Smartex CORE AI Fabric Defect Detection

Smartex is a textile technology company operating from Porto, Portugal, through Smartex Europe, Unipessoal, Lda. It addresses defective production in knitting, where faults found only after a roll is finished lead to rejected rolls, wasted yarn and disputes between knitters, dye houses and fashion brands.

Smartex CORE mounts cameras and sensors on open-width or tubular circular knitting machines of any brand and uses computer vision and machine learning to detect defects while fabric is produced. When a defect appears the machine is stopped and operators are alerted on a tablet. Smartex FACT adds production analytics and remote supervision, and Smartex LOOP prints a passport on each fabric roll so its production history and quality record can be shared with customers.

• Real-time defect detection: cameras and AI scan knitted fabric during production on circular knitting machines.
• Automatic stop: the machine is halted when a defect is found and operators are alerted on a tablet.
• Machine-agnostic retrofit: CORE fits open-width and tubular circular knitting machines of any brand.
• AI Boost tool: helps find the best RPM per article and test whether machines can run faster without quality loss.
• Smartex FACT: provides production analytics and remote factory supervision.
• Smartex LOOP: attaches a roll passport that links each fabric roll to its machine, worker, yarn supplier and quality map.

A knitting mill supplying global sportswear brands could retrofit its circular knitting machines to stop defects at source. A vertical textile group could share roll-level quality records with its dye house and brand customers. A fabric producer could use speed tests to raise output per machine without new equipment.

Defects are caught and the machine stopped in real time, reducing rejected rolls and fabric waste; Smartex reports 1 million kg of fabric prevented from waste, about 9 kg per stop. In AI Boost tests, customers raised machine speed by 11-19% and output by up to 43% without losing quality. Roll-level records give evidence of quality in supply chain disputes.

Fashion brands and regulators are asking textile suppliers for more data on waste, quality and production origin. Knitting mills in Asia, including Vietnam, face pressure from brand buyers to cut rejected rolls and prove traceability, while manual fabric inspection is slow and depends on scarce skilled workers.

Smartex Europe, Unipessoal, Lda. is based at Rua Alfredo Allen, Porto. The company received EU Horizon 2020 and EIC funding and runs several Portuguese R&D projects, including TexQualis (Nov 2025 - Oct 2027) on color and structural defect control. Awards listed include Forbes 30 Under 30 and IRCAI Top 100. It exhibited at ITM Istanbul 2024.