To keep up with the high demands of the fashion and garment industry, it is inevitable that technologies in garment machinery are constantly evolving. And, garment manufacturers have no choice but to adapt their production processes with the right machinery to retain or even improve efficiency and sustainability. The easiest way to start: Adopting a digital dashboard into the garment manufacturing process.
In the wake of Industry 4.0 many garment manufacturers are looking for solutions on how to modernize their factories without putting their current processes at risk. While past articles have discussed way to keep ahead of the digital manufacturing revolution, today's article will focus on data security concerns in the garment manufacturing industry: strategies and solutions.
The Smoothest Way to Boost Production
For many garment factories the easiest way to improve their garment production is by implementing automations into their production line one by one. The idea: Connecting all machinery through a digital dashboard to stay on top of the production.
Ultimately, a dashboard visualizes various types of data on one cohesive display, to deliver all kinds of information in real time, relevant for the performance and management, to support or direct decisions. The management can analyze the automatically generated data through clearly structured data sheets faster, aiding them to identify bottlenecks in the production line quickly and therefore reaching KPIs faster. Over time this optimizes efficiency and productivity, improves inventory management and pushes companies further towards sustainability.
More Information: A full introduction into digital dashboards and their benefits in manufacturing.
Starting in the First Stage
As fabric spreading is a first stage in garment manufacturing, many garment manufacturers start with digitizing this step. Fully automated spreading machines do not only increase accuracy by eliminating human error but also allow factory managers to access automatically generated data sheets to address issues in the production line ahead. Thus, improving the quality as well.
Digital solution spreading machines like OSHIMA's SPro have been gaining a lot of popularity among modern garment manufacturers. For example, a sportwear manufacturer in Bangladesh and two garment manufacturers in Thailand in Cambodia are already successfully monitoring their production through a digital dashboard by adopting a digital fabric spreading machine and are able to fulfill incoming orders a lot quicker than before.
Another two Colombian sportswear manufacturers were also able to streamline their production and improve their sustainability by adopting a digital fabric spreading machines in their processes. They also went a very important step further: They switched to a single supplier that could provide both, a digital spreading machine and a digital cutting machine.
The importance lies on using garment machinery from one supplier. This step streamlines the supply chain, production and avoids unnecessary downtimes, as now only one supplier is responsible for fixing the equipment instead of relying on multiple suppliers.
More Information: What Are the Environmental Benefits of Using Digital Fabric Spreaders?
Addressing Safety Concerns
Relying on a digital dashboard means that the data is getting stored online in a cloud. While this is an immense benefit for factory managers, as they can access the data and work from anywhere, it also raises a security concern. And, in the wake of World Cloud Security Day on April 3, we are addressing these concerns: How is the sensitive data being protected? How can they stay safe against cyber threats? And, what about compliance with regulations?
1. Safe Encryption: Garment manufacturers deal with sensitive data, such as designs, customer information, and production data. To keep this data safe in the cloud, unauthorized access needs to be prevented. This can be maintained through safe encryption, thorough access management and control, and regular security audits.
2. Clear Ownership: When using a digital dashboard and storing data in cloud makes, it is important to have a clear ownership structure on the data. And, this does not only apply between the garment factory and the cloud service provider but also within different roles in the company. Clear rules of which roles within the company have how much access need to be clarified and implemented.
3. Tight Network: A secure network connection is inevitable to prevent unauthorized access from outside. Corporates usually have their own network, accessible through a secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) or implement encryption protocols and multi-factor authentication measures.
4. Regular Backups: To prevent data loss, garment factories should install mechanisms that regularly backup the data and a recovery system that can be triggered in case of emergency. Data loss can always happen – hardware failures, natural disasters and even unsuccessful cyber-attacks can trigger data loss.
5. Aware Employees: When it comes to data loss and leaked data, human error should not be underestimated. Conducting regular security trainings on cloud security, safe passwords, data handling, and – most importantly – recognizing potential threads and phishing scams, are therefore very important.
6. Understanding Regulations: Working with data always means dealing with privacy and protection regulations but also complying with country-specific or industry-specific regulations. Garment manufactures should therefore ensure that they understand the specific regulations and that their practices align with these. This avoids legal problems and penalties.
For OSHIMA's cloud system, we have implemented advanced data protection measures to ensure that all sensitive data (such as accounts, passwords, personal data) are processed with salting and comply with the principle of non-reversible password design. Furthermore, client data stored in the cloud is de-sensitized, and a separation and layering structure between user data and transaction data has been implemented, greatly reducing the risk of data leakage and further protecting the data security of enterprises and their customers.
Conclusion
As the global apparel manufacturing industry faces unprecedented market demands and competitive pressures, the introduction of digital technology has become key to continuous growth and is a core factor in enhancing production efficiency and sustainability. The application of digital dashboards has successfully optimized many companies' production processes, improved decision-making efficiency and production flexibility, and achieved higher cost control through real-time monitoring and data analysis
In the process of digital transformation, the importance of data security is increasingly prominent. By implementing strategies such as encryption technology, secure network connections, clear data ownership, and regular data backups, the apparel manufacturing industry can effectively protect its sensitive data from threats. Additionally, OSHiMA's advanced security measures, such as data salting and non-reversible password design, further ensure the security of data in the cloud, demonstrating the company's commitment to innovative security technologies
With technological advancements and market changes, apparel manufacturers must continuously adjust their strategies to maintain competitiveness. Digital dashboards and related smart manufacturing technologies not only enhance production efficiency but also enable companies to better respond to rapidly changing market demands, while also enhancing their contributions to sustainable development. Therefore, continued investment in digital technology and security measures is key to the future success of the apparel manufacturing industry. If you are looking for a reliable partner to streamline your production, contact us now.
