Antai Textile: AI 'Smart Engine' Drives Production Innovation, Seizes Textile Market Opportunities with Small-Batch, Quick-Delivery

In Zhangjiagang in July, as the summer heat intensifies, the production workshop of Antai Textile exudes a 'vibrancy' that matches the season – on the intelligent production line, rolls of brightly colored acrylic sliver are passing through the AI quality inspection system, with data transmitted in real-time to the central control screen; in the neighboring fancy yarn workshop, several technicians are gathered around the newly调试 pattern design software discussing parameters, and the patterns flickering on the screen are the autumn order requirements just received from a leading clothing brand. This bustling scene all began with an 'industry signal' brought back by Li Xiong, the Marketing Manager.

"The Guangzhou Artificial Intelligence Conference was really eye-opening," Li Xiong, who had just returned from the 2025 First China Textile and Apparel Artificial Intelligence Conference in mid-July, went straight to the Production Department upon arriving at the company, clutching a thick stack of meeting notes. "Now the industry is talking about the 'smart engine' – AI can not only optimize production but also accurately capture market demand. Look at this data: the SW Textile Manufacturing Index has outperformed the market for two consecutive weeks recently, rising 2.3% from July 4 to 11 and another 2.4% from July 11 to 18. This indicates that demand in the downstream manufacturing sector is accelerating, and what customers want is not just 'quantity' but more 'novelty' and 'speed'."

Huang Chang, the Production Director, took the notes and his eyes lit up as his指尖 glided over the keywords 'small-batch, multi-color, quick-delivery': "Isn't this exactly our domain with colored acrylic sliver and fancy yarn?" As a 'veteran' with 32 years in the textile industry, Antai Textile has been deeply rooted in acrylic products since its establishment in Zhangjiagang in 1993, from initial basic acrylic yarn and sliver to later-developed colored acrylic sliver and fancy yarn, each step keeping in tune with market demand. Huang Chang recalled that a decade ago, the market pursued 'large-scale, low-cost', but now, with the upgrading of consumer personalization, clothing brands increasingly favor pre-dyed acrylic sliver (which eliminates the downstream dyeing process, making it more environmentally friendly and efficient) and fancy yarn that can create three-dimensional textures and gradient colors. "A client just feedback last week that their autumn new collection needed 12 types of gradient purple acrylic sliver. Traditional color matching would take at least a week for sampling, but with our new AI color matching system, we produced samples in two days, and they signed a 50-ton order on the spot."

Behind this is Antai Textile's敏锐布局 in the 'AI + Textile' trend. At the end of last year, the company collaborated with university research teams to introduce artificial intelligence technology into the entire production process: in raw material proportioning, AI algorithms automatically adjust formulas based on the characteristics of different batches of acrylic raw materials, improving the stability of acrylic yarn strength indicators by 15%; in colored acrylic sliver production, machine vision systems detect color differences in real-time, combined with intelligent color mixing equipment, controlling color fastness above level 4 (far exceeding the industry average of level 3.5); and for fancy yarn pattern design, AI learns from a database of popular trends over the past five years to quickly generate texture schemes that fit seasonal themes. "Previously, it took a designer three days to draw a jacquard pattern; now, with AI-assisted design, three alternative schemes can be produced in two hours. The production end then quickly switches via flexible production lines, enabling '7-day delivery' even for small-batch orders," Huang Chang said, pointing to the intelligent doffing machine operating in the workshop with pride. "Since this system went online six months ago, our fancy yarn orders have increased by 30% year-on-year. Many long-term clients say that clothes made with our yarn have much higher 'appeal' in the end market."

Market feedback has validated the precision of this strategy. Li Xiong pulled out recent customer communication records: "A children's clothing brand in East China originally only used basic acrylic yarn. This year, after seeing our 'rainbow section-dyed acrylic sliver', they immediately added summer new orders, saying this yarn with inherent gradient colors makes children's clothes more lively and eliminates the need for post-printing processes; there are also home textile clients who are particularly interested in our 'loop fancy yarn'. Blankets woven with this yarn have high蓬松度 and are 20% warmer than ordinary acrylic yarn, perfectly timed for the autumn-winter home textile purchasing season." He joked that he now studies the细分数据 of the SW Textile Manufacturing Index every week: "The index's continuous outperformance indicates that vitality in the entire manufacturing sector is recovering, and what we need to do is 'add fuel' to downstream clients with smarter production and richer products."

From a small workshop in 1993 to an acrylic yarn supplier with three intelligent production lines and an annual capacity of over 10,000 tons today, Antai Textile's 32 years epitomize the transformation of China's textile industry from 'scale-driven' to 'quality-driven'. Huang Chang still remembers the early days of entrepreneurship, when the factory had only a few old spinning machines and relied on manual raw material proportioning: "Back then, to get a color for a client, we had to adjust the dye over ten times; now, the AI system can precisely control color powder dosage to 0.1 grams, increasing production efficiency while reducing environmental indicators – the water-saving rate of colored acrylic sliver is 40% higher than traditional dyeing processes, which is the 'green competitiveness' that brand clients increasingly value now."

Currently, on the intelligent dashboard in the workshop, the number for 'autumn order completion rate' continues to tick upward. Li Xiong and Huang Chang stood before the dashboard, discussing the next round of technological upgrades – introducing an AI prediction system to reserve popular color acrylic sliver three months in advance based on historical order data and trend forecasts. "The Artificial Intelligence Conference mentioned that future competition in the textile industry will be a competition of 'data + technology + products'," Li Xiong said, looking at the factory flag fluttering outside the window. "Starting from Zhangjiagang, we stick to acrylic as our core business, but our thinking can't be 'old'. In the next 30 years, Antai aims to weave a new landscape for the textile industry with smarter yarn."