It is a common perception in the apparel industry that efficiency in production can be increased only with automation. But, the exceptional growth in technology has convinced the industry that merely upgrading to automation does not address to business goals. The need of the hour is to understand the needs to get the best out of the existing machinery and automate once they are being used to the optimum level. To aid this continuous evolution of technology, Lectra provides end-to-end fashion and apparel solutions which optimizes business models and resources while implementing transformational change.
B T Nagesh, Director, Lectra India informed Team StitchWorld about the industrial focus on preventive and predictive measures adopted by the company and how it plans and delivers service to its customers, “Customers need to understand that focusing on corrective action in case of machine downtime does not improve efficiency. Focus should be on ability to predict a critical issue that could arise and prevent downtime, which automatically increases machine’s uptime and associated productivity. Our mission is on providing solutions that are based on customers’ needs, and not just selling equipment and solutions.
Our machines are capable of providing upto 98 per cent uptime optimizing operational excellence by optimizing Operational Excellence, Eliminating Fabric Waste, Increase Overall Equipment Efficiency and Improving flow & layout. Lectra has been working with customers specifically addressing these issues
Lectra’s fashion and apparel solutions help companies enhance their value chain, develop and manage collections with expertise based on industry best-practices and technologies. The company takes pride in their post-sales service and reiterates that the focus should be more on preventive/predictive support. Lectra has programs that help and enable customers to achieve this by their active team of professionals for services and consulting engagements.
The company has a remote customer care centre in Bangalore which services customers across the Indian sub-continent and the ASEAN region. The customer care centre is well-equipped with the necessary expertise to execute and support remote interventions as well as physical interventions with agreed SLA’s towards response & resolution time.
In the current scenario, with growing labour issues, people in the industry realize that there is no longer a cost advantage this industry had a few years ago, and the defined solution that looms up is an organization’s ability to respond to this change and adapt automation, lean, etc. While the bigger fish in the apparel manufacturing industry are investing in newer technology in factories, the mid-level factories, which makes smaller quantities are not far behind. “It has come to our notice that mid-level factories and companies are more receptive towards newer technologies. They fully appreciate and understand that growth for them is to invest in technology in the early stages. Investing early in the lifecycle also gives them the competitive edge in business apart from faster ROI on technology investments. We have seen customers achieving ROI in 8-9 months when they implement technology automation and are open to change” commented Nagesh.
Utilizing their 4 decades’ of experience in spreading knowledge, Lectra has developed dedicated partnership programmes with more than 850 schools and universities around the world, connecting the cycle of technology, education and the industry.
