DOCSLIB.ORG

Implementation of Lean Six Sigma in the Yarn Manufacturing: a Case Study Tarek M

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Implementation of Lean Six Sigma in the Yarn Manufacturing: a Case Study Tarek M International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 10, Issue 12, December-2019 1703 ISSN 2229-5518 Implementation of Lean Six Sigma in the Yarn Manufacturing: a case study Tarek M. Ibrahim Abstract— The purpose of this study is to explore the implementation of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project in the textile industry as a case study. Meanwhile, the literatures in the field of Lean Six Sigma and its implementation in the manufacturing industry and especially in the Textile industry have been explored. The lean techniques have been utilized to maximize winding speed, reduce variation between individuals production positions (The process speed) and provide tools for analyzing process flow and delay times, the setup delay has been minimize from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. These two achievements result in reduction of the WIP by 50%. While, Six Sigma emphasizes the need to recognize opportunities and eliminate defects in the produced cones (final product of the yarn manufacturing) as defined by customers, which improve the quality of end product significantly and improve the productivity by reducing the waste yarn with percentahe more than 20% according to the yarn type and raw material. Index Terms— DMAIC approach, Lean Six Sigma, Textile industry, Yarn Manufacturing, TQC implementation, Lean Implementation, Winding Process. —————————— —————————— 1 INTRODUCTION HE textile industry is one of the largest industrial sectors in push system moving work where output is pushed to the next T the world and the challenges facing the textile industry station as it is completed; the finished bobbins are pushed to with regards to providing sustainable growth with accepta- winding step after finished in spinning machine [6]. ble quality and profitable production are huge. As increasing All the goals in our project have been achieved by the DMAIC population and greater use of such products in technical and approach of Lean Six Sigma [7], which has been structured with industrial applications has led to a remarkable growth in de- disciplined, precise way to process improvement. DMAIC con- mand for textiles; the development of innovative design, pro- sisting of five phases: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and cesses and raw materials are of paramount importance. After Control. Each phase is linked logically to the previous phase as the quality revolution, the textiles industry has started imple- well as to the next phase. Reducing variability is a magic solu- menting the modern manufacturing paradigms like Lean, Six tion to solve our quality problem in our project, using six sigma Sigma, Total Quality Management, etc. However, textile manu- tools; we guarantee reducing the variation in significant range facturers should adapt more implementation for such tools. and achieve the required quality level. Lean Six Sigma consists by theIJSER integration of two parts [1]. The 2 LITERATURE REVIEW first part is the Lean, which rose as a method for optimizing auto manufacturing (Toyota production system) by focusing on The implementation of Lean Six Sigma in the textile industry the reduction of wastes and costs which requires a fundamental has not been reported in details yet. A systematic review of shift in the way of stakeholders’ thinking and in the nature of Lean Six Sigma for the manufacturing industry has been done the relationship between them [2]. Moreover, the second part in [8]; the research is based on a review of 37 papers that were is Six Sigma, which evolved in the semiconductor industry published on LSS in the top journals in the field and other spe- (Motorola ) as a quality initiative to eliminate defects by reduc- cialist journals. However, no paper in the field of textile indus- ing process variation using statistical methodology industry try has been mentioned in the research. A promising study has and focusing on those process performance characteristics that been done in [9] concerning the implementation of Lean Six are of critical importance to customers [3] [4]. According to [5] Sigma in manufacturing indicating that the practices such as the highest factors studied in LSS are the time, which represent DMAIC, Kaizen team, Visual Control, SMED, 5S, etc. of LSS the cycle and stop time in our project and the defects, which support to increases companies performance regardless the represent the cuts/100Km in our project. Therefore, we will fo- company size. In addition, the study revealed that use LSS in cus on the most important factors. all departments supportive of improving quality and creating a safe environment and improved employee involvement within The spinning mill is the first section of the textile industry, the the organization. The history and future of LSS has been illus- output of the spinning mill is the yarn wound on paper or plas- trated in [10], indicating that the future of Lean Six Sigma will tic conical- shaped packages called cones. The spinning mill be demanding and exciting due to the globalization