Lectra

BOS Automotive, a supplier of interior components, was facing a challenge in keeping up with the changing requirements of an expanded product range and a thriving armrest business. The company's existing fabric-cutting equipment was not able to meet the increasing demands and the need for precision in the production process. The challenge was to find a solution that could not only increase the output but also improve the quality of the cut, thereby fulfilling the customer requirements.

Vilmers, a furniture company, was facing a significant challenge in meeting the growing demand for customization and faster delivery times. The company was also keen on transitioning towards Industry 4.0, which is considered the future of the furniture industry. The challenge was not just about meeting the current demands but also about positioning the company for future growth and competitiveness. The company needed a solution that would not only help them cope with the current demand but also lay the foundation for becoming an Industry 4.0 company. The challenge was to find a solution that would seamlessly integrate with their existing processes and help them transition smoothly into the new industrial revolution.

Lise Charmel Lingerie, known for its high-quality French embroidery and innovative textiles, faced challenges in controlling costs and fabric consumption. The intricate details of embroidered and lace bands required precise placement to minimize waste. The company sought a way to estimate lace and fabric consumption more accurately and easily to maintain quality while keeping costs reasonable.

La Moda, a major player in Brazil's fashion industry, experienced rapid growth after shifting from childrenswear to women's apparel. By 2012, the company had grown 50 times its original size, producing over a million pieces annually. However, this rapid expansion led to operational inefficiencies, particularly in the cutting room. The company needed to update its processes to keep up with increased demand while maintaining high quality and cost-effectiveness. The challenge was to streamline production, reduce waste, and ensure quick turnaround times to stay competitive in the fast-paced fashion market.

Miti wanted to gain control over hide consumption, reduce operational costs, and ensure the quality of cut pieces by incorporating leather cutting into the in-house production process. Previously, Miti designed and assembled products in-house and subcontracted the leather cutting. However, outsourcing leather cutting resulted in a loss of control over quality and material consumption which, given the high quality of the hides, was very costly. These issues spurred Miti’s management team to consider overhauling its production processes to include leather cutting.

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.

Maggy London faced significant challenges with manual marker placement for their engineered prints. The manual process was slow, tedious, and lacked the precision needed to accurately estimate material consumption and stay within margins. This inefficiency was particularly problematic given the company's production of five seasons of nine lines each year, both for private label and in-house brands. The manual method involved designers scuttling pieces on a table to find the best position for their designs, which was not only time-consuming but also impractical. Despite 40 years of marker-making experience, the uncertainty of the manual process was a significant issue, especially in an industry with an unforgiving margin of error. The need for a more efficient and precise method became critical as the company aimed to grow and meet the demands of private labels and retailers who are very savvy about cost and time to market.

Gruppo Mastrotto’s automotive business unit needed to enhance its manufacturing flexibility to meet evolving customer requirements brought about by rapidly changing consumer expectations. The tannery sought to optimize workflow and processes at its high-intensity automotive manufacturing plants, located on three different continents. The company faced the challenge of handling a high number of engineering changes associated with program changeovers, which required quick and seamless pattern development directly from digital files to eliminate costly retooling that could take several months.

ASTRO Apparel needed to update its design and product development capabilities to maintain its ISO-certified quality standards amidst increasingly complex production requirements. The company, which produces 1.5 million garments annually, including school wear and menswear, distributes its products through over 1000 stores in the US. To manage this complexity and maintain its competitive edge, ASTRO required intelligent technology solutions. The company has been a Lectra customer for 30 years and constantly seeks to improve production efficiency and accelerate time-to-market.

Having built a reputation for the fastest and most reliable lead times in the industry, Quality Furniture constantly seeks to pinpoint areas for additional time and cost savings. In particular, the company wanted to bring more products to market faster—both for designs based on client briefs as well as their own original ideas. Seeing the opportunity to cut time and costs from tasks like manual pattern making, drafting with pen and paper, estimating resource usage, and testing prototypes, Quality Furniture sought to implement a CAD solution. They immediately saw that Lectra could handle all their needs—something no other solution could.

