SME industry is currently facing complex challenges: Energy and raw material costs are rising, new legal regulations are affecting supply chains and the circular economy, work is becoming digitalised and now requires employees to have the right qualifications. How do small and medium-sized enterprises meet these challenges? The Sächsische Textilforschungsinstitut e.V. supports SMEs in turning these challenges into opportunities for the future through digitalisation.

As part of the SME Digital Centre Smart Circuits, STFI, under the leadership of the textile+fashion association, is working together with the German Institutes for Textile and Fibre Research Denkendorf (DITF), the Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen University (ITA) and "DER MITTELSTANDS- VERBUND - ZGV" to help small and medium-sized enterprises introduce future-relevant technologies.

The network started on 1 March 2023 and a first kick-off meeting was held in Berlin at the end of March.

STFI will be involved in various focal points of the cooperation. For example, our experts on the topic of sustainability & circular economy will deal with tracking in the recycling process and the digital product passport. How can employee participation in change management look like, what does the Internet of Things (IIoT) offer from the sensor to the cloud and which solutions grant Smart & Big Data as well as industrial AI, are further questions that will be made tangible at the STFI. The STFI is building on the successful work of the "Mittelstand Kompetenzzentrum Textil vernetzt".