Main description (English)

Extended abstract. The textile industry in the European Union has maintained stable development indicators over the past 10 years. And in 2024, according to the World Trade Organization, after China, the European Union will be in second place in the world in terms of textile supply with a total value of 218 billion euros. These results are obtained from the efforts of 1.3 million employed workers, specialists and managers in 197,000 enterprises. Among the multitude of statistical data, the fact that 99.7% of these manufacturers are medium, small and predominantly micro enterprises stands out. This fact is subject to further analysis and comment. With such a production capacity, more than 110 million tons of textile materials are processed annually in the community, from fibres to finished garments. The material flow in textile production depends on the technological structure of the enterprise. Textile production is very diverse and it is almost impossible for enterprises to fit into categorical frameworks. The predominant group of textile factories are single mills with horizontal technology. Usually these are micro and small enterprises that specialize in one technology and have equipment for independent production. In spinning, such enterprises include machines for mixing, drawing, pre-spinning, spinning, twisting and finishing. In weaving, the equipment includes the preparation of the warp and weft threads, weaving and the initial grading of the raw fabric. It is characteristic of enterprises with horizontal technology to focus on one process, the further fragmentation of which leads to disruption of the production flow and an increase in workshop transport. Large textile enterprises are usually designed as combines, for which the vertical technological structure aims to close a group of processes in a cycle. Textile combines include in their legal, economic, administrative and technological composition mills from yarn production to mills for the production and ennoblement of surface textile products. The composition of these enterprises also includes dyeing mills for the implementation of the specified assortment. The reason for the unification of several technologically horizontal workshops in a vertical textile combine is related to the increased efficiency of technological flow management and the implementation of orders with large volumes and uniform quality. Due to the peculiarities of fibrous raw materials, textile combines specialize in the production of cotton, woollen and other similar products. In rare cases, textile combines with a completely closed cycle are observed: from the production of fibrous raw materials to sewing production and direct sale of garment collections under their own brand in their own sales network. Such trading companies are difficult to administer and usually one of the final links falls out of the flow, regardless of subjective intentions. The certification process is a consequence of the pervasive chain of custody and it is now impossible to participate in the production of textile products for European and global consumption if the sustainability requirements and their derived standards are not met. A textile product always contains limited characteristics, depending on its intended use. That is why companies, regardless of horizontal or vertical structure, focus their assortment program and the inherent certification within narrow limits of fibrous raw materials - cotton, wool, etc. The production program of a textile enterprise with a vertical production structure resembles a sphere with a constant centre and different axes of rotation. The annual production includes the processing and sale of a certain length (Lf) of fabrics and a mass (My) of linear textile products determined according to the annual assortment. With an average areal mass of 300 g/sq. m., this means realized textile products with a total mass Mt (Mt=0.3*Lf+Mf), for which textile materials with a conditional weight Mc (Mc=1.01*Mt) are processed, in which a yield reciprocity of 10% (Rc=0.10) fibrous raw materials with a total weight Min (Min=Mc/(1-Rc) are used. The volume of processed textiles determines the size of the sphere, which pulsates according to the state of the world textile market. A combine usually consists of 4-5 mills on 1 or 2 production sites, where 3 workers work on a basic employment contract for every 12,000 kg of textile materials. On average, the European proportion of 70/30 – women/men is observed for textile enterprises in Bulgaria, with 6% employment of the announced labour resources. The technological program of the textile combine with a vertically integrated structure is based on the full closed cycle: from yarn production to the production and sale of fabrics. The range of each industrial entity in textile production depends on its technological capacity and its affiliation to the global retail chain, which in the last 10 years has sold 100 billion garments per year. In addition, such large brands as Zara, which offers 24 new clothing collections and H&M, which offers between 12 and 16 collections per year. First, due to the desire for successful access to the end consumer and then, as a result of the huge variety of fibrous raw materials, the annual assortment program of any textile company consists of numerous products with similar properties (items) and becomes vast due to the possible combinations, colours, patterns, etc. The raw material programs contain all mass fibre raw materials. At the fibre level according to the fibre-forming polymers: Natural protein fibres are represented by wool, exotic furs and silk. Natural cellulosic fibres are represented by cotton, flax and hemp. Artificial fibres include all types of viscose or cellulosic fibre-forming polymers. Of the synthetic fibres, heterochain polyester and polyamide fibres and carbon chain polyacrylonitrile fibres are mainly used. From the point of view of the input processing level, fibrous raw materials enter the technological cycle as synthetic or cellulose pulp, fibrous mass, combed sliver, textile threads and fabrics. The installed technological equipment performs either the full cycle of one of the main textile technologies, or the synchronized cycles of vertically arranged productions: dyeing, spinning, weaving and ennoblement, to sewing and sales. The annual assortment program of a textile enterprise with a vertical structure involves more than 500 items, with 50 patterns, variants and solutions, including a wide range of textile products, limited only by the fibres raw material: single, twisted and spectacular yarns; woven and knitted fabrics; outerwear and outerwear with auxiliary sewing products. Such a wide market front with such diverse technological combinations can exist only with the support of its own design, technology, management and water-energy sources, in strict compliance with industrial regulatory conditions. The prospective development of such a complex industrial organism with no less than 300 textile workers and specialists is based on the interaction between the internal regulation of processes, general changes in production requirements and regular inspections by assessment organizations. The sustainable perspective for textile enterprises is realized with the smooth and uniform distribution in all units and directions of current design solutions through the simultaneous rapid response and constant adaptation of daily production and long-term investment in the framework of external impact. Three groups of factors determine the external impact: • Assortment diversity; • New technologies; • Industrial restrictions and requirements, which usually come down to transparency and traceability. There is no change in the technical characteristics of the certified fibres. Therefore, all activities are focused on traceability as proof of transparency and compliance between the declared and input fibrous raw materials.Textile production is a socially significant and dependent industry. Any shock and social inequality harm the collective chain of workers and specialists with in-depth knowledge and special skills. The technological flow of textile raw materials, semi-finished products and products in an enterprise with an integrated vertical structure is characterized by a maintained diversity from the initial formation of the spinning mixture to the diverse assortment of different products, through the corresponding technological modes and machine settings. The flow is seemingly linear in nature, but combinations and constructions with different components are constantly swirling inside it. The only constancy in the flow is the gradation in the textile architecture from fibre to fabric and clothing. This description is informative and introductory in nature: on the one hand, it presents sustainable development management to the textile community, and on the other hand, it methodologically supports partnership relationships. Subject of the study is the regulatory environment in which the balance between the aesthetics of the products, the conversion of the technology and the production traceability is sought. Aim of the development is to identify and describe in detail the management reactions in the areas according to the quality management system and facilitate the compilation of work procedures and instructions.