Golden hands and the ability to analyze: why won’t artificial intelligence replace the work of a seamstress?

Artificial intelligence will not replace a seamstress. This is what Tatyana Gur, director of the Mogotex OJSC branch in Polotsk, thinks. She is among the laureates of the “Best Manager of the Year - 2023” competition, which is organized by the Vitebsk Regional Union of Employers.

The image of a businesswoman, director of a sewing enterprise that currently employs 250 people, suits Tatyana Gur very well. Professionally savvy, charming, always elegant, she seems to set the tone for any new collaboration, making it clear: here every order is treated responsibly and creatively.

In 1991, Tatyana Gur, a graduate of Vitebsk State Technological University, started here as a technologist, then became a chief engineer. He has held the leadership position for more than five years. Although, by and large, sitting in a chair is not her element. She is always on the move. During the day, the director can be seen in all departments: experimental, preparatory cutting, sewing. The interconnection of workshops must be debugged like clockwork. After all, even despite the fact that the company now specializes in tailoring clothes in corporate style, uniforms and special ones, the element of creativity has not been canceled.

The young head of the branch of OJSC Mogotex in Polotsk faced many trials: first the pandemic, then sanctions. We reorganized on the march, based on the needs of the country and people. And they survived.

“Despite all external circumstances, the past year was stable for us,” says Tatyana Gur. – When sanctions began to tighten, we reoriented ourselves to the Russian market and today we carry out orders under direct contracts of the branch. Return on sales for 2023 was 9.2%, with a target of 7%. And half of our capacity is occupied with fulfilling orders from the parent company. Moreover, we are ready to expand; we could employ another team of seamstresses. Therefore, they opened a new site in Ushachi: in June it will be a year since orders for sewing products are regularly fulfilled there, and products are shipped weekly. Now 11 seamstresses are successfully working there, and we are ready to increase the number of jobs, especially since they are in demand in this region.

We start talking about personnel (and in a factory, seamstresses are the basis), and Tatyana Gur’s eyes light up in a special way. The hands of a seamstress are a priceless treasure, the manager is convinced. They are prepared at the Polotsk State Chemical-Technological College. And at the enterprise itself they are closely involved in personnel issues. We developed a three-month program to train specialists practically from scratch. I wonder if everyone can master the art of sewing?

“We first test candidates,” explains the branch director. – Sometimes it is immediately obvious that a person is not inclined to this type of activity. This is a working profession, but to master it there must be two components: golden hands and the ability to analyze how to more rationally complete the task. So far, artificial intelligence has not been able to figure out how to replace a seamstress. In the past, due to the monotony of work and low wages, the prestige of this profession was lost, but today wages have increased, and we are tirelessly working to improve working conditions. At the sewing site we constantly update the fleet of universal machines. We purchased seven template-type semi-automatic machines, which require minimal effort from the seamstress - she only has to select a program and arrange the parts correctly. But not all processes in our production can be automated, which is why the hands of seamstresses are so valuable. And there aren't enough of them.

New equipment also appeared in other departments - in 2024, a cutting plotter was purchased for the experimental section, on which patterns are cut out. Previously, this operation was performed manually.

...The heart of the enterprise is the sewing workshop. Now special and uniform clothes are sewn here. Retail networks, communications, police, Ministry of Emergency Situations, oil workers, Gazprom, Belarusian National Biotechnology Corporation - in accordance with the industry and product requirements. Uniforms often must be made of fabric with protective properties and a special design - so that a person can work safely in conditions of general industrial pollution, in a flammable environment, and with protection from an electric arc. Raw materials are selected, the design is determined, for example, a pocket for a mobile phone must be protected from radiation, in waterproof clothing the seams are taped from the inside - there is also special equipment for this. There are a lot of details, and all of them must be taken into account and executed with pinpoint precision. Photo by the author.