Innovation leader Lectra, supports brands, retailers and manufacturers through connected industrial equipment and cutting-edge solutions led by state-of-the-art software to facilitate the digital transformation and Industry 4.0 transition of fashion, automotive and furniture companies, and today announced the completion of its first annual ideation Conference since acquiring Gerber Technology in June 2021. The three-city tour, which hit major cities from coast to coast, began in New York on November 9th, followed by Mexico on November 17th, and Los Angeles on December 8th providing expert insight and commentary on ways to fuel the fashion industry forward as brands and retailers continue to face pressure due to macroeconomic issues, supply chain disruptions and rising inflation.
Bill McRaith, industry veteran and former executive at PVH, Walmart, and Victoria's Secret opened the series of conferences with a keynote focused on the supply chain challenges that retailers and global brandsface with consumers going digital, the rise of fast fashion, inventory management and apparel waste, inaddition to global factors including war and recession. “We are in an adapt or die moment in our industry,” said McRaith. “The supply chains we have today no longer suit today’s needs. They need to be radically changed. To do that, long linear supply chains must evolve into multidimensional, dynamically optimized networks, which means unlocking the value of nearshore and onshore models. By bringing just 10% of production onshore, we can fix 100% of supply chain issues.”
The conference was well attended across three cities by over 200 participants, and included 14 sponsors, namely platinum sponsors Kornit and Greentex, as well as sponsors SPESA, DXM, Twine, Fashion Snoopsand Coresight Research. In addition, attendees heard from thought leaders and fashion experts includingTiffany Radon, Manager of Technical Design at Carhartt, June Evans, Director of Technical Design at Filson, Dana Todd, CEO of Balodana, Lina Saldarriaga, Sr. Director of Product Development for Zumba, and Norman Ramirez, Director of IT at Citizens of Humanity.
Discussions revolved around Lectra Industry 4.0 offerings including:
- TextileGenesis: Recently acquired by Lectra, this secure software-as-a-service platform enables fashion brands and sustainable textile manufacturers to ensure a reliable, secure and fully digital mapping of their textiles, from the fiber to the consumer, and thereby guarantee their authenticity and origins.
- Retviews: A data analytics platform for ecommerce, enabling brands to easily assess their market and better gauge supply chain issues. The platform monitors over 5,000 brands globally, curating data to predict the market's available stocks and prices and visualize it through easy-to-digest reports.
- Kubix Link: A unique and adaptable ecosystem of fashion PLM, PIM, DAM and more. Kubix Link enables fashion and apparel process stakeholders to consolidate, share and communicate all product-related data through a single funnel from their first sketch to online sales channel.
- Cloud Nesting: Improves nesting efficiency and accelerates the production process enabling customers to more quickly deliver their products to market. Automating nesting and fabric consumption steps in the material preparation phase has reduced the amount of time needed for making markers by 80% in some cases.
- Fashion on Demand by Lectra: Connects and automates on-demand production. This turnkey solution comprises Lectra’s Digital Cutting Platform and single-ply fabric cutting solution Virga providing fashion companies a 360°view of the entire on-demand process from small series to oneoff production runs.
“When ideation started over 20 years ago, we focused more on customer education and appreciation. But it’s really evolved into a benchmark event for the entire Industry,” said Lenny Marano, President of Americas at Lectra. "Lectra continues to lead the conversation surrounding Industry 4.0 technology, and it’s because Industry 4.0 and the integrated solutions throughout the fashion value stream are intrinsic in what we do.”
Lectra will be hosting ideation on the Road in Atlanta to kick off its 2023 tour.
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