Textile machinery industry in the era of digital transformation

Digital transformation is changing the textile machinery industry. The growing digital development is breaking down the traditional barriers of the industry, leading to advantages for both the textile machinery enterprises and their customers. Accordingly, many academics and practitioners believe that, in the next years, rethinking the future of this sector in the light of digitalization will be crucial. However, scientific research about digital transformation in the textile machinery industry is lacking. This paper tries to bridge this gap by carrying out a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach through 17 in-depth interviews with a sample of Italian textile machinery companies. The aim of this paper is to provide insights on the level of awareness within the industry and a holistic overview about the main drivers, challenges and opportunities which have to be taken into account towards leveraging of new technologies. Finally, the article suggests some possible developments for further research.