Lectra’s new Fashion on Demand tool underscores personalisation shift

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Dec 6, 2018

Lectra, a Paris-based provider of tech solutions for the apparel industry, is rolling out a new product personalisation platform, Fashion on Demand, globally from January 2019.

It said the end-to-end offer, which is the result of four years of R&D by a team of 100 experts four years of R&D, will automate the entire personalisation process from product development to final cutting stages.

The tool is designed to help brands offer a personalisation service that can match supply with demand, and solve a host of issues such as overstocking. Additionally, the service is expected to improve cash flow, as consumers are asked to pay upfront for their orders.

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"Personalization, or rather, on-demand production, is going to be an industry-wide phenomenon. It is hence Lectra's duty, as an Industry 4.0 pioneer, to think ahead of time, and spearhead this movement. Keeping our customers' best interests in mind, we've worked with renowned personalisation specialists from different countries to develop this solution,” commented Daniel Harari, chairman and CEO of Lectra.

“With 'Fashion On Demand by Lectra' we're doing the unthinkable. For the first time in the fashion industry, there will be a comprehensive personalisation solution that will be able to perform under the same market conditions as the ready-to-wear segment and produce the same, if not better, results,” he continued.

Currently, on-demand fashion production is costly, as supply chains lack the flexibility to create and produce these products, and companies are forced to develop independent workflows for each design, incurring additional production costs. Infrastructures are also slow, running the risk of upsetting customers who have paid premium prices for their personalised products.

Last year, Amazon patented an on-demand clothing manufacturing system designed to quickly produce products after an order was placed. It is unclear whether such a facility is being built, but the plans underscore a trend that could very well become the new normal as consumers shift towards personalised products and experiences.