and its as- consists of six stages, mixing, carding, drawing, roving, spin- sociated competitive pressures, customers demanding more in ning and winding. There are two manufacturing systems. Pull terms of quality. The researcher in [11] add the Selection phase, system: System for moving work where a workstation pulls Value Stream Mapping Phase and Replication phase to over- output from the preceding station as needed. Push system: Sys- come the problems in the traditional roadmap DMAIC which tem for moving work where output is pushed to the next station could be taken in consideration for the implementation of LSS as it is completed. Our project in spinning mill is working as in the textile industry. IJSER © 2019 http://www.ijser.org International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 10, Issue 12, December-2019 1704 ISSN 2229-5518 A few research works have been published highlighting the ap- the automated material handling and old used machines with plication of Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma in this industry, traditional material handling for all stages. in [12] the lean manufacturing principles has been adapted in a composite textile mill which having weaving and wet pro- We will work in the final stage of the yarn manufacturing which cessing and elaborated about the application of value stream is the winding process (Fig. 2). In this process, the finished bob- mapping. They mentioned that the lean manufacturing princi- bin (Fig. 1) from the previous stage spinning process is con- ples are new to the textile industry. verted from bobbin to cone (Fig. 3). At the same time any defec- tive in the yarn is cut and replaced by controlled splice, the ten- A case study in a spinning mill sector of the textile industry has sion on the yarn in the cone is adjusted in order to aceive the been illustrated in [13], which the application of the Six Sigma’s required density for next stages (dying or weaving) DMAIC improvement methodology has been utilized to reduce the cone weight variation due to its big effect in the waste for 4 SIX SIGMA METHODOLOGY (DMAIC CYCLE) the downstream process. Different Six Sigma tools like Pareto Diagram, Repeatability Chart and Analysis of Variance have Each applied step and technique of the Six Sigma methodology been used in this study. in our project has been clarified in details in the next subsec- tions. In [14] the DMAIC methodology has been implemented to re- duce the shade variations in the manufacturing of Linen fabrics and used certain Six Sigma tools like SIPOC diagram, Pareto Diagram, Cause-and-Effect Diagram and Analysis of Variance. After adopting the disciplined Lean Six Sigma methodology, the yield of the overall dyeing process has improved to 82% from the earlier level of 47% indicating an improved sigma level of 2.34. Fig1. The bobbins Fig2. The Winding Machine Fig3. The cones Two projects have been implemented in [15] with Lean Six 4.1 Define Phase Sigma through ISO 9001 : 2008 based QMS without any diffi- In the define phase, we will select Customer Critical Process, culty with the full cooperation of the shop floor team and top define Project and develop implementation plan, define goals management involvement. Sliver waste reduction project and of improvement, define Project and operation objective, define training lead-time reduction project were carried out in the expected outcomes from the project and define communication spinning mill. They achieved an increased in Sigma level to 3.47 and 4.32 in the production lines repectevly. plan. 4.1.1 Select the Project – Problem Statement & Goals The DMAIC methodology, together with appropriate tools, The most important critical factors in winding process is the were used effectively in [16]IJSER. The projects reduced the change- quality of produced cones which measured by: over times on two different product lines and reduced contam- 1. Number of good and bad splices which done using ination on a third line. In addition, the case study provided a splicer. look behind the scenes at how the LSS program was positioned 2. Number of remaining faults in the cone which con- and supported within the company, through an interview with trolled by yarn clearers (Fig. 4) and clearing limits. the company’s lead Master Black Belt. 3. The package length and weight which controlled by machine speed and process cycle time. As a result, over the last decade, Lean Six Sigma has become 4. The package density, which adjusted using tensioner one of the most popular and proven business process improve- (Fig. 5). ment methodologies in many industrial branches. However, implementation of the LSS in the field of textile industry still in Our project has two objectives, first to check and adjust the re- its primitive stages. More searches, case studies and practical maining faults in cone by control the number of cut in winding trials can be done in this field with very promising results of machine using yarn clearers and to control the tension of the solving current problems and improving the quality and produced cones.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Textile Industry Needs Christopher D
