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Georgia Trend: Stitching The Future

SoftWear Automation is moving as fast as its Sewbots.

The Atlanta-based company, which manufactures automated sewing machines, could end up revolutionizing the world’s garment industry.

Its machines can be used by apparel companies for a multitude of tasks that are required to take a garment from concept to reality, including fabric handling and direct sewing. That’s good news, because the number of people skilled at sewing is shrinking with each year, and younger generations are typically not interested in replacing them.

“You’re creating job opportunities in different markets,” CEO Palaniswamy Rajan says. “The traditional seamstress in the U.S. is 56 years old. There are not enough people who want to become seamstresses.”

But that doesn’t mean it is taking jobs away from those who need them. Instead, the nature of the job is changing.

“People are managing the Sewbots versus actually being the sewing operator itself,” he says. “It creates a whole new, different paradigm for manufacturing.”

The machines have the potential to help bring textile manufacturing back to the U.S. while creating higher-wage jobs for those supervising the sewbots’ work. It could also address garment worker exploitation that has occurred in other countries and helps companies meet consumer demand for new fashion styles faster by facilitating a quicker delivery to market.

Read the full article at Georgia Trend.