New technologies for the flexible and eco-efficient production of customized products for people with special necessities: Results of the FASHION-ABLE project

Mass-customization of wearable products are offered as a higher added value to the broad public and had to compete with ready-to-wear offer. However, people with specific requirements are not covered with the current mass-customized products. This is the case of the elderly, disabled, diabetic and obese population groups when wearing textiles, clothing, footwear and textile-based orthotic goods. However, at present, available knowledge and flexibility of production equipment and machinery of SMEs operating in these traditional industries (even those that already offer made-to-measure products to the mass public) is unable to respond to the individual needs among such heterogeneous groups. The FASHION-ABLE project has solved this problem with: a user framework defining and quantifying the relevant user attributes, New Collaborative Product Customization Services, New stretch-leather's manufacturing processes and equipment, New 3D-spacer fabric's flexible manufacturing process and machinery, New textile's finishing operations and equipment, An extended manufacturing order management structure and tools, Life-Cycle Analysis instruments, and Interoperable Product Data Management tools.