Background

Our project is focusing on the work wear, which refers to heavy-duty clothes mainly used for physical or manual work. The work wear in SWW’s limelight is used in industries, chemical plants and in fields of work were the clothing are an intrinsic part of the work itself.  

The duty of the protective wear depends on the risks related to the work in question. Work wear may be designed to protect against dangers and hazards that may occur: cold, heat, fire, sparks. Workers may also need to be protected against biological dangers, such as chemical leaks, radiations… The workwear may also protect the worker by increasing his/her visibility in tricky weather conditions (rain, fog, wind…).

The global workwear market can expect growth in the coming years, though it may be slower in Europe than elsewhere in the world. One of the main changes related to work wear concerns the fabric developments. Focus is being put on health and safety, and research is looking into how to enhance protective wear, by treating the fabric in specific ways or including nanotechnology. The rerport forecasts that production will most likely continue towards the low-cost producing countries, such as China, North Africa and India. 

Our project will focus on mass customization and the possibility to integrate IT technology in work wear as well as to enhance supply chain management in the Baltic Sea Region. The goal being to improve the possibilities to increase the work wear industry’s importance in our region.

Each country participates in the project with two pilot industrial partners and a higher education or a research institute. One of the industrial partner is a producer of work wear and the other is a customer using profile clothing.

• utilize modern 3D bodyscanning technology and create functionally and esthetically innovative better fitted work wear garments
• enhance safety and wellbeing of workers by incorporating advanced wearable electronics into their work wear
• introduce newly created work wear to end users,
• create the model for small and medium size companies to improve supply chain management.

The project engages skillful textile and clothing manufacturing technology researchers, work wear producers, end users as well as national textile and clothing branch organizations in Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.

The main objective

The main objective of the project is to improve the competitiveness and enlarge the business possibilities of work wear enterprises in Baltic Sea Region.

Contact information

Mrs. Egidija Rainosalo
Project Manager
+358 44 7250264
egidija.rainosalo@centria.fi

Mrs. Kristina Tyynelä
Communication Manager
+358 40 1628421
kristina.tyynela@centria.fi

In cooperation