Interview with Mr. Saar Machtinger

With industrialization and mass manufacturing came the need for streamlining processes, decreasing time to market, increasing quality and bringing down the prices. This followed by the need to depend on automation in some form or the other, led to CAD / CAM, as a natural solution.

"CAD / CAM is used at various stages in the apparel and textile industry and can be broadly classified into following categories: Designing / Range Planning - before the start of any fashion season, all apparel manufacturers plan the range of garments which they are planning to manufacture. Most of the designing and range planning is still done by the buyer or the owners of the brand because being very close to their actual clients; it is easier for them to understand the specific needs of their target market. To some extent, this has now changed with more and more manufacturers allowing vendors dabble a bit in designing based on their specific inputs in terms of colors, yarns, fabrics, prints, silhouettes etc Prototyping / Sampling - once the designs have been finalized, a prototype or sample has to be made, because the salability of the end product (garment) depends a lot on the fit of the garment. A simple example is a study conducted by an independent agency, which only observed the reasons of dissatisfaction or returns of garments sold. Fitting problems topped the list. Considering the importance of a good fit, it becomes imperative for a manufacturer or retailer to get good fits. Considering the complexity that is involved with different fabrics and silhouettes, a CAD system takes away much of the pain from prototyping thus decreasing the time to market. Mass Production - comes with its own challenges. Unlike most other products, apparel manufacturing, even today depends a lot on people - especially when it comes to tailoring or assembling. One mistake anywhere down the line in the prototyping or cutting process becomes very difficult and often impossible, to rectify. This is where a CAD system comes in - to de-skill some of the processes involved in mass manufacturing namely the pre - production processes so that perfectly cut parts are fed to the operators. Apart from this the fabric saved in bulk cutting is also enormous. Retailing - our 3D solution allows 3D files to be uploaded on to website for clients to choose from. 3D files can be opened and viewed in any MS office application or Internet explorer."

"OptiTex has always been a leader when it comes to innovation. Our solutions are a result of working in close partnership with our various clients, in markets around the world. Every market has its intricacies and challenges and OptiTex listens and senses the changing needs of the clients, and are quick to come up with solutions. All our solutions are tailor made to the end users requirements. We realized that getting the right fit has always been a challenge even to the most skilled technician owing to the nature of the material used, the complex shapes of the human body, the functional requirement of a human bodies movements and the occasion for which the clothing is made. The result is the Runway 3D solution from OptiTex. 3D Simulation How often have we felt the need to have a tool which could simulate the stitching and the fit and fall of a garment, even before actually stitching it out of the actual fabric? 3D Simulation offers the user a suite of tools that will simulate all pre-production activities including stitching, fitting, visualization, texture and color variation. This can also be used as a communication tool between retailer, subcontractor, designer, pattern maker, manufacturer, costing and marketing departments. It allows the visualization of any pattern modifications instantly in 3D, based on accurate CAD patterns and real fabric characteristics. This module is very helpful when you need confirmation from a client regarding fitting or measurement problems. You can send 3D images of the garment with the fitting and measurement problems and also another sample view with the suggested measurement change incorporated as per your pattern master or the technician for faster confirmations from the buying house or buyer instead of actually sending the garment or query for revised spec sheet, as it is a very time consuming process. Presenting any problem with pictures makes it easier to decipher the problem compared to verbally explaining the same. They say a picture is worth a thousand words! Reduce product development time and the cost involved in multiple iterations of sample garment production. The highly detailed parametric mannequin has 40 precise adjustable body measurements, including several posture positions that can be saved for multiple usage - buyer wise or segment wise, size wise etc. Users can create their own specific base size mannequins, saving a great amount of time during fittings. Runway Designer Whenever a manufacturer goes for a meeting with the buyer, it is customary to see them lugging around huge suitcases full of garment samples and fabric swatches. The same samples can now be easily carried around virtually with this user friendly and intuitive tool. Runway Designer has an inbuilt library where different sizes of mannequins and their associated garments and scanned fabrics and prints can be stored. Presentation of the virtual fashion collection is just a click away. Communicating and presenting design ideas was never simpler. All the characteristics of the fabric will be taken care of, while simulating the garment."

