Lectra's Versalis® automated leather-cutting solution enables automotive leather suppliers to cut costs, improve productivity and minimize waste while establishing a pathway to Industry 4.0
Lectra walked away with the 2017 Global Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Leadership at Frost & Sullivan's Excellence in Best Practices Awards, an annual black-tie event celebrating the achievements of the industry's best innovators, disruptors and leaders. Marc Douay, Worldwide Automotive Marketing Director accepted the award on behalf of Lectra on Wednesday, 28 June at the Jumeirah Carlton, London.
Currently, almost 90% of leather used for automotive applications is cut using manual die presses, which require designers to build a physical prototype and finalize the design through trial and error. Lectra resolves these challenges with the Versalis®, its innovative, digital, leather-cutting solution featuring a powerful nesting system for overall improvements in efficiency. When used in combination with Lectra's 3D prototyping and pattern-making software, Versalis enables a 12-16 week reduction in development and launch cycles for vehicle seating models.
During the leather-cutting phase, the latest release of Versalis LeatherSuite allows automotive leather suppliers to achieve up to 15% greater productivity. It further guarantees optimal uptime through an extensive worldwide support network of field engineers and technical experts.
"Lectra focuses on a consultative approach that allows it to fully understand the customer's needs before building a solution comprised of software, hardware, consulting, training, and after-sales support," said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Kamalesh Mohanarangam. "Lectra's equipment is fitted with more than 200 sensors that predict failure and immediately report issues to its call centres. This product feature and service has resulted in 98% uptime and very fast mean time to repair."
Although digital leather cutting solutions require substantial investments, leather cutters and Tier-1 suppliers have begun to recognize the value of these products. On average, Lectra's solutions help customers achieve up to 7% savings on leather compared to manual die-press methods by minimizing human error and variability in the cutting room. A test of leather trim cutting for door panels using Versalis' tool demonstrated a 3.5% gain in materials over conventional methods, translating to potential savings of €9 million per year.
Lectra invests significantly in R&D in order to support their customers' transition to Industry 4.0. As part of a transformational plan, Lectra spent more than €50million on R&D between 2011 and 2015 and will increase the share of revenues dedicated to R&D to 10% for the period from 2017 to 2019.
"Digitalization opens up a range of opportunities, from improving operations to building new business models. The emergence of Industry 4.0 and better capabilities for mass production has enabled large-scale personalization and a more profitable manufacturing set-up," noted Kamlaesh Mohanarangam. "With more than 10 years of experience in IoT connectivity for industry, Lectra has a tremendous competitive advantage, especially with the rising number of suppliers adopting digitalized processes."
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a product with innovative features and functionality and is gaining rapid market acceptance. The award recognizes the quality of the solution and the customer value enhancements it supports.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
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