Textile materials have a much lower density (which usually means a much higher ratio of exposed surface area to mass) and suction is a lot easier when it is in

Textile materials have a much lower density (which usually means a much higher ratio of exposed surface area to mass) and suction is a lot easier when it is in the same direction as gravity. As you point out, vacuum tables have been in use by a variety of machines for a long time, including in metal fabrication and construction. This is novel (or at least interesting) because using vacuum pumps to hold things up instead of down is usually reserved for low density, well balanced, flat objects like electronic parts.