Eton Unveils AI-Powered Garment Sorting System for Expanding Textile Resale Market
New aUPS module combines AI, automation and material handling technology to support garment resale and circular textile operations
At the recent Texprocess exhibition in Frankfurt, Eton Systems, a member of TMAS, the Swedish textile machinery association, presented its new aUPS module for the rapid sorting of used garments.
Built on Eton’s established UPS transport system for material handling and powered by the company's ETONingenious Factory 4.0 software, the aUPS system uses artificial intelligence to assess individual garments. It grades items by colour, size, style and, where possible, manufacturer. The system also detects garment damage, recommends potential repairs and calculates a suggested resale price.
AI Supports Pricing and Warehouse Management
Explaining the system's operation at the exhibition, Eton Sales and Marketing Manager Sven Sørbo said:
"The collected information is fed into a calculation model that, based on market data, makes suggestions for a sales price. At the same time, the garment is photographed for marketing and then transported to a warehouse to await sale."
Developed Through Collaborative Innovation Project
The aUPS module has already attracted interest from several major retail brands that are currently evaluating the technology.
The solution was developed as part of the Microfactories System Innovation project, involving collaboration with specialists from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, the Automation Region innovation cluster at Mälardalen University, and the iHubs Sweden national collaboration platform.
The project builds on earlier initiatives focused on developing small-scale, local and demand-driven production, with its current emphasis shifting towards textile reuse.
Growing Resale Market Driving Automation
Commenting on the market opportunity, Ellen Flybäck, a consultant affiliated with the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, said:
"The online resale segment alone is huge and forecast to double over the next five years and volumes are now so large that handling has to be automated for it to work. The new EU regulations requiring the separate collection of textiles are without doubt having an impact, but we are also seeing an increasingly positive attitude towards reuse and greater awareness of the textile industry’s environmental footprint."
Supporting Circular Textile Manufacturing
Jan Johansson, Sales and Marketing Director at Eton, said:
"Collaboration with universities and innovation environments helps us to be at the forefront. We can participate in freer and more visionary development, without having to take on all the work ourselves. But above all, it is about contributing to a more circular industry, where materials can be used for longer and in a smarter way."
TMAS noted that many of its member companies are developing technologies that support the textile industry's transition towards more circular and resource-efficient business models.
Concluding, TMAS Secretary General Therese Premler-Andersson said:
"Eton’s development clearly illustrates how Swedish innovation is moving beyond traditional production efficiency towards enabling entirely new value chains based on reuse, automation and AI."