LEKO. CAD for ateliers

Modern atelier is a small enterprise. Its characteristics are: from the one hand, limited stuff and, from the other - rather wide range of services. 10-15 years ago, it the period of total deficit, people had to make cloths at ateliers because of impossibility to buy it (for example, usual, everyday apparel, but of non-standard sizes). In such situation, people were able to submit numerous fittings or wait for several months for their order. Nowadays, where there is a lot of good, up-to-date apparel of reasonable price, the customers coming to ateliers have especial wants. Usually they are the same clients with non-standard measures and of great requirements, buy no one of them agree to wait for their order for a month. To be competitive at modern apparel market, modern atelier is to be of up-to-date level of automation. The first thing to be computerized is the work with a concrete customer and speeding up of the cutting. The computer system for a small atelier should be of the following characteristics:

- database of individual measurements

- pattern making for individual figure

- simplicity and flexibility of bringing changes to existing models and developing new ones

- quick fitting of a model to a concrete figure

- simplicity of mastering new program

- small material expenses

- expansion ability of the program and its further upgrading

Presently, the only system to meet these requirements fully is LEKO by VILAR SOFT Ltd. We, of course, have competitors if the field of automation of sewing industry, but LEKO is the only system to account needs and demands of small manufacturers.

Currently, there are a lot of programs for sewing industry - both famous programs of Europe and USA developers and not so widely known software of Russian developers (often made as abroad software analogues or working under AUTOCAD-like systems, which are not directly connected with apparel industry). Without analyzing advantages and disadvantages of this software, just note that all these programs could be joined by one important feature which makes them unavailable or useless for small enterprises and ateliers. This is clearly shown orientation to large manufacturers - not only having quick turnover and large consignees, but also financially sound to pay for new technologies. It is clear, that buying such a system (of several thousands of dollars) claims also for buying the additional equipment - digitizers, plotters, computers of certain type - that means dozens thousands of dollars. To work with such program, the buyer needs trained stuff, and the program itself claims for maintaining. It makes the program of any perfection absolutely unprofitable for small ateliers.

But do not despair! New LEKO, maybe, will not solve all you problems, but it can substantially facilitate the process of pattern making and fitting, automate and speed up the development of new models.

LEKO was developed rather long time ago. But that times computers and printers were expensive, the labour of cutters was comparatively cheap, and it was no sense to talk of mass use of this program in ateliers.

It was also difficult matter of developing construction based on individual measurements. CMEA UCM (CMEA unified construction method) could not be use in individual pattern construction, Unified Method of Central Office of Sewing Laboratories (COSL) was manual designing-oriented and claimed for deep designer's experience, that made it useless referring to the computer design. The same was about other methods, including Mueller Method. That is why LEKO uses principally new methods of apparel designing.

Our methods have proved their vitality in the process of ready pattern making under the orders and for "Fashion pattern magazine" (8 issues), which contains now more than 300 models. Methods are being improved according to issues of new LEKO versions and experience gaining of our designers in the process of work with different apparel and specific features of production processes at our customers' manufactures. Currently, the system offers new, computer-oriented methods of shoulder-slope designing with automatic adjustment up to sleeve-hole, designing of raglan with wide range of sleeve-hole shape regulation, pants construction, principles of adjusting of separate sewing segments.

We deliver the system with 50 base patterns and 150 ready models; each of them can be easily changed. Every model can be developed and printed for nearly any size and height. The system contains a unique database of conditionally-typed measures with 1 cm-step change of size and scale, for example, the figure of 167-95-103. Thus, when you make a patterns based on individual measures, you can take three measurements and input them to the computer. The system itself, according to three main measures, will restore 80 measures of conditionally-typed figure, which then can be additionally edited. LEKO is a perfect tool to work with non-standard figures.

If you use a plotter, you may have a ready to fit made-to-measure model of vliseline within 10-15 minutes.

One of the main criteria for a small enterprise is the price. The total cost of the system for ateliers: $250 for the program, $350 and above for a system block of a computer, $150 and above for a screen, $350 and above for a printer of A3. The total amount is $1100. If you organize several work places, you can make an economy of the desk of orders reception and printing or ready designs: a computer 486-100 or P-100 (less than $100), second-hand 14" screen ($30-40), matrix printer ($50-100) and the second copy of LEKO (70% discount, that makes $75). It makes, in total, less than $350!

LEKO of 6.83L version is the first level. Those who need further "automation" can additionally buy the version with automated formation of seam/hem allowances, database of multi-set marker making, the plotter ($2500 and above) and a digital camera ($500 and above).

Currently, we are developing the system of digital camera body measurement ($150) or photo camera ($300). It will allow you to take measures of body position, shoulder slope, stoop, bust and hips distribution etc., in addition to usual girths. It will give you the possibility of more exact accounting of specific features of figure and touchless sewing.

 For more information, please, contact us:   leko@lekala.info