Lectra > Case Studies > Tachi-S Mexico Fulfills Growth Potential with Lectra

Tachi-S Mexico Fulfills Growth Potential with Lectra

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

America

Country

Mexico

Product

Lectra Vectors
Lectra Consulting Services

Tech Stack

Lean Principles
Value Stream Mapping
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Automotive

Applicable Functions

Process Manufacturing
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Manufacturing System Automation
Predictive Maintenance
Process Control & Optimization

Services

System Integration
Training

About The Customer

Tachi-S is a leading automotive seating supplier with a 50-year history of creating inspirational products. The company works with major automakers as an independent seat maker, delivering 2.4 million seats to the global market each year. Tachi-S aims to provide an inspiring experience for its customers through its high-quality seats, which are becoming increasingly important as a key element in the presentation of a car. The company operates globally and has a strong presence in Mexico, where it has been experiencing significant growth due to the influx of car makers opening plants in the region.

The Challenge

Tachi-S Mexico faced significant challenges in their cutting room, including low efficiency, high fabric consumption, and quality issues. These problems hindered their ability to meet the growing demand from car makers opening plants in Mexico. The company was looking to improve production capacity, reduce operational costs, and minimize quality defects to capitalize on the expected growth. They initially considered acquiring new cutting equipment but were advised by Lectra experts to perform in-depth analyses of their current production processes to identify areas for improvement.

The Solution

Lectra partnered with Tachi-S Mexico to optimize their cutting processes without the need for additional equipment. Leveraging their expertise in the cutting process and experience in advising automotive companies, Lectra conducted a customized consulting project. They applied lean principles and used assessment methods such as DILO (Day in the Life Of) studies, Value Stream Mapping, and analysis of overall equipment efficiency to identify and eliminate non-value-added activities. This approach enabled Tachi-S Mexico to increase production capacity, improve product quality, and reduce operational costs. The project was divided into three phases, with the first two phases already completed, yielding impressive results.

Operational Impact

After the first phase, Tachi-S Mexico gained a better understanding of parameters, spreading methods, preventive maintenance routines, and operational best practices.
The company was able to produce 275 more car seat sets per day and increase equipment efficiency by 16%.
Lectra's consultants demonstrated the importance of accurately evaluating and following quality, availability, and performance ratios using Overall Equipment Effectiveness data.
The second phase saw the implementation of two new Vectors, which increased car seat sets production to 1,000 sets per day and improved the number of plies by an average of 109%.
Preparation for the third phase has begun, with a diagnostic on improving fabric consumption showing potential savings of over 3%.

Quantitative Benefit

Production volumes increased from 550 to 1,000 car seat sets per day.
Equipment efficiency rose from 56% to 72%.
Cost per car seat set was reduced by $0.38.
A 50%, 120%, and 137% improvement was achieved on three different materials.
Reducing fabric consumption by 1% could save the company more than $100,000 per year.