New Smartex Tool Is All About Quality Control

Meghan Hall
·4 min read

Smartex, the Portuguese startup focused on automating production processes for knitwear manufacturers, announced the launch of its new product, Smartex FACT, on Oct. 4. This new development aims to help manufacturers monitor the quality of and deficiencies in knitted fabric rolls produced, and allows them to check in on metrics around factory and production efficiency.

The startup, which announced $24.7 million in Series A funding in November of 2022, equips manufacturing managers to receive notifications on a mobile device about the factories they oversee through its new technology.

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According to a blog from the company, Smartex FACT has four key features: automatic roll grading, daily factory overviews, machine performance tracking and production history.

Roll grading is a fabric inspection technique used by textile manufacturers to determine the quality of—and detect any defects in—the material they supply to brand clients.

According to CEO Gilberto Loureiro, who co-founded the company in 2018 along with chief technology officer Antonio Rocha and VP of engineering Paulo Ribiero, the Smartex update aims to help manufacturers eliminate textile waste, a significant problem in the industry.

“Manufacturers often struggle with inefficiencies, quality issues, and the need for manual inspections, which can lead to increased costs and decreased competitiveness. Smartex FACT steps in to address these challenges by providing automated performance insights into machine data, roll production statistics, and quality,” Loureiro told Sourcing Journal.

Loureiro worked in a fashion factory with his parents prior to starting college. In a previous interview with Sourcing Journal, he described the inspection stage as “the worst to be in,” because “you see mistakes produced… hours ago and so you can’t really solve anything.”

Smartex FACT allows manufacturers to set personalized standards for grading, and automatically grades each roll. Manufacturers can use the technology to view historical data on grading—users can see history on production and quality from the prior month.

Loureiro said Smartex FACT enables manufacturers to turn their attention to optimizing operations on the factory floor.

“With data-driven decision-making at their fingertips, knitting manufacturers can now elevate factory operations, ensure consistent quality, boost overall efficiency, and outpace the ever-evolving competitive landscape of the textile industry. We are particularly excited about the Automatic Roll Grading feature, as it has been requested by all of our clients and it is an essential tool to massively enhance human inspection,” Loureiro said.

Smartex’s new technology could help knitwear manufacturers eliminate manual roll grading. Manufacturers have the ability to move Grade-A rolls along without manual inspection, using what Smartex calls its Fast Track Label. The label feature is integrated with another Smartex tool, called Smartex LOOP, which helps with traceability and data in factories.

When a label is assigned to a fabric roll via Smartex LOOP, it gives that roll an individual identifier. The label allows users to understand the quality metrics associated with that roll. It also shows users where the roll has been throughout the factory via a digital roll map, which can help managers correct issues with machinery that may be causing recurring defects.

Smartex FACT also gives textile manufacturers the power to track key metrics relative to factory operations, like how many machines are running, how many rolls employees have produced and average overall equipment effectiveness, or OEE.

This information can be accessed directly on a mobile app, which Loureiro notes has been in high demand among Smartex’s clients.

“[Our clients] want to be proactive towards quality issues, and that is why we tailored our notifications based on their needs. They can know what is going on in their factories by receiving real-time notifications regarding their priorities… whether it’s machines operating at a lower RPM, excessive machine downtime or the identification of poor-quality rolls. This allows them to make data-informed decisions,” Loureiro said.

According to Loureiro, early clients for Smartex FACT include Turkish textile suppliers Ekoten, Toraman Tekstil and Kasar & Dual; Portuguese textile manufacturers Impetus Group, Avelana and Familitex; and Bangladesh-based GMS Fabrics, Fakir Fashion and Fakir Apparels.

Serdin Çelik, a manufacturing execution system manager from Ekoten, said the company’s partnership with Smartex has helped it enhance operational efficiency.

“Smartex reduced our defective production rate while providing a transparent and automatically controlled environment with a sustainable and innovative approach,” Çelik said in a testimonial on Smartex’s site.

For Loureiro, the launch marks an exciting turning point that gives manufacturers greater insight into quality.

“Our new product takes manufacturing and quality control to the next level. With Smartex FACT, users will be able to know when rolls don’t meet the requested quality or when production issues arise,” Loureiro wrote in the blog. “And with the platform being easily accessible via desktop or any smartphone, it is basically your textile factory in your pocket.”

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