The impact of the setting of air-jet looms on the fabric quality: an investigation

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to provide a methodology aimed at improving the setting up of air-jet looms by clarifying the function which links different important variables involved in the setting procedure and by proposing a method to measure the quality of fabrics depending on the factor values. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed procedure is based on the use of a load sensor: the tension profile received from it is used to analyse the weft behaviour and, sometimes, to predict any quality problems. Because of the high number of variables influencing the set up, the factorial experiments have been used to develop the setting procedure. Numerical results have been analyzed by means of a regression analysis and an ANOVA analysis. Findings – Relationships among different variables and their influence on the quality of the fabric have been derived thanks to the use of a load sensor. Research limitations/implications – So far, the proposed procedure has been developed for air-jet looms and for a limited set of fabrics, but it could be adapted in other situations as well. Practical implications – Use of the proposed procedure allows practitioners to reduce cost and time of the setting up of air jet looms. High productivity of air jet looms could be thus better exploited also for producing small batches of products. Originality/value – The combination of the load sensor and the statistical analysis allowed the development of a systematic setting procedure for air-jet looms.