Paris, August 9, 2006 – Lectra, the world leader in software, CAD/CAM equipment and related services dedicated to the fashion business, reaffirmed its commitment to the Indian apparel industry by hosting an exclusive manufacturing solutions seminar in Bangalore on July 19.

This event gathered more than 100 participants from the Bangalore area, including managers from the region’s 10 largest fashion companies. Participants shared their business visions and learned more about Lectra’s manufacturing solutions through case studies and best practices from leading regional players such as Fibres & Fabrics International (FFI), Jay Jay Mills and others.

Faced with new industrial challenges and stiff competition after the abolition of textile quotas in 2005, Indian apparel industry professionals seek manufacturing solutions that will help them reduce costs and accelerate time-to-market.

“Thanks to a unique technology offering, Lectra is recognized for its business expertise, its deep knowledge of fashion processes, and its comprehensive understanding of the new challenges faced by apparel companies. In conjunction with its partner in India, Magnum Solutions, Lectra is the only technology provider that supports its Indian customer to ensure that they use their equipment to the maximum utilization ratio,” said Gilles Cruanes, Lectra’s Regional Director for India.

Intelligent cutting room solutions

The trend towards product customization has forced many apparel manufacturers to shift from mass production to more flexible, high-volume production. Lectra’s VectorFashion MP cutter provides 1.5 to 2 times more productivity than any other conventional cutter available today. Moreover, its ability to cut optimized markers with no buffer between patterns with an excellent cutting quality responds to the need to reduce costs while enhancing quality. The solution’s Eclipse function improves cutting performance still further by permitting pieces to be cut while the conveyor is advancing.

“Lectra sold its 100th Vector MP cutting solution in June, and its success is the fruit of the experience acquired by the company with more than 3,500 Vector cutters in operation throughout the world. With VectorMP technology, there is no longer a trade-off between quality and productivity; both are available,” said Pierre-Michel Richer, Lectra’s Production Solutions Marketing Manager.

The Optiplan  solution supervises Lectra’s intelligent cutting equipment and enables companies to better manage their orders and fabric stocks while taking account of the availability of raw materials when production orders are being programmed. Together with Optiplan, DiaminoFashion Expert – the most powerful automated marker-making solution on the market – selects the most efficient marking combinations, suggests alternatives, simulates costs and anticipates new production orders.

“With our MP cutting technology - the best and  most productive cutting machines on the market – we propose manufacturers to invest in one machine rather than two, so that the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of Lectra equipment becomes much more competitive than any other vendors on the market,”  said Gilles Cruanes. “Bundled with Optiplan, our unique cutting room management software, a customer investing in Lectra’s cutting room solution can be sure he will get a short payback.” 
 
On screen pattern and marker development and intelligent cutting room at FFI

A Lectra customer since 2003, Fibres & Fabrics International (FFI) – one of the guest speakers at Lectra’s seminar – is a specialized denim garment manufacturer based in India. Today FFI operates one of the most integrated, highly-automated denim processing units in the world, providing more than four million denim garments per year to major European and North American fashion brands. 

“Optimizing our technology is critical to our ability to achieve higher product quality and large-scale reproducibility,” says Anupam Kothari, Chairman of FFI. “Lectra’s solutions have enabled us to optimize cutting-room efficiency and significantly improve productivity.”

More than 10 years in India 

Present throughout India with more than 200 apparel market customers operating more than 400 CAD stations and 54 cutting solutions, Lectra provides high value-added services to its Indian customers through Magnum (its preferred and exclusive partner in the country – a ISO 9001:2000 certified services company which provides a complete solution oriented approach to deliver maximum benefits to customers) and through Lectra’s Asia Pacific Call Center.