In 1964, the third year from the inception of the company, Masahiro Shima was working around the clock to develop a glove knitting machine but was running out of development funds and had debts of no less than 60 million yen. On December 24, 1964, the day before the maturity of a 600,000-yen note, he was on the verge of bankruptcy with no prospects for financing. However, on the evening of the same day, a miracle happened. A man, who was a total stranger, appeared and handed him some cash to honor the note. The man learned about Shima's desperate situation from an enterprise management consultant in Wakayama Prefecture and decided to help the young entrepreneur who was a stranger to him. For one week from that day, Shima, who barely escaped bankruptcy, worked day and night on the development of the machine and finally completed the world's first fully automated glove knitting machine on New Year's Eve. Early in the new year, Masahiro Shima held exhibitions and obtained orders for about 600 units, which marked the company's start as a fully automated glove knitting machine manufacturer.
In 1974, because of the oil crisis that hit the Japanese economy in the previous year, our company's financial condition deteriorated. The company was at a crossroads because some financial institutions advised the company to reduce its workforce. Thinking about the situation for three days and three nights, Masahiro Shima decided to refuse the advice and decided to go in the opposite direction, that is, to introduce the NC machine tool. Believing that a significant change would take place in knit production from mass production to high-mix, low-volume production in the coming years, Masahiro Shima decided to introduce NC machine tools to develop a computerized flat knitting machine. This decision to introduce the cutting edge machine tool led to the in-house production of high-precision parts and the recruitment and development of employee who could operate the machine tool. It was Shima's brave decision made in the face of adversity that laid the groundwork for the company's future business development.
In order to give shape to consumer demand for a variety of fashion styles, Shima Seiki thought it indispensable to provide a design tool that worked in conjunction with flat knitting machines and set off on the in-house development of a design system. In 1979, two years before the SDS-1000 was developed, the company obtained information that NASA, which had launched the unmanned spacecraft Voyager, was going to sell three graphics boards that were used to create CG animation of Saturn and acquired one of them for 15 million yen. Shima Seiki began marketing the SDS-1000, which was developed when even the term "Computer Graphics" (CG) was not widely known, in earnest. Shima Seiki's CG technology would later earn a high reputation as a design tool in the television and other industries.
In 1995, ITMA, which is held once every four years and was known as "the Olympics of textile machinery," was held in Milan, Italy. Our company exhibited the "SWG" WHOLEGARMENT computerized flat knitting machine. Once yarns are set in the SWG, it produces a knitted product without requiring any sewing in 30 minutes, and had such a great impact on visitors related to the textile industry from around the world that they called it "the magic of the Orient." At the time, the domestic knitting industry was facing a serious crisis because the industry had become hollowed out from the inexpensive imports from Asia. To squarely face and rise above the situation, our company strategically unveiled this computerized flat knitting machine at the 12th ITMA by moving up the initial plan of exhibiting it at the next exhibition. Later, the knitwear produced by the machine was named WHOLEGARMENT and the machine was dubbed the WHOLEGARMENT computerized flat knitting machine.
The conventional planning and production methods in the fashion industry had a structure featuring long lead times and the consequent high costs. However, amid ever diversifying consumer needs, new manufacturing methods were urgently needed. In such a context, Shima Seiki developed the SDS-ONE, which under the concept of "All in One," successfully integrated various functions, such as knitting CAD, and CG, in a single machine by adding a multi-window function. It achieved a significant reduction in pattern creation time in knit design. Moreover, by using high-definition virtual samples, both the time and cost involved in producing actual samples were also reduced, facilitating efficient production. This breakthrough product was soon adopted by leading apparel manufacturers in Italy, spreading our "TOTAL FASHION SYSTEM" around the world.
In 2015, which marked the 20th year since the introduction of the WHOLEGARMENT flat knitting machine, Shima Seiki succeeded in mounting fine movable sinkers on our proprietary four needle beds machine, leading to the development of the new MACH2XS. The MACH2XS, the crystallization of our technologies and efforts in resolving various developmental and production issues, has improved productivity, increased variations in three-dimensional patterns, and thereby enabled the production of even more attractive products. We believe that linking the MACH2XS to the cutting-edge SDS-ONE APEX3 design system will accelerate not only the mass production of knit items, but also production in consumption areas that can cater to particular local needs. Shima Seiki will continue to lead innovation in manufacturing.