A CASE STUDY ON TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, TRANSFER AND UTILIZATION IN THE TEXTILE SECTOR

摘要

Handloom weaving has always been a traditional craft in a number of regions in the Philippines. It has great prospects as an industry because it is labor-intensive and utilizes indigenous materials. The legacy of handwoven textiles emanated from Philippine ancestral tribes and has been part of their culture and family life handed down from generation to generation. While it is an ancient tradition, its popularity as a livelihood activity among the new generation has waned in favor of foreign employment and industrial labor. Handloom weaving is often considered as a vanishing craft because its specialized and time-consuming techniques cannot meet the demands of commercial production. Moreover prices of handloom products are significantly more expensive than machine produced materials. The following case study however, proved otherwise. S & T innovations developed and introduced by the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) on the tools, equipment, techniques and related processes ensured easy operation, improved efficiency and productivity and produced novel and better quality products. Furthermore, the production of novelty items rendered handloom weaving as a lucrative livelihood opportunity.