Leading knitting solutions provider SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan is pleased to announce that it will be co-hosting a webinar held jointly with renowned hosiery machine manufacturer Lonati S.p.A. of Brescia, Italy on March 4th, 2026. The webinar is the first such event by both companies since they entered into a strategic collaboration in May of 2025 to promote digitalization and sustainable product development within the sock industry. This webinar introduces a new product development workflow aimed to help the industry shed its dependence on traditional physical sample creation processes within the sock industry.
In the fashion industry, particularly in the sock sector, it is common practice to create physical samples for design consideration and production decisions. However, this process presents numerous challenges, including waste of resources and labor, economic burdens such as sampling costs and material expenses, as well as delays due to lead times before market launch.
By combining SHIMA SEIKI’s APEXFiz® Design-Sox software which features dedicated 3D virtual sampling capability for socks, together with Lonati’s ORION programming software which allows users to proactively verify data in 3D from a technical perspective, potential issues can be identified and resolved in advance at each stage from programming to manufacturing. This integration enables companies to shorten time-to-market while efficiently delivering high-quality products. Furthermore, utilizing 3D virtual sampling significantly reduces the need for physical samples, thereby minimizing material waste and environmental impact caused by disposal of unnecessary samples, contributing to sustainable manufacturing.
Details of the webinar are as follows:
Webinar Details
Date: Wednesday, 4th March 2026
Time: 10:00AM – 11:59PM
Viewing: On demand (YouTube)
Language: English (captions available in other languages with auto-translation tool)
Content:
- Current Situation of the Sock Industry
- Digital Workflow in Sock Product Development
- [For Designers] Realistic 3D sock simulation using yarn data with APEXFiz®
- [For Programmers] Programming and simulation to optimize the knit production process using ORION
- Future Development Plans
Registration: The webinar can be viewed by registering here: https://www.shimaseiki.com/seminar/20260304_lonati/register.html