The global challenge for TAL was to hold their dominant place in a competitive market by constantly innovating. This meant increasing pre-production efficiency by harmonizing orders, with the benefit of saving on fabric consumption and maximizing human efficiency.

Mario Levi needed to transform its production processes in order to meet market demands for production flexibility and faster time to market. The productivity levels of their die press system were not sufficient to keep pace with the increase in demand. The die press system required constant monitoring, leading to longer processes and delays in fulfilling orders. The team was looking for a solution to boost productivity, improve material use, and accelerate time to market while being flexible enough to handle growing demand from an expanding market.

ECA, a Belgian automotive supplier, faced the challenge of increasing their yield of leather cut parts while reducing labor. The surge in demand for leather interiors in vehicles made it critical for ECA to meet changing consumer preferences quickly. The traditional die cutting process was labor-intensive and inflexible, requiring different cutting knives for each car model. This process also incurred high OEM tooling costs and long start-up times, making it difficult for ECA to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving supply chain.

F&F, the clothing branch of UK supermarket chain Tesco, faced the challenge of competing in the fast-paced fast-fashion industry while expanding internationally. To gain market share and ensure customer satisfaction, F&F needed to improve fit and quality control across various styles and suppliers. The company aimed to provide a consistent and reliable fit for customers who often do not have the time to try on clothes. Additionally, F&F needed to enhance communication and collaboration with suppliers to manage the complexities of global sourcing and production.

With an automated cutting solution in place, which was already more than 10 years old, Muebles Liz’s ‘just-in-time’ production was struggling to satisfy customer orders. In addition, their existing cutter was being used for fabric only, leaving nonwoven and other materials to be cut by hand. The main growth objectives were to improve product specifications both in terms of quality and price, and to be more competitive in the market. The main challenge was to meet demand, for which they were logging a lot of overtime hours from manual cutting labor. To overcome this challenge, the Muebles Liz team was looking to acquire a new automated cutting system. Working with Lectra experts it became clear that a new system was only one part of an overall solution and that Lectra’s expertise and know-how could bring even greater benefits. An in-depth analysis of the company’s current production processes formed the basis for a tailored action plan which enabled Muebles Liz to reduce operational costs by improving productivity through more efficient production processes.

For over 80 years, Johnson Controls has led the automotive trim cover industry by providing seating systems that differentiate vehicles and offer customers what they want most—style, comfort, and safety. However, as the trend in automotive interior personalization became more mainstream, the innovative automotive supplier recognized that producing the same volume of car sets as they had in the past while managing the proliferation of options for interiors—different fabrics, styles, and features—would be impossible with the die press system they had been using. Long changeover times, the cost of changing die boards midway through a program, and the inability to change the pattern in a die severely limited Johnson Controls’ production flexibility. In addition, high levels of fabric waste caused by the large buffer between pieces and end loss due to the fixed length of the die board, increased production costs. To improve its competitive position in a changing market and win new business required finding a solution that would allow them to deliver a wider variety of options, meet tight production schedules and reduce fabric costs. Johnson Controls’ executive team decided to undertake a highly strategic project to transform their fabric-cutting value chain by replacing all the die presses in their European plants with automated computer numerical control (CNC) cutting equipment.

The contract market has changed immensely since Godfrey Syrett’s founding in 1947. Over the years, the popularity of steel frame, straight-lined furniture in public spaces has given way to softer, more innovative and complex designs. Office furniture must be flexible in order to adapt to the nomadic nature of contemporary work environments. A rising number of companies are also ordering furniture equipped with charging docks and power sockets for reception areas. Customers are becoming more demanding not just in terms of style and function but also of delivery times. “Three or four years ago, we would have had six to eight weeks to deliver furniture to the customer. That has now been reduced to three or four. We even have products where we have to deliver within seven working days on receipt of an order,” explains Michael Donachie, Operations Director. The company’s manual manufacturing process was no longer suitable to its design, manufacturing and growth ambitions, creating capacity and quality issues. In addition to continuing to produce practical yet innovative furniture solutions, Godfrey Syrett aspires to expand its market share in the private and student accommodations sectors. Growth in these sectors will help the company reach its target of becoming a £40 million business within the next five years.

