#Software

2021-12-16

Gerber Technology hosts hybrid ideation conference

In October, 1,700 people virtually attended Gerber Technology’s annual ideation conference, which marked the beginning of Gerber and Lectra becoming stronger together as one company. Gerber and Lectra announced interoperability between Lectra’s Modaris and Gerber’s AccuMark software as well as the launch of new AccuMark and YuniquePLM v9 releases. Lectra’s Retviews, Kubix and Fashion OnDemand solutions were also introduced to the Gerber audience for the first time during the event.

ideation 2021 was made possible by 25 technology, media and industry association partners who sponsored the event, inducing WhichPLM, 3DLOOK, and Kornit Digital. “This year’s ideation marked the official uniting of two companies with rich histories in innovation,” said Ketty Pillet, Vice President of Marketing, Americas for Lectra. “This is only the beginning of what we’ll be able to accomplish together to help our customers perform better and respond to market challenges faster.”

Each year ideation is the place where the fashion, furniture, technical textiles and sign and graphics industries meet to discuss announcements, innovations, and latest trends and challenges that are shaping the future. This year’s ideation kicked off with introductions from Lectra CEO, Daniel Harari and a keynote address from Deborah Weinswig of Coresight Research.

One of the main highlights of this event were the Fashion and Sign and Graphic industry round tables. These discussions hosted some of the top industry leaders and focused on what is going on in the industry and how we can navigate for the future. Participants in the fashion roundtable included: Colleen Hau from Carhartt, Mike Todaro from Americas Apparel Producers Network, Matthew Wallace from DXM Inc. and Leonard Marano from Lectra.

“Favorite part was the Fashion RoundTable forum,” one participant said. “I took so many notes from those industry leaders and their knowledge! Awesome that they answered questions people were asking in the live time too.”

This year’s conference also marked Gerber’s first-ever Pitch Competition. Six teams developed collections using Gerber and Lectra solutions and pitched their collection to a panel of judges composed of fashion experts, which included Bob D'Loren, Chairman and CEO of Xcel Brands, Jeff Karly Drouillard, Parsons Alum and Recent CFDA FFGS20, Sebrie Springs and Kimberly Carney, FashWire, and Christina Liedtke, Founder, Astouri. The two winners, FRWL by Nicole Lee from the Brooklyn Fashion Incubator and Virago Lorica Segmentata Collection from FABRIC, walked the runway for a live fashion show at the Gerber Innovation Center during a Customer Appreciation event.

Gerber and Lectra also hosted an Executive Forum which gathered 35 executives from various companies, including Steve Lamar from AAFA, Isaac Presburger from Preslow S.A., Goor Moshe from Twine, Michael McDonald from SPESA, Karen Williams from Savitude and Sherri Barry from FABRIC, to discuss what’s currently happening in their industries and how they see the future evolving.

“Two years ago, Gerber’s ideation conference introduced me to their microfactory that they were displaying in their Innovation Center,” said Sherri Barry of FABRIC. “ideation ended up being life changing for me because there were people of likeminds there that were willing to share and collaborate and help me and our fashion incubator come up with a solution for our designers where they could sustainably manufacture using technology. Fast forward two years, the microfactory and OnDemand manufacturing is a reality at FABRIC.”

Registrants are still able to access all the sessions through the ideation platform.

Orient Rongheng connects production planning across China and Bangladesh with FastReactPlan

Chinese apparel manufacturer Orient Rongheng is implementing Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan to digitalize production planning across its manufacturing operations in China and Bangladesh. The project aims to connect capacity, materials and order planning across multiple factories while integrating these processes with the company’s existing ERP and Manufacturing Execution System (MES).

Lectra launches Apogy with agentic AI for fashion product development

Lectra has launched Apogy, a new cloud-based solution for fashion product development that combines product data, collaborative workflows and agentic artificial intelligence. The platform is designed to connect the different stakeholders and processes between initial design and production while using AI agents to automate tasks and support decision-making throughout the development cycle.

Coats Digital launches AI-powered GSD RealMotion for motion analysis

Coats Digital has launched GSD RealMotion, an AI-powered solution designed to provide apparel manufacturers with greater visibility into factory-floor operations. By analysing shop-floor video and applying Coats Digital’s GSD methodology, the solution turns video recordings into structured, motion-by-motion method studies.

VDMA Textile Machinery with new Executive Board

At the general meeting of VDMA Textile Machinery held in Hanover at the end of September, Dr Janpeter Horn, Managing Director of A. Herzog Maschinenfabrik, was re-elected as Chairman of the trade association. Regina Brückner, managing partner of Brückner Trockentechnik, and Verena Thies, managing partner of Thies Textilmaschinen, will once again serve as vice-chairs for the next four years.

Rieter appoints Daniel Lippuner as new CEO as Thomas Oetterli steps down

Thomas Oetterli has decided to step down from his function as CEO, effective October 31, 2026, and hand over the Chairmanship of the Board of Directors. “After the successful implementation of the Next Level performance program, the structural measures initiated to consolidate the sites and the acquisition of Barmag, the time has come to hand over responsibility to new hands,” explains Thomas Oetterli.

EFI and Agfa’s DPS Business to combine andform a global, full-service industrial inkjet company

Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (“EFI”), a leading industrial inkjet business and portfolio company of Siris, and Agfa-Gevaert (“Agfa”) today announced a definitive agreement to combine Agfa’s Digital Printing Solutions business (“Agfa DPS”) with EFI. An affiliate of Siris will hold a 60% interest and Agfa will hold a 40% interest in the jointly held company, which will bring together the operating capabilities of EFI and Agfa DPS under a governance structure whereby Siris and Agfa will act as equal partners.