Technical Report

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform for

Fashion on Demand Solution
As per 26th March 2018

Overview

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform is the solution offered by Lectra to answer challenging future in the
fashion industry that consumers would want further level of personalization on fashion, styles would
be personalized and unique by offering a complete, Industry 4.0 ready, integrated solution to help
business to meet industry challenges.

For this purpose, Lectra design the system using several main building blocks:

 Hybrid Architecture, The system combines both Desktop based application, and Web based
application which seamlessly linked each other with the Cloud System as Backbone.

 Design for Failure, the system was designed with availability in mind which that any
hardware and software system related should be designed so that recovery could be
performed quickly in case of failures, thus minimizing downtime.

 Security In Mind, The system comply current industry standard in encryption by using
HTTPS/SSL, REST-API over SSL, and MQTT over SSL with 128bit and 256 bit AES block strong
cryptography.
  Scalable by Design, The system was designed to take benefit of modern clustered
computing technology available today based on Docker, and Kubernetes

 API Integration, Lectra Digital Cutting Platform provides API (Application Programming
Interfaces) that let external system such as Customer’s IT System or ERP to be integrated.

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform System provides various services to support Made to Measure
implementation from setup and preparation, managing products and materials, custom product
ordering, to cutting execution with many of the processes could be done automatically.

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform Architecture

The System was based on Cloud service as backbone, connected to several types of applications
either web based, desktop based, or embedded IoT (Internet of Thing) applications on its auto
cutter machines.

Figure 1: General Architecture of Lectra Digital Cutting Platform

In general, the system consists of several applications that was divided into 3 main areas: Design
Office (for Designing Pattern), Business Application, and Cutting Room:

Area Descriptions Applications

Design Office Applications
Business Applications
Cutting Room
Consists of applications which intended to  PGS 3D Studio
be used by Pattern Maker to design,  MODARIS Pattern
customizing, perform size alternation of Making
products  Product Manager
Consist of several applications purposed to  Order Form
manage Materials, User Interface for  Order Manager
Custom Order Entry, and Managing Custom  Material Manager
Order, and Cutting Job Execution  System Manager
Application of which embeeded in Vigra  Vigra Auto Cutter
AutoCutter system, and IoT which handling
fabric feeder.

The system itself does use local server serving as caching mechanism of product data information
(Local Buffer), local buffer store cutting job queue locally thus improve the continuity of Cutting job

With all area linked together, Lectra already has an integrated system providing various services
from material preparation, product setup, managing custom order, and cutting execution
automation.

Deployment Model

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform was a type of Software as a Service (SaaS), or cloud based system.
There is no possibility to be deployed on premise (using local server) as alternate option or even
Private Cloud System. Being a fully cloud based system does its own advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages Disadvantages
No server required to host Lectra Digital Would requires monthly/yearly subscription of cloud
Cutting Platform other than Local Buffer service in addition of initial investment on software
server. license
Require minimal expertise of IT support on Less Control of product ownership on investment
its implementation made since it would always need to connect and use
service which provided in the cloud
Simple Deployment Model Less Control of the cost that might arise in the future
in case of monthly/yearly subscription fee increase.
Mature Software Provider Refusing to pay monthly/yearly subscription would
means total loss on investment made
Large internet bandwidth required to implement
single auto cutter machine.
 Possible Integration Model

Lectra Digital Cutting Platform system actually was a complete solution for custom made product
that ready to be used. But lectra does provide a communication mechanism which let external
application such as IT System, ERP, or Web store to be linked together, exchanging data between
them via API (Application Programming Interface). This would let customer to integrate their
system, minimize manual works, eliminating data duplication, while automating the process as per
Industry 4.0.

Figure 2: Integration between LDCS, IT System/ERP, and MTM Web store

API Connectivity

To enable integration with external system such as customer’s IT System or ERP, Lectra was also
provided with a set of API communication protocol intended as Data Interchange facility between
Lectra Cloud System and External system through API (Application Programming Interfaces) by
taking the benefit of REST (Representational State Transfer) technology by using JSON (JavaScript
Object Notation) data format of which popular being used in internet based cross application
communication.
 Figure 3: REST based API service provided by Lectra

The API provided by Lectra enable external application such as IT system, Web Store, or ERP system
to manage materials (insert, update, delete, query status), and Managing Custom Product Order
(create, delete, query). These API were designed to works asynchronously following most popular
implementation model, but does not provide atomic transaction model. However, for custom order
creation, it does provide multiple item entry within single request of which could replace the need
of atomic transaction model.

