The pandemic has forced the fashion industry to find ways to bounce back
The pandemic highlighted the fragility of the traditional model, which has crumbled worldwide. With the crisis, pre-existing structural problems were laid bare: too many styles in collections, multiple sales periods with very big mark downs, stock turned into as many unsold items, further undermining already fragile profitability.
Everyone in fashion agrees on one point: this crisis is the moment to re-examine everything, from their logistics chain to their manufacturing process. Within a limited timeframe and budget, they must ask themselves: how can we be as effective as possible? What must we change to get a better return on investment while limiting risks? Because mistakes are no longer an option.
Small-run production responds to new challenges
By launching production upon receipt of the order or in the volumes required after a prior study of your sales figures, production on demand provides you with a multitude of benefits: material savings, cost reduction and no unsold stock. It also saves you from substantial financial investment.
One of the available options with production on demand is Made to order (MTO). This eliminates the need to launch an entire production run but allows you to test market acceptance of your product with small quantities, for example with a capsule collection distributed locally and in a limited manner. This contributes to the attractiveness of the overall collection without altering it.
Companies are seeking a solution that is both effective and easy to use. With Lectra's production on demand solution, in addition to a digitized, automated tool, integrated into cutting preparation, customers find a tool that saves them time in the cutting room, especially on repetitive tasks, each carrying a risk of error. The other advantage is the comfort it provides to the operators who, with ergonomic and intuitive solutions, find increased productivity and comfort.
Assisting fashion companies with their environmental shift
Fashion's environmental impact has been proportional to its growth since the 1990s and the birth of fast fashion – exponential. To the point that today, fashion is considered the second most polluting industry in the world! The development model of production on demand is the polar opposite: it is by nature a sustainable development model.
By placing sales at the center of the manufacturing process, whether they come from your retail website or your stores, you produce the exact number of garments sold, without wasting material. Production on demand prevents overproduction, unsold items and the stock that comes with it. In this sense, production on demand is actually the bedrock of social responsibility for companies.
