Electroplating and PVD Finishing Technologies in the Fashion Industry: Perspectives and Scenarios

Abstract

This work deals with a comparison between electroplating and Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) finishing technologies applied in the fashion industry, with a special focus on their environmental impacts. The goal of this work is to present and validate a Decision Support System (DSS) allowing companies to identify, through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, which of the two types of finishing processes is more suitable in comparison with specific KPIs. After an investigation on the literature and an industrial background regarding the two technologies, the model and, in particular, the sequence of activities that were conducted, are presented. Since LCA is an articulated process, requiring specific and adequate skills that are often unavailable within companies operating in this specific sector, a tool that facilitates LCA execution is a requisite. This tool, though potential publicity will facilitate the adoption of these approaches and sustainability as a driver in the selection of different production process strategies.

PVD for Decorative Applications: A Review

“…The decorative industry, as highlighted by Bandinelli [4] in 2021, is characterized by low predictability and high variance in the types of artifacts produced and, particularly, in color requests. PVD in the decorative field has not yet succeeded in undermining the dominance of electroplating.…”

“…Although it is still a technology that is, at best, complementary to electroplating, it is gaining a lot of interest from the world of large-scale distribution mainly because of the possibility of obtaining more sustainable products, especially from an ecological point of view, meeting the requirements of the UN 2030 agenda [228]. The advantages of PVD compared with electroplating are well-reported in the literature [4,84,136,229,230], and the process improvements of recent years are well-reviewed in an excellent review from 2018 by Baptista [21]. The challenges that will have to be faced and solved to supplant ECD techniques are several: reduce structural defects as columnar growth, improve the research of PVD-deposited barrier layers toward intermetallic diffusion, and bypass the line-of-sight deposition limit.…”

“…Advancements in vacuum technology and deposition techniques have expanded the range of substrates to which PVD thin films can be applied, allowing for greater control over the properties of these films. Today, PVD technology is still to be improved; new materials, new techniques, as well as cost reduction have enabled applications in sectors such as the aerospace [1], automotive [2], electronics [3] and even fashion industry [4]. Specifically, the fashion industry has recently embraced PVD to develop more sustainable manufacturing processes.…”

“…The traditional finishing process for metallic items in the fashion industry involves electroplating, which is widely used in countries like Italy and France, where the most important companies are based. Although recently introduced in this production sector, PVD technology has played a secondary role [4].…”

Digital Twins for Lighting Analysis: Literature Review, Challenges, and Research Opportunities

“…At least a metal accessory has to be added to each bag, shoes or belt, and every delay in the delivery of this item, or a quality problem in a production batch inevitably leads to a delay or the need to reschedule production. This way, it is very important to optimize the production plan of the metal accessories suppliers, and in detail of the electroplating phase, that is the last one of the production processes (Bandinelli et al, 2021).…”