New revenue opportunities brought challenges to productivity and cost control, hindering Guangzan's overall growth. The company found it difficult to meet demand with inflexible production capabilities based mainly on manual die press operations. Increasingly sophisticated seating designs involving smaller, more intricate parts added further manufacturing complexity. Guangzan's business underwent a major transformation after signing a contract with an OEM, leading to a company-wide initiative to streamline production. Guangzan sought a digital cutting solution to provide higher production capacity while ensuring premium quality.

Since 1952, Moroso has been creating sofas, armchairs and accessories whose vibrancy, eccentricity and sophistication are just as suitable to design museums as residential spaces. Moroso wanted to accelerate time to market, and optimize the cost evaluation and industrialization stages without sacrificing their unique design identity.

With 18 fashion brands to its name, Baroque Japan is a rising star in Japan’s fashion landscape. First launched as “MOUSSY” in 2000, the company’s edgy streetwear look, straight from the streets of Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya neighborhood, captured the imagination of young Japanese consumers and catapulted the brand to success. Seventeen years later, Baroque now boasts 375 stores in Japan, 231 stores overseas, and recorded $636.8m in sales for the year ending January 2017. But as Baroque’s business expanded, so too did its infrastructure and overseas network. Sharing information between head office, suppliers and production sites in foreign countries posed unexpected challenges, while unstandardized working processes, protocols, and IT systems made collaboration between different divisions difficult. It became clear Baroque would need a more robust solution to keep up with the company’s growth.

Odlo, a renowned technical sportswear brand, aimed to expand its consumer base by targeting more performance-oriented customers. To achieve this, the company needed to speed up its product development process to quickly react to fashion and weather trends. This would enable them to get new products to stores in time to capitalize on market demand. The challenge was to streamline the development process while maintaining the high quality and performance standards that Odlo is known for.

In 2015, the Chinese government unveiled “Made in China 2025”, a ten-year plan intended to transform China from a manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power by upgrading its industry to smart technology and emphasizing superior product quality and brand image. The new initiative, coupled with Ruyi’s ambitious plans to expand its business into the US and Europe, meant the company needed to radically overhaul its approach to manufacturing so that it could run at peak efficiency, while producing impeccable-quality clothing that reflected the government’s new vision for what “Made in China” means. Always at the forefront of innovation, Ruyi was quick to embrace the Chinese government’s “Made in China 2025” guidelines, placing the plan’s cornerstone tenets of quality and efficiency at the top of its priority list. When the company decided to upgrade its Tai’an menswear factory with smart technology and automated processes, it turned to Lectra for help.

Staying ahead of the competition is vital in any industry, which is why shortening engineering lead time is crucial. That’s particularly true when bringing new products to market. Recognizing that new technology and increasing competition were propelling the marine furniture industry toward faster delivery times, Signature Seating needed a system to streamline their processes for design, patterning and prototyping while cutting costs. The company wanted to shift from labor-intensive manual processes to digital design and manufacturing without sacrificing quality and aesthetics. Signature Seating turned to Lectra’s extensive industry expertise for a solution flexible enough to meet the company’s highly specialized needs.

To maintain its industry-leading position on the Chinese airbag market, HMT sought to substantially increase its production capacity.

Ese.Y, a leading manufacturer in the women's pants category in China, faced the challenge of adapting to the rapidly growing consumer demand for fashion and the rise of e-commerce. The company needed to transition to intelligent manufacturing to create a more agile supply chain and handle small-batch production orders. The unpredictable peaks in demand and the millennial preference for personalized products required a more flexible setup than traditional, order-based production. During the 'Double 11' festival in 2016, Ese.Y's Tmall.com store clocked RMB 10 million in sales in just 20 minutes, highlighting the need for an agile production setup to handle such spikes in orders.

