are some of the technologies where activity is hot.

The high-speed shuttleless loom has increased productivity dramatically in this relatively short span of time, with each new shuttleless loom capable of weaving more than twice as many yards per hour as the old shuttle loom.

But productivity, while certainly critical to the profitable operation of today’s cost-conscious mill, is only one of the benefits of shuttleless weaving. Superior fabric quality and shortened delivery cycles are a planned byproduct of this technology as well. And in many cases, shuttleless weaving, depending on the specific type of loom, has introduced a certain amount of product flexibility to mills which previously were geared to a single commodity type of fabric.

Another benefit of shuttleless looms can be seen in the huge reduction in the amount of second quality goods on the market. Before the advent of these looms, apparel manufacturers were faced with cutting around defects or returning goods. Thanks to the new technology, and significant improvements in yarn qualities, several mills have “zero defect” programs in place. And the new looms, while cutting down waste, have also contributed substantially to Quick Response.

Each type of shuttleless loom offers different benefits to the weaver, the manufacturer and ultimately the consumer.

Projectile looms, for example, weave a wide spectrum of fabrics, from basic printcloth to bottomweight poplins, twills, hopsacks, and sheetings, in a variety of fibers and blend levels; More than one third of the sportswear on our bodies has been created with these looms.

Colored yarn fabrics, such as worsted suitings for men’s and women’s tailored clothing, and yarn-dyed shirtings, as well as the many decorative fabrics for home furnishings, are often a product of Rapier shuttleless looms. Their productivity is not as great as some of the other shuttleless types, but their versatility more than compensates.

The appeal of the Air Jet shuttleless loom extends to many major woven fabric markets, from broadcloths and denim, to corduroy and home furnishings fabrics. While yarn-dyed fabrics of four or more colored yarns preclude the air jets from decorative and highly styled fabrics, they are the workhorse of the basics, and by far, the most productive shuttleless looms in the market.

Those synthetic silk-like fabrications for women’s blouses, dresses and linings, are the product of Water Jet looms. What they lack in flexibility, they make up for in productivity and fine quality products.

Today’s textile machine builders have an exceeding difficult task. The looms of the future have to take into consideration market conditions and requirements throughout the pipeline. In order to engineer a better loom they examine clothing consumption worldwide, breaking it down by fiber type, yarn size, fabrication, garment type and the degree of fashion versus basic styling. Finer yarns, lighter weight fabrics, broader color assortments–it all starts with market research.

The next generation of shuttleless looms is likely to be fully robotic, with the ability to insert several different colored yarns into the weave. The superb computer-aided design systems available today will combine with the new capabilities of the next generation of looms to offer increased flexibility and versatility, complementing loom productivity. The net result will be superior fashion styling with manageable minimums and shorter lead times at competitive prices.