Rethinking industry – shaping the future!
T7 is a joint project of the Research Institute for Textiles and Clothing at the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, the Institute for Textile Technology (ITA) at RWTH Aachen University, the Association of the Northwest German Textile and Clothing Industry and the Association of the Rhenish Textile and Clothing Industry, with the Textile Academy NRW and the WFMG for the city of Mönchengladbach.
Initial situation in the textile and clothing industry
In Germany, the textile and clothing industry is still an important industrial sector. Approximately 415,000 people are employed within 1,400 companies. € 32 billion in sales volume are generated. The research and development activities of the industry are significantly influenced by 16 textile research institutes, applied colleges and universities throughout the country.
Approximately 2,000 students are currently studying at the Department of Textiles and Clothing at Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. This makes the university in Mönchengladbach one of the leading training institutions for young academics in Europe in this sector. Aachen is home to the Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University. It isanother focal point for top textile research within the region.
The history of the textile and clothing industry in the preceding decades was characterized above all by a variety of structural upheavals. This can be exemplified by the city of Mönchengladbach. Its growth into a major city at the beginning of industrialization is just as closely linked to the textile industry as upheavals in urban development and the associated crises since the 1960s. Nevertheless, The economy structure of Mönchengladbach is still characterized by numerous textile machine manufacturers, producers of technical textiles and clothing manufacturers.
The next structural upheavals for the industry have long been on the horizon. Immense challenges for the industry are caused by the extended digitalization with the topics of artificial intelligence, robotization or cyber security as well as the ecologization of production towards zero emissions.
Textile factory 7.0 – opportunity for new, future-proof textile production
The large-scale project Textile Factory 7.0 is intended to address the – already described –megatrends and to develop a competitive industrial production of the future using the textile and fashion industry as an example. The overriding goals are:
- the creation of new jobs across all qualification levels on a sustainable basis and
- the further development of technology and concepts – sustainable production methods and use of resources, circular economy or consistent digitalization in the direction of AI – for the industry.
How can these goals be achieved? Within 3 phases the T7 partners are shaping the future of textile production in Mönchengladbach site.
The T7 Technology and Development Center
In the first step, a textile technology and development center will be established in Mönchengladbach (2023-2027). Here, engineering and design services in conjunction with an attractive machine and plant park can be used by companies willing to develop sustainable products and services – via a subscription model.
The first phase is to be financed via the lignite structural change funding. In June 2021, the funding application outline was therefore submitted to structural change regular program called REVIER.GESTALTEN. Within the application and approval process of the structural change funding in the Rhenish Revier, the industrial project was explicitly praised by the NRW state government as well as the Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier (ZRR). At this stage, the funding application has been awarded within the ZRR application process with the highest score of all applications submitted in this round and received the first of three funding stars.
T7 Park – zero-emission and digitized industrial park
The second T7 development phase (2025.2035) aims to develop a futuristic industrial park. Here, the textile and apparel industry will develop and produce products under zero-emission conditions and CO2 neutrality. Within the park, innovative production facilities as well as other branches of textile companies are to be located. Also, sustainable textile start-ups are also to find a place here.
An already existing example for innovative production settlement in Mönchengladbach is the sustainable jeans production of CANDA at the Monforts-Quartier. If possible, the T7 Park should be developed in the Mönchengladbach urban area. But inter-municipal approaches are also possible.
Participate – Become part of the textile production of tomorrow
In order to develop the project includingmarket interests, we want to weave input and feedback from textile companies in NRW, Germany and Europe into the project.
• You want to inform yourself about the project T7?
• You are interested in said design and engineering services?
• You are looking for R&D support for your company?
• Do you have needs or ideas that you would like to contribute to the project?
Then please contact us.
You can reach the whole project team via the following mail address:
office@t7-management.de or the phone number 02161 2475-0.