    The Journal of Cotton Science 21:210–219 (2017) 210 http://journal.cotton.org, © The Cotton Foundation 2017 ENGINEERING & GINNING Textile Industry Needs Christopher D. Delhom, Vikki B. Martin, and Martin K. Schreiner ABSTRACT lthough the immediate customer of the gin is Athe cotton producer, the end user of the ginned The immediate customers of cotton gins are lint is the textile mill, retailers, and eventually the the producers; however, the ultimate customers consumer. Thus, it is essential for the ginner to are textile mills and consumers. The ginner has satisfy both the producers and the textile industry. the challenging task to satisfy both producers and Consequently, the ginner needs to be aware of the the textile industry. Classing and grading systems needs of the textile industry. are intended to assign an economic value to the The intent of the cotton classing and grading bales that relates to textile mill demands and the system is to assign an economic value to the bale that quality of the end product. International textile documents its properties as it relates to the quality of mills currently are the primary consumers of U.S. the end product. Since the last edition of the Cotton cotton lint where it must compete against foreign Ginners Handbook in 1994, the customers of U.S. origins. International textile mills manufacture cotton have changed radically, shifting from primar- primarily ring-spun yarns, whereas domestic mills ily domestic to international mills. International mills manufacture predominantly rotor spun yarns. Pro- have been accustomed primarily to hand-harvested ducers and ginners must produce cottons to satisfy cotton that has been processed at slow ginning all segments of the industry, i.e., domestic and in- rates.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflecting Noble Luxury and Refinement, New Lightweight Wool Materials Are of Key Interest to Designers, Retailers and Bespoke Tailors
    Reflecting noble luxury and refinement, new lightweight wool materials are of key interest to designers, retailers and bespoke tailors. Beyond demanding perfected fits and wool’s signature aesthetic, discerning consumers expect emotional, sensorial tactility in garments. Responding to luxury market demands, leading Italian and English spinners and weavers are introducing exclusive fine-micron yarns and fabrics, derived from rare Australian merino. Stylesight explores Baruffa Group’s finest wool yarns for first-class sweater knits, cut-and-sew jersey, and wovens. Vogue Australia December 2012 / Elizabeth Debicki in wool, on location at Haddon Rig, a Merino wool farm in New South Wales. With seductive, magnetic charm, lighter weight but often still densely constructed wovens and knits are key on men and women's runways and at textile trade shows. Wool—traditionally a winter fiber—evolves with cutting-edge superfine qualities from 150s and 180s up to 250s. Offering noble refinement and unique trans-seasonal possibilities, wool moves beyond its pastime connotations. Gossamer knits / Posh mesh / Lightweight jerseys / Dense, hefty yet lightweight wools Finest wool Fabrics F/W 13 Dormeuil Limited Edition - finest wool yarns Zegna Baruffa Lane Record Bale - finest wool fabric Loro Piana Borgosesia Finest wool Fabrics Taylor & Lodge Meticulous fiber selection from choice breeds, along with revolutionary spinning and weaving technologies, is core to new noble wool productions. Wools characterized by strength, elasticity, fluidity, low pilling and
    [Show full text]
  • Current and Future Trends in Yarn Production1
    Volume 2, Issue 2, Spring 2002 CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS IN YARN PRODUCTION1 William Oxenham, Ph.D. College of Textiles, North Carolina State University ABSTRACT While developments in yarn manufacturing continue to be promoted by machinery makers, spinners are challenged to produce the best quality yarn at an acceptable price. This often results in a compromise, since improved yarn quality can usually only be achieved at a higher processing cost (including raw material selection). An additional difficulty is that the significance of the various attributes of quality change for different yarn’s end uses. While the solution to lowering yarn costs, that has been adopted in recent years has been to create large, almost fully automated spinning mills, this philosophy is presently being questioned, since this significantly reduces flexibility with respect to the fiber and yarn type that can be processed. This is obviously at odds with the current paradigm of customer driven, quick response manufacturing, since this demands inherent flexibility in the successful supplier. This paper reviews the current state of technological innovation in yarn production and examines the relative merits and disadvantages of each system. Some insight will also be given concerning those factors that limit further development of some of these systems. Historical trends in US yarn production have also been surveyed, and the combined information obtained is used as an indicator of the future directions in this key industry. KEYWORDS: Yarn Production, Spinning, Vortex Spinning, Centrifugal Spinning 1. INTRODUCTION shortcomings in certain aspects of yarn and fabric quality (Figure 2). This aspect Research into new technology for yarn cannot be over stressed since while ring formation peaked in the 60’s & 70’s.
