European manufacturers of equipment, from embroidery machines to textile cutters, are seeing growing interest in nearshoring from garment producers.Strains in global supply chains are prompting some to return to producing closer to Europe."People are looking for capacity nearby. Factories in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are trying to increase and modernize their capacities," explains Artur Kitta, head of sales for Europe and Africa at Dürkopp Adler GmbH.The sewing machine manufacturer from Bielefeld (Germany) is surprised by the demand from the garment sector in and around Europe, as well as in the Middle East, which currently exceeds even that of the technology sector, Kitta said at the Texprocess fair. , which was held in Frankfurt at the end of June.Since the pandemic began, supply chains have been in turmoil and the situation has not calmed down until now.Shipping container prices remain very high and fashion companies face uncertainty in how much merchandise they must pre-make when rapid replenishment and delivery are no longer guaranteed.These uncertainties are prompting some companies to explore the possibility of producing on demand and with greater flexibility, that is, quickly and in smaller quantities.Mouse over the images to discover more.This trend emerged even before the outbreak of the pandemic, but they have gained importance again in the last two years."In the fashion sector, the drive for tailoring, that is, the individualization of the sizes of garments, does not stop," says Rolf Köppel, director of the textile segment of the Swiss cutting machine manufacturer Zünd Systemtechnik. AG.At the same time, there is a trend towards offshoring, which can be explained by the instability of the supply chains between Asia and Europe.Many companies are looking for technologies that allow them to produce more efficiently and automatically in Europe or America, says Köppel."These trends are also prompting corresponding investments in digital cutting technology."Offshoring is facilitated by technical innovations.Increasing automation makes it possible to produce faster and with fewer workers.Machine builders are also advertising this fact.Machines from Zünd, from Altstätten, Switzerland, are an example: the D3 cutter has two heads to cut the laid textiles and can therefore finish more in the same time.The cutter automatically supplies the fabric rolls, while the cutting heads control the textiles with the help of a robot.In the clothing industry, it is primarily sportswear manufacturers and companies specializing in tailoring that use Zünd's single-ply cutters.They are more precise and can process and cut a wide variety of fabrics.The machines of the Krefeld company ZSK Stickmaschinen GmbH are also becoming more and more efficient.At Texprocess, an embroidery machine is on display that can join thick sewing threads and fine embroidery threads in a single process.In this way, a single machine has replaced the two that were previously necessary.Also on display at the stand is a prototype that will not go on sale until the end of the year: an embroidery machine whose patented technology allows it to deliver 2,000 stitches per minute, double the current market standard."This means we can produce things faster in Germany and we no longer have to ship them to Asia," said Frank Giessmann, US Sales Director, ZSK Embroidery Machines."We have a lot of clients coming back now, from Turkey or Asia, to Germany."But he did not want to reveal more about the names of the manufacturers, since they are still in the negotiation phase.Mouse over the images to discover more.When the pandemic started in 2020, there was strong demand from Zünd's textile manufacturers, because they switched to producing masks, Köppel said.Later, demand fell during the pandemic, but at Zünd, business was booming in the home and interior decoration segment because many people were redecorating their homes with sofas, curtains, and other textiles.But now Köppel is once again seeing increased demand from the fashion industry.The business of textile machinery manufacturers has been recovering since last year, according to figures from the German Engineering Federation (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau eV).Between May 2021 and April 2022, new orders from German producers increased by 66 percent, and sales by 0.1 percent.Exports grew by eight percent to reach 442 million euros.Italian machinery manufacturers also recorded a 12 percent increase in exports to 271 million euros."The stability of new orders after the pandemic-related declines is a reason for hope," said Elgar Straub, CEO of the VDMA trade association for textile, fabric and leather care technologies, in a statement. ."However, the consequences of the Ukraine war, which are still unforeseeable, represent a major factor of uncertainty."He added that an easing of the situation is not yet in sight, given rising raw material prices, massive delivery delays and difficult transportation conditions.Garment companies also continue to withhold investment in new equipment."Our customers are very busy, but they don't buy new machines, they renovate the ones they already have," explains Giessmann."We see it in the sales of spare parts, which have gone up in the last two years, but on the other hand there are fewer sales of new machines."Among fashion companies, the willingness to invest is increasing, but the orders have not yet arrived."People are coming in and showing concrete interest, with many expecting an offer in the week after the show," says Kitta.However, it remains to be seen how many orders will arrive.Machinery manufacturers are betting on the trend towards relocation, but they also know that this evolution will take time."This aspect is very important, that's where the business is coming from," says Köppel.He points out that there is a great willingness to invest in the fashion sector, but "the big change" in which upholstery manufacturers would find themselves has not yet occurred.Not only the clothing sector has doubts.Consulting firm McKinsey surveyed more than 70 supply chain managers at leading companies at the end of 2020. 40 percent said they were planning to switch to a more local supplier base, but only 15 percent had put the plan in place. launched a year later.One of the few, but notable, clothing manufacturers that have relocated their production again is the clothing company C&A, which is once again producing jeans in Mönchengladbach.But the fashion industry is still a long way from the wholesale repatriation of manufacturing.Even if C&A's production in Mönchengladbach reaches full capacity, it would only account for three percent of the denim sold in Europe."It's wishful thinking that all companies will come back to Europe in the next five years, there just aren't the people to do it," Köppel said."But you see them buying individual lines and reconfiguring manufacturing; here in Europe and North Africa you see the investments being made in new technology."The coronavirus outbreak first led to a drop in orders from garment companies, and now increased demand is already leading to longer delivery times for some."The pandemic brought us to our knees in the garment industry, so we were lucky that the automotive industry was still on our feet," Kitta said."And now we realize that we can't even keep up with the orders in terms of lead times."Dürkopp Adler's order book is increasing so rapidly that the company cannot increase its capacities, which have been reduced during the pandemic, as quickly.This is due to surprising order volumes, but also due to delivery problems, the sales director noted.The waiting time varies depending on the product, but currently it is between three and twelve months.Before, the average was three months.This article was originally published on FashionUnited.UK, and has been translated and edited into Spanish by Veerle Versteeg.