Antai Textile: AI Empowers a New Chapter, Intelligently Pioneering a New Silk Road for the Textile Future

In Zhangjiagang in July, the summer heat is gradually intensifying, but the production workshop of Antai Textile exudes a focused vitality. Li Xiong, the Marketing Manager, had just returned from the "2025 First China Textile and Apparel Artificial Intelligence Conference" in Guangzhou, clutching a densely written notebook in his hand, and went straight to the Production Department. "Director Huang, this conference was really eye-opening. 'AI Weaves Newness · Intelligence Inspires the Future' is not just empty talk. Our workshop's intelligent monitoring system has finally found its 'field of application'."

Director Huang of the Production Department was staring at the fluctuating data on the central control screen. Hearing this, he looked up and smiled: "You're talking about the acrylic top quality traceability system we just put into use last month, right? Now, for each batch of colored acrylic tops, from dye proportioning to drafting speed, AI can record and adjust in real time. The dyeing uniformity has improved by 15% compared to before, and customer feedback says 'the color is so accurate as if it was picked directly from the color spectrum'." The two walked side by side to the intelligent production line in the workshop, where robotic arms were accurately stacking the wound acrylic yarns neatly. The electronic screen scrolled with the display: "Current batch: high-elastic acrylic yarn, order source: Zhejiang outdoor clothing brand" — this was exactly the new signal Li Xiong had captured from the conference: with the recovery of consumption, the demand for outdoor functional clothing and personalized home textiles is growing rapidly.

This judgment was quickly confirmed by market data. The latest statistics show that from January to June 2025, the total retail sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitwear in China reached 742.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; exports of textiles and clothing reached 143.98 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%. Even Vietnam, which is known for its textile exports, saw its textile export value growth rate rebound to 13.5% year-on-year in June. "Behind these figures is the urgent demand of brand customers for 'differentiated fabrics'," Li Xiong flipped through his notebook. "At the conference, a designer mentioned that now consumers not only want warmth and durability, but also 'have style' — the color must be unique, and the texture must be novel. This is exactly our strength."

As a textile veteran rooted in Zhangjiagang since 1993, Antai Textile has evolved from its initial single acrylic yarn production to today's full-category layout covering acrylic yarn, acrylic tops, colored acrylic tops, and fancy yarns, relying precisely on this keen insight into market trends. "Take colored acrylic tops as an example. Three years ago, we predicted that 'waterless printing and dyeing' and 'high color fastness' would become mainstream. Director Huang led the R&D team to immerse themselves in the workshop for three months, and managed to increase the dye uptake rate of environmentally friendly dyes from 85% to 98%. Now, our Morandi color series acrylic tops have a color fastness of above level 4, and European home textile customers have directly doubled their order volume," Li Xiong pointed to the neatly stacked colored spindles in the warehouse. "There's also fancy yarns. The 'slub + jacquard' composite process developed this year was immediately favored by a trendy brand in Shenzhen as soon as it was launched. Used in the design of autumn hoodies, as soon as the samples were sent, the other party added an order of 200 tons."

Director Huang took over the conversation, with the pride of a technical person in his tone: "The production end must not hold things back. Last year, we invested 20 million yuan to upgrade five production lines. Now the daily production capacity of acrylic yarn has increased to 300 tons, and through AI intelligent scheduling, the delivery cycle of small-batch, multi-batch fancy yarn orders has been reduced from 15 days to 7 days. Do you remember that customer who makes pet home textiles last year? Their 'mohair-style acrylic yarn' used to be troublesome for small-batch production, but now the intelligent machine adjustment system can change models in half an hour, and the customer signed the annual contract on the spot."

Over 30 years of deep cultivation has earned Antai Textile a solid reputation in the industry. From supplying basic acrylic yarn to domestic leading clothing brands, to customizing "lightweight, high bulk" acrylic tops for cross-border e-commerce platforms, and then to expanding into new fields such as outdoor, home textiles, and pet supplies in recent years, the company's product matrix has always "evolved" following market demand. "Last month, we received feedback from an old customer saying that the ski suit lining made with our acrylic yarn has 10% higher warmth retention than peers, but is 8% lighter in weight," Li Xiong said with pride. "This is what we have always insisted on — while others chase hot trends, we build 'fulcrums', using solid craftsmanship and products to help customers stand more steadily in the market."

In the workshop, a new batch of fancy yarns is slowly being produced from the machines. Among the interwoven colors, one can almost see the fashionable outline of future clothing. From a small factory in Zhangjiagang in 1993 to an acrylic product supplier with over 300 employees and an annual production capacity of over 100,000 tons today, Antai Textile has proven over more than 30 years that in the traditional textile industry, the real "New Silk Road" has always been woven stitch by stitch with insight into trends, dedication to technology, and respect for customer needs. And when AI technology collides with traditional textiles, and when market demand and product innovation resonate at the same frequency, this textile enterprise rooted in the south of the Yangtze River is steadily moving forward on the track of "intelligence inspiring the future" with a more composed attitude.