    [Show full text]
  • India's Textile and Apparel Industry
    Staff Research Study 27 Office of Industries U.S. International Trade Commission India’s Textile and Apparel Industry: Growth Potential and Trade and Investment Opportunities March 2001 Publication 3401 The views expressed in this staff study are those of the Office of Industries, U.S. International Trade Commission. They are not necessarily the views of the U.S. International Trade Commission as a whole or any individual commissioner. U.S. International Trade Commission Vern Simpson Director, Office of Industries This report was principally prepared by Sundar A. Shetty Textiles and Apparel Branch Energy, Chemicals, and Textiles Division Address all communications to Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Executive Summary . v Chapter 1. Introduction . 1-1 Purpose of study . 1-1 Data and scope . 1-1 Organization of study . 1-2 Overview of India’s economy . 1-2 Chapter 2. Structure of the textile and apparel industry . 2-1 Fiber production . 2-1 Textile sector . 2-1 Yarn production . 2-4 Fabric production . 2-4 Dyeing and finishing . 2-5 Apparel sector . 2-5 Structural problems . 2-5 Textile machinery . 2-7 Chapter 3. Government trade and nontrade policies . 3-1 Trade policies . 3-1 Tariff barriers . 3-1 Nontariff barriers . 3-3 Import licensing . 3-3 Customs procedures . 3-5 Marking, labeling, and packaging requirements . 3-5 Export-Import policy . 3-5 Duty entitlement passbook scheme . 3-5 Export promotion capital goods scheme . 3-5 Pre- and post-shipment financing . 3-6 Export processing and special economic zones . 3-6 Nontrade policies .
    [Show full text]
  • Behind the Scenes Behind the Scenes
    A Noro aficionado for more than twenty-five years, designer Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton took the trip of a BehindBehind lifetime, traveling to Japan from her home in Sweden thethe ScenesScenes to meet the man by Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton behind the yarn. y relationship with all that is Noro began in the early 1980s. It is obvious that every new day still brings new discoveries of color and I had just returned from a train trip around Europe that I form based largely on an acute observation of nature and its rhythms, M undertook to find direction in my professional life. The outcome seasons, textures and colors. Mr. Noro’s calm dignity and humor were was an ambitious decision to pursue careers in both photography and evident even though we needed an interpreter to communicate. hand-knit design. As fate would have it, the design part of my decision quickly developed and pushed out the photography—at least for the time The Company being. Eisaku Noro was raised in the town of Ichinomiya in Central Japan, a Upon my return to Manhattan I took a sales job at Fiberworks, which region known for its yarn and textile production. Impatient with school, was probably the most avant-garde yarn shop in New York at the time. Noro began working in the yarn industry after his basic education in Owned by crochet designer Judith Copeland, Fiberworks was more a spinning and dyeing was completed. He quickly learned the ropes. gallery than a yarn shop, where handcrafted yarns from Noro lit up the An innovator with an artistic eye even back then, Noro soon became shelves and were featured in artfully displayed handknit garments.
    [Show full text]
  • The Textile Machinery Collection at the American Textile History Museum a Historic Mechanical Engineering Heritage Collection
    THE TEXTILE MACHINERY COLLECTION AT THE AMERICAN TEXTILE HISTORY MUSEUM A HISTORIC MECHANICAL ENGINEERING HERITAGE COLLECTION Textiles are an important part of our everyday lives. They clothe and comfort us, protect our first-responders, Introduction filter the air in our automobiles, and form the core of the fuselage in our newest aircraft. We enjoy their bright colors, wrap up in their warmth, and seldom give a second thought to how they make bicycles stronger and lighter or how they might be used to repair our vital organs. As textiles have changed from the first simple twisted fibers to high-tech smart fabrics, the tools and machinery used to make them have evolved as well. Drop spindles and spinning wheels have given way to long lines of spinning frames. And looms now use puffs of air instead of the human hand to insert the weft thread in a growing length of fabric. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, textile manufacture was the catalyst for the Industrial Revolution in America. It was the leading edge in the transformation from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy and started the move of significant numbers of people from rural areas to urban centers. With industrialization came a change in the way people worked. No longer controlled by natural rhythms, the workday demanded a life governed by the factory bell. On the consumer side, industrialization transformed textiles from one of a person’s most valuable possessions to a product widely available at incredibly low prices. For more than a century, textile mills in Great Britain and the United States dominated textile production and led the industrial revolution in both Europe and North America.
