Additive manufacturing for the production of garments in private households
Sustainability needs to be given greater attention, particularly in the fashion industry, given current issues such as the fast fashion model.
Master's thesis by Hannah Krapp
3rd semester, 2021
Supervising lecturer: Prof. Dr Martin Wessner
Problem and initial situation
Our fashion industry is characterised by poor production conditions, a negative environmental impact and alarming consumer behaviour. Given our planet’s finite resources, such circumstances are no longer acceptable. A rethink is needed. The objective must be to address the growing need for greater sustainability. At this stage, it is essential to give equal consideration to all aspects of sustainability – the economy, society and the environment – in technological development, as technologies can make a significant contribution to environmental change.
It has been demonstrated that additive manufacturing technology initially offers many advantages over traditional fashion manufacturing methods. Reduced transport requirements and less waste of materials and energy are just a few examples. Nevertheless, high costs for consumers and the current lack of comfortable materials, printing methods and expertise raise questions about the technology’s potential for consumers and the fashion industry as a whole.
Research questions
On the one hand, many people emphasise the idea of customised garment printing; on the other hand, there is scepticism as to whether this new form of production and consumption is at all feasible. For this reason, a consumer-oriented Technology Assessment was carried out to provide greater clarity on the subject.
To work efficiently on the research topic and to have a sort of guideline, the following main research question was formulated:
- RQ: How can additive manufacturing become a viable technology for printing garments at home in the future?
Two additional sub-questions were added to help answer the main research question:
- SQ 1: How should a technology assessment model be structured to be suitable for the technology assessment of additive manufacturing and to ensure the active involvement of private people?
- SQ 2: What criteria need to be met to make additive manufacturing socially acceptable for garment production in private households?
The first sub-question aims to address the problem that, over the years, there has been very little public involvement in technological development.
Methods
The technology assessment comprised an impact assessment and a technology evaluation. The aim was to identify the impact of AM technology and to evaluate its consequences for the economy, society and, in particular, the environment, in order to facilitate a final decision for businesses, policymakers and consumers. The impact assessment comprised a scenario analysis based on existing research, data and forecasts, supplemented by expert opinions to identify the potential consequences of printing garments at home.
First, so-called key influencing factors for the research scenario ‘printing garments at home’ were identified.
In the next step, these factors were projected into the future, specifically to the year 2050. The aim was to determine how these factors would develop in the future. Will there be, for example, a greater variety of comfortable materials? Will energy costs or the retail prices of 3D printers rise, fall or remain the same? After projecting the factors in this way through a review of the literature, an expert survey was conducted to enhance the projections already developed with further specialist insight.
The final projections were summarised in writing as two different scenarios and evaluated by consumers in a consumer survey. 149 people took part in the survey.
Results
The results showed that many developments still need to take place at environmental, social, economic, political and scientific levels in order to make garment printing attractive to private individuals not only in theory but also in practice. Reducing costs, increasing the use of sustainable materials and improving education are just a few examples at this stage of how to achieve consumer adoption.
Additive manufacturing can only become a viable and socially acceptable tool for printing garments at home if consumer demands and technological requirements – such as suitable materials, methods and printers, appropriate regulations, pricing and education, as well as environmental awareness – are met. At this stage, an appropriate financial framework combined with suitable education, legislation and standardisation is crucial, as is the consideration of alternative technologies. For instance, many participants in the consumer survey stated that they favoured the ‘Slow Fashion’ approach or 3D body scanning over other technologies.
Conclusion
However, all the findings of this study must still be viewed critically, as the consumer survey represents only a small section of society and the scenarios developed in the scenario analysis are not ‘true’. They do not predict a future with 100 per cent certainty, but merely attempt to visualise what might lie ahead. For this reason, technology assessments are not entirely meaningful without further research. Sherry R. Arnstein (1997) summed up this fact decades ago when he said:
“Whilst the need for a holistic analysis of complex societal problems is critical, Technology Assessment offers no panacea for fulfilling that need”
(Arnstein (1977): Technology Assessment: Opportunities and Obstacles, p. 579).
Ultimately, this thesis serves primarily as a guide for rethinking and raising awareness, with the aim of improving both additive manufacturing technology and its application in garment production, as well as existing behaviours within society and the fashion industry.
Further Sources:
Preview and header image: Adidas (14 Nov. 2018). Adidas 4D redefines running for your sport with the all-new FW18 AlphaEdge 4D. URL: adidas 4D redefines running for your sport with the all-new FW18 AlphaEdge 4D [accessed 25 August 2021]
Brecht, L.; Stelzer, B. (2015). ‘3D printing ’: A technology foresight based on IT-supported bibliometric analysis and scenario techniques. ITOP series 5. University of Ulm