Lectra introduces improved 'Design to Cost' approach

“At a time when companies are striving to remain competitive, materials represent a significant percentage of the cost of a garment, companies therefore need to manage material usage effectively in order to preserve and increase their margins,” says Anastasia Charbin, Director, Marketing Fashion, Lectra.

“Lectra’s Design to Cost approach, which combines design, product development and marker-making solutions, allows companies to analyze the cost of final garments and then use that information to make important business decisions in the design and product development phases.”

Visual fabric layout increases accuracy and cuts out manual labor An integral component of Lectra’s Design to Cost approach is the new pre-costing and marker-making solution Diamino® V6, which now allows fabric to be visualized on costing and production markers to help companies better anticipate and control material consumption.

During the conceptualization phase, a period in which many ideas are proposed, challenged and reworked, material consumption is often only very roughly estimated. By more tightly integrating its core product design and development technologies and allowing for a more fluid exchange of visual and technical information, Lectra has opened the door to faster and more realistic evaluation of possible production scenarios.

“It allows us to exchange information faster and to more quickly identify potential problems before production,” says Nicolas Drevet, Head of Production Methods at French lingerie company Lise Charmel. In addition, non-specialist profiles like product managers, cutting room managers, research departments and product development teams can now have access to this information.

Fabrics can also be visualized in the marker layout to enhance the impact of fabric choices on cost, while providing clear visual instructions on repeat placement and orientation. “We now better control material consumption and cost and have improved our ability to foresee problems,” says Davide Lunardon, CAD Manager, Staff International, part of the group Only The Brave (OTB).