    [Show full text]
  • Spinning Yarn with a Drop Spindle
    Spinning Yarn With a Drop Spindle Using a spindle is a very economical way to learn handspinning for a beginner. They are inexpensive to buy, and also very easy to make. Once you have mastered the spindle you will have learned the steps needed for spinning on the spinning wheel: drafting out fibers, twisting the fiber into yarn, and winding up and storing the spun yarn. Tying on the Leader To begin spinning on a bottom whorl drop spindle, attach a leader to your spindle by tying a piece of yarn about 18 inches long onto the shaft right above the whorl, then take the yarn over the side of the whorl, loop it around the shaft underneath, and back over the side of the whorl, and secure the end onto the hook. Spinning Leave the fibers at the end of the leader loose. Let the spindle hang beneath your hand suspended by the leader. Take the spindle in your right hand and the leader in your left hand, spin the drop spindle from the shaft in a clockwise direction. This is the direction you will be spinning to make the yarn. Allow yourself time to practice making the spindle rotate. Repeat this process of spinning the spindle in the same direction until the leader begins to take in the twist. Leave a fluff of fiber at the end for joining on more fiber. Winding On Always keep tension on your newly spun yarn to allow the twist to run into the newly drafted fiber, if you release the tension, the twist will not travel up.
    [Show full text]
  • Spinning Yarns, Telling Tales About Textiles
    News for Schools from the Smithsonian Institution, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Washington, D.C. 20560 SEPTEMBER 1980 Spinning Yarns, Telling Tales about Textiles Textiles Tell Stories: The "Age of Homespun" and in regard to spinning, weaving, and other aspects of Other Tales textile making. This exchange of ideas led to a great Consider, for example, the piece of cloth shown in many improvements and innovations in all the various figure 1. This piece of hand-loomed, plaid linen is aspects of textile making over time. Some of the most from the Age of Homespun-a period of American important of these developments are explained in the history lasting from colonial times up until the Civil next section of this article. Bull mummy-wrapping (from Egypt) War. During the Age of Homespun many of the necessi­ ties of life-including textiles-were made in the Textiles From Scratch: Fiber to Cloth home. This was especially true in remote rural areas, Traditionally the making of a piece of cloth involved .7l",;;;,;i1_ where practically every farm had its own plot of flax first the selection of an appropriate natural fiber. (For i.liIi!i,~;':;\';_-- a discussion of natural fibers, see the article on page (as well as its own flock of sheep) and there was a m1i'<!Si~ 4.) The fiber was then harvested and made ready for 1\ wool wheel and a flax wheel in every kitchen. -iW:Mii\ii\_ spinning into thread or yarn. After spinning, the yarn en@! The making of cloth for clothing and bedding de­ manded an enormous amount of time and energy was usually either knitted or woven into cloth.