Maxwell Industries, based in Mumbai, India, designs, manufactures, and retails affordable, quality undergarments for men, women, and children. The company produces over 37 million pieces a year for brands such as VIP Innerwear, Frenchie, Frenchie X, and VIP Feeling. Approximately 70% of its product is destined for more than 110,000 points of sale in the local market, including the company’s own-name stores, while the remaining 30% is exported to other countries. Maxwell Industries wanted to expand its presence in India and its two other main markets: Africa and the Middle East. To do this, it needed to replace its partially-outsourced, manual process with an automated lean pre-production process that would streamline operations and reduce costs, without sacrificing the quality on which the company had built its reputation.

For Ekornes, the scarcity of skilled workers and high labor costs mean other ways have to be found to reduce costs and enable the company to remain competitive and keep manufacturing in Norway.

Due to their customers’ ability to change interior design specifications during completion, Dassault Falcon Jet needed greater flexibility to meet customer requests faster and more efficiently. Design for manufacturability is a major consideration due to aggressive cost targets and a chief reason behind the company’s digital specification-to-delivery process—the most advanced in the industry. The Little Rock upholstery shop has recently undergone significant reorganization to align the production of aircraft interiors with the digital specification-to-delivery process. After first streamlining its design studio with DesignConcept® 3D design and costing software, Dassault Falcon Jet turned once more to Lectra to revolutionize its cutting room with acquisition of a Versalis® digital leather cutting solution.

As manufacturers seek to meet customers’ demands for quiet, comfortable, stylish interiors, seat systems have become complex and more difficult to manufacture. New features such as adjustable bottom seat cushions, occupant detection systems, seat heating and cooling systems, and advanced entertainment systems are now built into seats. Side-impact air bags are also packaged inside seats, and they must be able to burst through the seat’s trim cover seams at precisely the right time. Product development schedules have also shortened—the time between initial concept and prototype is now approximately four weeks, or about half of what it was just a few years ago. In the past, Toyota Boshoku America engineers developed prototypes by digitizing foam seat shapes and developing patterns, which were then hand-cut from leather, vinyl, or other materials. This approach was time consuming and lacked the accuracy required to meet the automotive industry’s stringent tolerances. Cutting a single trim cover could take two to three hours. As Toyota Boshoku America seeks to continuously improve its development processes, it looked for a cutting solution that would enable engineers to accelerate prototyping and ensure that the patterns developed would work the same in production as they did in prototyping.

Trayton Group faced challenges with their manual fabric and leather cutting process, which heavily relied on operator knowledge for accuracy and quality control. This method hindered production flexibility and was impractical due to difficulty in finding skilled operators, rising labor costs in China, and increased pressure on prices and delivery times.

Les Enphants, a Shanghai-based childrenswear company, faced significant challenges due to the pressures of the fast-fashion marketplace and increased consumer demand following China's new two-child policy. The company needed to speed up its process and produce a wider variety of styles while keeping costs low to avoid pricing itself out of the market. The impact of fast fashion and e-commerce had put the company under increasing pressure, making it difficult to maintain its commitment to providing playful designs and functional clothing that prioritize quality and comfort.

Cordeiro Campos, a family-owned Portuguese textile company, faced significant challenges as it expanded into the international luxury market. The company needed to remain competitive and meet high customer expectations for quality and efficiency. Initially, the company manufactured garments by hand, which resulted in wasted time, materials, and money. The need to reduce inefficiencies and time to market became critical as the business grew rapidly.

Jack Victor, an international men's fashion company, faced the challenge of maintaining high-quality production while managing costs and meeting growing demand. The company was committed to keeping its operations in Canada, which necessitated upgrading to advanced technology to stay competitive. The management team sought a technological partner that could provide solutions to enhance their manufacturing process, ensuring product quality and customer service while respecting the company's traditional values.

With increasing demand from its customers, Tata Advanced Materials (TAML) was faced with the challenge of reducing design cycle time and cutting manufacturing costs while delivering the best quality in the most efficient way possible. Given this challenge, the company prioritized speeding up the manufacturing process and optimizing the consumption of their specialized materials. But with their wide variety of clients creating designs in a variety of CAD programs, it was also critical to have a system that could work with different imported formats. In choosing a technology partner, TAML insisted on having access to the latest, most reliable and proven technology backed by active research, long-term return on investment, and prompt customer service.

