As with many businesses around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to Song Hong Garment Joint Stock Company. But the renowned manufacturer managed to turn the crisis into an opportunity by boldly investing in more technology, which led to increased productivity and material savings, and higher profit margins.
How Song Hong beat the odds with automated cloud nesting and marker making
Vietnamese fashion manufacturer significantly reduces fabric, IT and labor costs with Lectra’s Flex Offer and Vector during the COVID-19 pandemic
Building resilience during the pandemic via increased fabric savings and cost control
Song Hong Garment JSC was established in 1988. Today, it is one of the leading garment and bedding manufacturers in Vietnam with more than 20 workshops and over 13,000 employees, and processes 360 markers a day. However, when the pandemic struck and lockdowns were implemented, the Vietnamese manufacturer saw a 40% drop in orders as compared to 2019. The company soon realized that in order to bring their margins back to pre-pandemic levels, they needed to increase fabric savings and keep labor costs low. There was one way to do it: using technology to automate the nesting and fabric cutting processes. And for this, they turned to Lectra for help.
We foresee a strong partnership with Lectra in the future. We believe that the quality of its products and customer service are at the top of the industry.
CEO, Song Hong Joint Stock Company
Achieving long-term gains through cloud nesting, marker making and automated cutting
While other companies resorted to more stringent financial measures, Song Hong decided to take the other route, which was to invest more in technology to attract more customers with shorter lead times regarding design, pattern modifications and price quotations. The company was won over by Lectra’s live demonstration of Flex Offer, a cloud-based, automated nesting solution and convinced by its ROI calculations, and decided to invest in it. Song Hong also decided to add one more Vector solutions, Lectra's fabric cutting solution, to build a more efficient cutting room. The bold move paid off.
Flex Offer’s highly accurate nesting enables Song Hong to increase savings for Song Hong’s standard (lower cost) fabric markers and for its strategic (more expensive) fabric markers. In addition, the company has saved in labor and IT costs. Beyond costs, the manufacturer can now speed up the pre-production process by making it easier to share and manage information in the marker department. With Vector, Song Hong has also managed to increase the performance and productivity of operators and sewers, resulting in shorter lead times.
A bright future ahead
With a combination of Lectra’s technology, and Song Hong’s strong business acumen, the partners managed to achieve a seemingly impossible feat of turning such a dire situation around. The experience Song Hong Garment JSC’s management team has had with Lectra and its solutions convinced them of Lectra’s industry expertise and the value of its innovative technology, and they foresee a strong partnership in the future.
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Flex Offer by Lectra, Flexible automated high-volume cloud nesting
Flex Offer by Lectra is a cloud-based, automated nesting solution that addresses apparel suppliers’ unique marker-processing needs for costing, procurement and production. It gives you the flexibility to balance different production cycles, the ability to efficiently manage activity peaks, and the certainty that you will safeguard your operating margins.
Vector, Pioneering low to high-ply fabric-cutting solution
Compliant with Industry 4.0, our best-selling Vector cutting solutions can be used for all manufacturing models and fabric types, to help you achieve high levels of efficiency and profitability. Vector brings agility and versatility to the cutting process with its ability to operate on various product categories such as ready-to-wear, denim, lingerie and footwear.
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