API Functionality Single Item Multiple Item

Material Creation Yes No
Material Update Yes No
Material Delete Yes No
Query Material Status Yes No
Custom Order Creation Yes Yes
Custom Order Update No No
Custom Order Delete Yes No
Query Custom Order Status Yes No
Query Cutting Order Status Yes No

Possible API Implementation

Lectra Cloud System API services does provides enough starting point for external system to
communicate, push data either from MTM Web Store, IT System, or ERP into Lectra Cloud System.
To enable integration, some considerations, mainly security aspects, should be carefully taken.

To secure the integration, we could neither allow IT System, nor MTM Web store to connect to
Lectra Cloud System directly, but had to develop Communication Bridge between The Cloud, ERP,
and Web store. This Communication Bridge would act as Agent of Exchange that facilitate
exchanging data from web store.
 Figure 4: Possible Integration Model between Cloud, ERP and MTM Web Store

When customer submit an custom order from MTM Web store, the web store will then notify agent
that new customer order created via MQTT notification service, after receiving notification from
MQTT, agent would use data from notification to connect and pull order information from Web
Store and push it to the ERP system, The ERP system would then use the data to create proper
Customer Order (CO), calculating Bill of Material (BoM), and release the Order to create
Manufacturing Order Proposal (MOP).

When user release MOP, ERP would then send notification to agent that new CO and MOP already
been created via MQTT, after receiving notification from MQTT, agent would use the data from
notification to connect and pull detail order information from ERP system, all customization options
and body measurement information from MTM Web store and push it to Lectra Cloud System for
further processing.
In this point, ideally, the cloud should provide a mechanism to notify back the agent when any order
status updated in the cutting room module to enable real seamless integration, however there is no
such mechanism exists in the API provided by Lectra by this time.

Web service API Concerns

Lectra Web services API provides enough set of functionality to enable external applications such as
IT System, ERP, or MTM Store front to interchange data, it is however, there are some information
of which might not be available in common Inventory system module in ERP (on material) of which
is required by Lectra while recording this information might not make sense from the point of its
functionality as general inventory module, and challenge to add this information to be recorded is
also small. This information includes Shrinkage information of fabrics for both horizontal and vertical
direction, area density (weight of material per area unit), or thickness information.

Implementation Requirements

Minimal Network Infrastructure Requirements

Feature Scope
Internet Connection for 1 Cutter  Reliable Link
 Packet Loss < 1%
 5MBPS bandwidth For HTTPS protocol
 Latency < 100ms
 Port 443 outbonds
Internet Proxy Secured web socket protocol For MQTT over Https
allowed
LAN 100MBPS full duplex For https and MQTT
Internal DNS Ability to add new entry For local buffer and
NTP Server Access to time server equipment components

Hardware Requirements

Feature Scope
End User PC  Windows 10 64 Bit
 Web Browser
For Desktop Business Apps
 Webex meeting with PC
Admin right
CAD Data Agent  Windows 2008R2 or Win 10 For Lectra Connector
 .NET framework 4.6.1
Local Buffer Local VM Server based on For Local Buffer
Ubuntu with UPS Components
 Equipment Computers Internal Firewall configuration Communication between
for inbound and outbound ports local buffer and equipment
components

Software Requirements

OAuth 2.0 for REST-API Access
Lectra MODARIS
Lectra PGS Style Format
Feature Scope
Https protocol for client
credential authentication
For Lectra Connector
For Made-to-Measure
For Made-to-Measure

Summary

Lectra does have its own advantages and disadvantages for being used as BAG backbone of MTM
(Made to Measure) Project, from what explains above the summary below is list of SWOT analysis in
the angle of IT.

Strength

 No Server Required to implement Lectra Cloud System other than VM purposed as Local
Buffer Only

 Requires minimal expertise of Internal IT staff to support its implementation

 Simple deployment model by using cloud as backbone

 Complete set and ready to use features to implement fashion on demand (MTM) project

 Support integration with external system (IT System, ERP, or MTM Web store) with
availability of REST-API functions.

 Lectra is a Strong, Wealthy, and Stable company

Weakness

 Would requires subscription on Lectra Cloud system for using the services in the cloud in
addition to initial investment paid

 Less control on product ownership on investment made since the system would always
need the services provided in the Cloud to work

 Less control on the cost that might arise in the future in case of subscription fee increase
 Refusing to pay subscription fee would lost access to the services provided in the cloud and
makes whole system becomes unusable, and all investment made might loss.

 Large internet bandwidth required (5 MBPS) to implement single auto cutter machine.

 API requires specific information which might not be available in general inventory system
limits its integration possibilities

Opportunities

 Lectra Cloud System might be the fastest way to implement real fashion on demand solution
as per BAG requirements.

 Being as Lectra Pilot project makes our challenges to requests might be heard higher than as
normal customer

Threats

 Lectra is strict in license management, and violating license might rise serious issues as
experienced in Citra Abadi in the past.

 Lectra has total control on managing Subscription Fee which we have no option other than
to agree since refusal to pay would means total loss on all investment made.