    [Show full text]
  • An Overview of Hybrid Ring Spinning Methods
    Current Trends in Fashion Technology & Textile Engineering ISSN: 2577-2929 Short Communication Curr Trends Fashion Technol Textile Eng Volume 1 Issue 5 December 2017 Copyright © All rights are reserved by Banu Nergis DOI: 10.19080/CTFTTE.2017.01.555572 An Overview of Hybrid Ring Spinning Methods Banu Nergis* Department of Textile Engineering, Technical University of Istanbul, Turkey Submission: October 25, 2017; Published: December 12, 2017 *Corresponding author: Department of Textile Engineering, Technical University of Istanbul, İstanbul, Turkey, Email: Introduction structure in such a way that the yarn is more similar to the plied Ring-spinning accounts for about two third of global long yarn. During the Solospun yarn production a pair of rollers held and short staple yarn production. The main reason for the dominance of ring-spinning over other spinning systems is its Each roller is positioned where it interacts with the emerging in a bracket is clipped onto a conventional ring spinning frame. the superior quality of ring-spun yarns over those produced by versatility in terms of yarn linear density and fibre type, and also interaction subtly changes the structure of the yarn, which other systems. The main disadvantage of the spinning system drafted fibre strand before twist insertion. The roller-fibre dramatically increases its abrasion resistance [6]. is the yarn production rate due to limitations in spindle speed (productivity), high power consumption, traveller wear and heat generation and yarn tension [1]. Invention and application of modified/new spinning methods The technology behing ring spinning remained largely to produce finer yarn with higher quality are still ongoing.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Spinning Wheels
    presents An Introduction to Spinning Wheels: How to Use and How to Choose a Spinning Wheel elcome to the world of handspinning! So, you’ve decided to take the plunge and explore Wthe wonders of making your own yarn with a spinning wheel. Not only are you in for a treat, but you’ve also started at the right place. Learning how to spin your own yarn is pretty easy and straight forward, especially if you have access to great teachers. To make this free eBook, we pulled from some of our best content from the pages of Spin.Offmagazine. The oldest of Interweave’s publications, Spin.Off is a quarterly magazine that has been around since 1977 inspiring spinners new and old to make beautiful yarn and find enchanting ways to use it. We also host the spinning community, spinningdaily.com complete with blogs, forums, and free patterns, Spin.Off Autumn Retreat (SOAR)—an intense and inspirational week with like-minded spinners, and our series of workshop videos where the living treasures of the spinning world share their knowledge with you. We’re devoted to bringing you the best spinning teachers, the newest spinning ideas, and most inspirational creativity right to your mailbox, computer, and ultimately fingertips. We hope you enjoy your spinning journey—come tell us about it at spinningdaily.com. Happy spinning, Amy Clarke Moore [email protected] Indulge your passion for fiber with Spin.Off magazine Spin.Off brings you: • The best teachers teaching the best spinning tricks and techniques • The newest information: fibers, tools, books, events, people, and places • The warmest handspun projects that you can make • The coolest stories of spinning history and tradition Subscribe Now! Call (800) 767-9638 or go to spinoffmagazine.com Copyright Spin.Off® magazine, Interweave Press LLC.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    Investigation into the Application of Polymer Finishes on Textiles by Inkjet Printing A dissertation submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Master of Science by Research in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences 2011 Md. Nazmul Karim School of Materials TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... 2 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 5 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 6 ABSTRACT……………. ................................................................................................................. 8 DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT .............................................................................................. 9 THE AUTHOR…………… .............................................................................................................10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...........................................................................................................11 ABBREVIATIONS .....................................................................................................................12 THESIS OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................15
    [Show full text]
  • Melt-Spun Fibers for Textile Applications
    materials Review Melt-Spun Fibers for Textile Applications Rudolf Hufenus 1,*, Yurong Yan 2, Martin Dauner 3 and Takeshi Kikutani 4 1 Laboratory for Advanced Fibers, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014 St. Gallen, Switzerland 2 Key Lab Guangdong High Property & Functional Polymer Materials, Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, South China University of Technology, No. 381 Wushan Road, Tianhe, Guangzhou 510640, China; [email protected] 3 German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research, Körschtalstraße 26, D-73770 Denkendorf, Germany; [email protected] 4 Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-J3-142, Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8503, Japan; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +41-58-765-7341 Received: 19 August 2020; Accepted: 23 September 2020; Published: 26 September 2020 Abstract: Textiles have a very long history, but they are far from becoming outdated. They gain new importance in technical applications, and man-made fibers are at the center of this ongoing innovation. The development of high-tech textiles relies on enhancements of fiber raw materials and processing techniques. Today, melt spinning of polymers is the most commonly used method for manufacturing commercial fibers, due to the simplicity of the production line, high spinning velocities, low production cost and environmental friendliness. Topics covered in this review are established and novel polymers, additives and processes used in melt spinning. In addition, fundamental questions regarding fiber morphologies, structure-property relationships, as well as flow and draw instabilities are addressed. Multicomponent melt-spinning, where several functionalities can be combined in one fiber, is also discussed.
    [Show full text]