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With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), such as surgical masks, has become increasingly significant. It is vital to quickly provide high-quality, hygienic PPE during pandemic periods. This comprehensive case study aims to confirm that Kaizen and 5S applications reduce wastage rates and stoppages, which as a result, created a more efficient and sustainable workplace in a small–mediumenterprise (SME) producing PPE in Turkey.

The method for this case is discussed with the help of a flowchart using the DMAIC cycle: D-define, M-measure, A-analyse, I-improve and C-control.

The total stoppages due to fishing line, gripper, piston and yarn welding have decreased by approximately 42.4%. As a result of eliminating wasted time and reduced changeovers, a total of 5,502 min have been saved per month. This increased production of approximately 10.55% per month, led to an addition of 506,184 units.

The use of lean manufacturing (LM), Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement methodologies are not common in textile SMEs. Based on the current literature reviewed, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive case study that combines statistical tools, such as hypothesis tests and LM practices, in the production process for a PPE company operating as a textile SME.

The purpose of this paper is to present a fit prediction case study of virtual twins of women jacket. For this reason, several basic principles of clothes fit prediction were developed and verified.

To develop the principles of fit prediction, the women's jacket sleeve was selected as the study object. The study objects were categorized into three types: the patterns and two virtual sleeves generating on full avatar from Clo3D and on dummy (arm partly removed). Through series of subjective and objective evaluation experiments, the relationship between the similar indexes of the patterns and the virtual sleeves was built, including fit criteria range, the categorization of the indexes in terms of its sensitiveness, and the linear regressions to predict several indexes of virtual sleeves after its pattern parameterization. The results obtained were verified in case study by the virtual and real sleeves generating.

The proposed principles of clothing fit prediction based on parallel research of the flat patterns and its virtual 3D shapes. The principles include the choosing of virtual twins of human body for virtual try-on, the establishing of indexes common schedule for patterns and virtual sleeves, the creation of criteria and its ranges for perfect fit and poor fit evaluation, and the application of existing relations between the patterns and the sleeves for predicting indexes responsible for fit.

The authors propose and verify the validity of the principles to predict several parameters of virtual 3D sleeve of women's jacket which are forming the level of fit. The result of this study can be used to convenient fit prediction and to find the misfit reasons.

This study developed basic principles for predicting the fit of the clothing through the virtual simulation and the statistical analysis. Through studying the jacket sleeve, the several related ranges, the row of more sensitive indexes, and the equations were presented and verified, which certified the validity of proposed principles.

The results can effectively predict the sleeve fit before sewing, which reduce the time and materials cost and the operator's skill requirements.

The authors propose and verify the validity of the principles to predict several parameters of virtual 3D sleeve of women's jacket which form the level of fit. The result of this study can be used for convenient fit prediction and to find the misfit reasons.

Electric spring (ES) is a demand response method that can stabilize the voltage of critical loads and improve power quality, especially in a weak power grid with a high proportion of renewable energy sources. Most of existing ESs are implemented by voltage-source inverter (VSI), which has some shortcomings. For example, the DC-link capacitor limits the service life of ES, and the battery is costly and hard to recycle. Besides, conventional VSI cannot boost the voltage, which limits the application of ES in high-voltage occasions. This study aims to propose a novel scheme of ES to solve the above problems.

In this work, an ES topology based on current-source inverter (CSI) without a battery is presented, and a direct current control strategy is proposed. The operating principles, voltage regulation range and parameter design of the proposed ES are discussed in detail.

The proposed ES is applicable to various voltage levels, and the harmonics are effectively suppressed, which have been validated via the experimental results in both ideal and distorted grid conditions.

An ES topology based on battery-less CSI is proposed for the first time, which reduces the cost and prolongs the service time of ES. A novel control strategy is proposed to realize the functions of voltage regulation and harmonic suppression.

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of stitch type and stitch direction on the dynamic drape behavior of the woven fabric.

In this paper, the effectiveness of stitch type and stitch directions on dynamic drape behaviors were investigated. Fabric parts were sewn together with two types of the stitch (lockstitch and overlock stitch) on three different stitch directions (warp, weft and bias (45°)). The static drape coefficients (SDC) of unsewn and sewn fabrics were measured according to the image process method. Dynamic drape coefficients (DDC) of fabrics were also measured using the same method at six different (25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 rpms) rotation speeds. Additionally, bending length and bending rigidity were measured using the Cantilever test method.

Experimental results showed that stitch type and stitch directions are effective on the dynamic drape behaviors of the fabric. Overlock stitch resulted in greater DDC than the lock stitch. For both of the stitch type, DDC for the stitch on the warp direction are greater than the stitch on the weft and bias direction for all speeds. In addition, bending length, hence the bending rigidity, are greater for overlock stitch type and always weft direction resulted in greater than the warp and bias direction.

Fabric drape is vital for garment appearance and is gaining popularity with the advancement of virtual technology, enabling virtual visualization of garments. While previous studies have predominantly examined either the static or dynamic drape behavior of individual fabric panels, or solely focused on the static drape behavior of sewn fabrics, this study acknowledges the significance of incorporating the influence of stitch type and direction on dynamic drape behaviors. Considering that fabrics are sewn together to create garments and that DDC provides a more accurate representation of real-time fabric behavior compared to SDC, this research makes a valuable contribution to the existing literature by investigating the impact of stitch type and direction specifically on DDC.