Industrias Haber’s, a leading Mexican manufacturer of suits and uniforms, faced the challenge of managing the production of 130,000 garments per month efficiently. The company needed to reduce its time to market and keep its offerings cost-competitive without sacrificing quality. With increasing competition and the need to deliver orders on shorter turnaround times, Haber’s was under pressure to make its operations more cost-efficient while maintaining high standards of fit and quality.

In the aviation equipment industry, ensuring the highest quality standards is paramount for safety. However, timely delivery is also crucial to meet customer assembly and release deadlines. Corse composites aéronautiques (CCA) faces the challenge of balancing ultimate quality with speedy production. Additionally, controlling costs is a significant issue due to the high expense of composite materials. Prototypes need to be accurate on the first attempt, and nesting and cutting processes must be efficient. Proper post-cut marking for perfect traceability is also essential.

Façonnable was exploring ways to check and track major events in the product lifecycle to enhance collection development. Structuring information presented to supply partners and allowing information to be easily archived and analyzed to support development and brand evolution were top priorities. Product quality, on-time deliveries, and business growth were key goals when researching ways to control the development process and harmonize communication from design to the final product.

Imperial, an Italian fast-fashion company, faced a significant challenge in reducing their time to market. With a global presence and a need to deliver 35,000 pieces of each style weekly, the company struggled with internal complexity and the need for faster development cycles. The primary challenge was to streamline operations and improve the efficiency of their collection process to stay competitive in the fast-paced fashion industry.

Art Stone designs and manufactures dance attire, which requires handling intricate fabrics and managing a wide range of styles that change frequently. The company needed to achieve fast turnaround times with shorter production runs while remaining cost-effective. Inefficiencies in the cutting process and poor fabric utilization were significant challenges that needed to be addressed.

Known for high-quality wool and cashmere blends that stand the test of time, GGZ needed a way to increase its production output and diversify styles without sacrificing quality, so that Vicolo could compete in the fast-fashion marketplace and grow internationally. With 1,250 styles a year to develop for the brand, the stakes were high. GGZ’s decision to expand into jersey fabrics, and enter the fast-fashion marketplace with Vicolo, spurred the company to invest in technology that would make its process more efficient. For its fast-fashion offer to be competitive, GGZ must adhere to a short product lifecycle and low price points in order to attract young, fashion-forward consumers. The need to develop new designs—1,250 every season—is an ongoing challenge. The company turned to Lectra for help with refining and streamlining their patternmaking and prototyping processes.

Design and economy can make for uneasy partners. Top-level design requires an attention to detail and a vision that is often incongruous with economy’s need to increase efficiency and reduce costs whenever possible. How could Désirée do both at once? The solution seemed to require the use of a technology that would help streamline their design and production process while allowing the company to remain true to its artisan roots.

An expert in manufacturing high-end womenswear for prestigious European brands, Lithuanian-based company Kauno Baltija decided to take matters into their own hands in 2013 by launching a first own-brand, LOULU ET TU. This elegant womenswear offer with a contemporary twist has been acclaimed by the European fashion press and spotted on celebrities. Yet manufacturing and brand development are not the same game. The biggest challenge for this company was to continue providing the same excellent service and flawless product to their manufacturing customers while shifting their business model to that of a hybrid company. Kauno Baltija needed to manage these changes effectively and achieve perfect fit, rapid time-to-market and superior quality in order to compete on the international stage.

Romanita, one of Romania’s largest apparel manufacturers, faced significant challenges in keeping up with the fast-paced demands of the modern fashion industry. With a production facility employing 800 people and producing 8,000 pieces a month, the company had built a reputation for high-quality clothing at low production costs. However, shortened deadlines and shrinking profit margins were making it difficult for Romanita to turn orders around quickly enough to meet demand. The company needed to make its cutting room more efficient to minimize unnecessary losses and continue delivering on time, thereby maintaining the trust of its international customers, which include brands like H&M, Zara, and Marks & Spencer.