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Familitex is one of the Portuguese textile companies that has already installed on its circular looms the Smartex V1, a Portuguese innovative system that uses artificial intelligence to inspect textile meshes and detect defects. The technology has been operating since January, and according to Familitex, it showed immediate results by saving resources and reducing waste.
“The huge impact that the Smartex V1 System will have on the long-term in our production, in terms of savings, has already been proven, and the human-machine interaction is great. The system alerts make our employees very confident”, says Afonso Barbosa, Familitex CEO.
Developed by Smartex, a start-up born in 2018, the automated system combines artificial intelligence and computer vision to identify defects in the textile meshes and avoid waste. As soon as an imperfection is identified – such as holes, stains or oil spots – the machine comes to a halt, saving energy, time and raw materials.
In addition to Familitex, companies like Tintex and Polopiqué are among the early adopters of this new technology.
So far, the feedback is positive. “Our current customers recognize the benefit within weeks of installing the systems. This is what makes us confident that 2021 will be an important year in terms of sales, both in the markets in which we are already present, such as Portugal, Italy and Turkey, but also in new markets ”, adds Rui Pereira, Smartex’s Business Development Director.