Spinnova, a sustainable Digital Enterprise from Finland, developed unique technology for producing fibers with 74% lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional cotton. Spinnova collaborated closely with us to develop this technology, using solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio.
The textile industry faces several challenges: It needs more natural fibers produced with a sustainable process to meet the growing demand. Both can be achieved with the technology from Spinnova that engineers sustainable fibers with lower CO₂ emissions, minimal water use, and without harmful chemicals.
The factory is simulated using a Digital Twin that includes all lines, machines, production areas, recipe information and material flows to shorten the commissioning time and train operators before production started.
Spinnova uses a Digital Twin of the product to research, design, optimize and align the final product formulations. This ensures consistent quality from raw material all the way to the finished fiber.
By converging information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), Spinnova can collect, process and analyze operational data in real-time to optimize energy efficiency, minimize production errors and increase uptime.
Spinnova is transforming the way textiles are manufactured globally. According to the UN, the fashion industry generates 92 million tons of waste annually. Spinnova innovates and develops the breakthrough patented technology for making textile fibers that are much more sustainable compared to, for example, conventional cotton.
Spinnova’s technology enables customers – raw material producers, fiber producers, and textile industry players – to produce textile fiber from variety of cellulosic raw materials through a mechanical process that mimics how spiders weave their webs. This unique production process results in fibers that look and feel similar to natural fibers such as cotton and linen.
As a sustainable Digital Enterprise, Spinnova offers fiber producing technology that has a low carbon footprint and hardly uses any water. With a digital-first mindset, the company combines the real and digital worlds with software and a harmonized automation system from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to design, realize and optimize its product and production processes.
Data is key, and our technology such as Industrial Edge enables Spinnova to converge IT and OT data to track KPIs like energy consumption in near real-time and make them transparent to customers and partners. At the Woodspin factory, Spinnova demonstrates its technology on an industrial scale.
The main challenge to producing their fiber on an industrial scale was the lack of existing technology. Spinnova had to develop ways to automate and control the processes, create quality metrics and set standards. Working with us, from the pilot to an industrial demonstration factory, helped overcome the technology hurdles and scale up production faster.
Spinnova uses our automation hardware, instrumentation, drives, motors, simulation software, engineering software, and Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) solutions. We developed the OT network in collaboration with Spinnova, and it is protected by our holistic cybersecurity concept to secure production and IP.
At Oxford University, I heard about the similarities between spider silk and nanofibrillated cellulose. I wanted to create the exact same flow of fibers that happens inside the spider, but only using wood fibers.
