The 55th ASM OSAKA 2026 opened on March 6 at INTEX Osaka. As one of Western Japan’s largest trade fairs, the event showcased the latest machinery and services for the apparel and sewing industry.Approximately 85 companies, primarily sewing equipment manufacturers, participated to exhibit their latest products. This year’s exhibition introduced new initiatives focused on talent recruitment, reflecting the industry’s evolving trends.
In the sewing machine sector, there was a prominent focus on “digitalization”—using technology to quantify sewing conditions.
PEGASUS Co., Ltd. highlighted its “MX-Digital” series, featuring a function that allows users to digitally register optimal settings for differential feed and presser foot pressure for specific fabrics. By recalling these saved settings, the machine uses pneumatic pressure to replicate the exact conditions. This not only enhances the ability to handle high-mix, low-volume production but also enables the reproduction of expert-level settings, supporting “de-skilling” in the workplace.
Brother Industries, Ltd. showcased its “Digflex Tuned” digital technology, which detects machine settings across multiple points with 0.01mm precision and displays them numerically on a panel. This allows for the precise saving and replication of operating conditions. Furthermore, the system issues an alert if settings deviate during operation, preventing defects and contributing to higher productivity.
Other exhibits included demonstrations of automated sewing processes and digital fabric feeding technologies.
Innovations were also abundant in cutting machines, spreading machines, and management systems. Sanko Electronic Laboratory Co., Ltd. presented a needle detector that utilizes photoelectric cells to reduce false positives and improve the accuracy of foreign object localization. Throughout the venue, various solutions centered on digital technology were introduced to improve efficiency and quality in the sewing process, drawing significant interest from attendees.