"All our clients have access to highly skilled support team by phone and also remote maintenance and support through Webex on the Internet. Apart from this, we have a CRM system, which is interfaced with our software enabling all our customers to ask questions, seek answers and download service packs and updates online, apart from a vast knowledge base to tap into, for frequently asked questions and problems faced."

"OptiTex has the advantage of developing its solutions based on the latest technology and platforms available. We adopt and transform with the changes and needs addressing both, suppliers and customers of the industry. OptiTex has most innovative products tailor made to the local requirements, and continuously improves upon the features according to the needs of the end users. The latest being, the Hindi version tailor made for Indian market. OptiTex has complete solution a sewn products manufacturer might need - from concept - merchandising - production - management."

"We have the complete range of solution which a manufacturer might need. I will briefly explain where these solutions can be used and how. Prototyping - PDS Pattern Design System and 3D Draping for getting the right fit the first time - faster.Asset management - no more storing of paper patterns - instant retrieval for modification, amendments etc. Merchandising 3D Draping utility for faster approvals of fit from buyers, communicate in 3D Runway 3D Designer - carry your whole sampling room and the entire fabric swatch library for virtual presentations Nest++ - Automatic marker making solution for fast consumption calculations for costing, Nest++ - Plan your fabric purchases effectively - Order just the right quantity needed, neither less nor more Match ++ - automatic marker making solutions for patterned, striped or check fabrics where part matching has to be done. Modulate - Create your patterns once and use them forever - Just change the measurements and all the related patterns change automatically. Production- Save fabrics during bulk cutting by making the tightest possible marker, with the least fabric wasted. Converters - Converters are available for converting native files from other CAD / CAM systems to OptiTex format. OptiTex is a fully open CAD CAM solution, we can read files from almost all the major CAD CAM vendors and can work in a truly collaborative manner irrespective of which CAD system the vendor, supplier is using."

"All OptiTex solutions are based on the windows operating system. Responsiveness to the changing needs and adapting to offer the most user friendly software available in the market has been the strength of OptiTex. We have a client in Italy. In a particular season, he had a collection with a theme which had a lot of uneven wavy hem and was finding it time consuming to make it using the existing tools. He put this across to our team, and our team got to work on it and delivered just the tool he needed - in less than 24 hours. The next day it was installed at his design studio, and demonstrated to him. This time it was a 1 click option which took barely a second. He could not contain his happiness and he said that the OptiTex team is like magicians, pulling out things from a hat! Every year, we send out a form which all our vendors / clients fill up - which summarizes their experiences with our software. The most important part of this form is the last one - which asks them for a wish list and enumerate the features which they would love to have in the software, and most of them are surprised (pleasantly) to find it incorporated in the next version of our software. Our speed and responsiveness is 'the thing' that keeps our clients happy and of course demanding for more. For all of us at OptiTex, it is a way of life - to deliver more than expected. We go beyond customer satisfaction. We delight them!"

We are considering developing solutions for this industry also, but right now, we would like to focus on our existing solutions and consolidate our position.

"Apparel is only one sector we represent. We have solutions for a lot of other industries also, namely inflatables, car seats, aircrafts, composites, technical textiles etc. With free markets being the order of the day, every manufacturer has to focus on process efficiencies to stay competitive and increasingly rely on technology. OptiTex is already present in all the major markets around the globe, and is poised to be the leading solutions provider to the industry it represents."

"Well! Body scan systems will be more of an aid to the fashion designer as well as the pattern master / technician. Fashion designers can actually go about creating styles which are suited to the target client, in terms of styling suiting his / her body type and the biggest benefits of this technology will be that the pattern master will be able to try out the fittings virtually by stitching the garment together in the software itself and altering / modifying it till he gets the perfect fit, before physically stitching it. Mass customization is another area where it could be used, with our Modulate software module for Made to Measure - where patterns will be automatically altered according to scanned measurements of the client. Manual intervention is minimized in the entire process."