Germany-based Stoll has introduced the CMS 703 ki Knit and Wear Knitting machine. With its 72-inch-working-width and gauge range of E 6.2 to 10.2, the machine can produce seamless knitwear in a variety of sizes. Tailored for smaller budgets, the machine incorporates Stoll’s new Multiflex® take-down system, spring-loaded latch needles, multi-touch operation panel, and a screen with a wide viewing angle all for a low investment cost. According to Stoll, the machine requires little maintenance and may be fully integrated into automated and digitized processes.
England-based Alchemie Technology reports it has received a £742,254 ($919,700) grant to help drive transformation of Taiwan’s textile industry. Alchemie will work with JSRTEX Group, a Taiwan-based textile manufacturing innovator, to help reduce emissions and wastewater in the supply chain. Textile lamination processes in particular will be targeted, and the companies will develop a digital, non-contact method for applying polyurethane to fabrics. The grant was delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
“This new collaboration between the UK and Taiwan is a key milestone for the industry, with two nations working together to put practical solutions in place to completely transform the textile finishing process,” said Alan Hudd, CEO and founder, Alchemie Technology. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the strength of the shared purpose between our two nations, and the support from Innovate UK and the Taiwanese government to bring this project to life.”
Austria-based Zimmer Austria recently announced a restructuring of its business in the United States and Canada. The company’s printing and finishing equipment is now represented in the United States and Canada by Fi-Tech Inc., Midlothian, Va. This reorganization of its sales network is a strategic move that will strengthen sales capabilities and also improve service and maintenance for existing customers. Zimmer Austria is very grateful to the Zimmer Machinery Corp. team consisting of leader Roland Zimmer, Franziska Basalone and Gerald Abele for their endeavors while representing Zimmer machinery in the United States and Canada.
Germany-based Karl Mayer Group has introduced Cascade, a solution for inline energy recycling on its PROSIZE® sizing machines and BLUEDYE dyeing plants. Cascade focuses on steam as a heating medium in cylinder dryers.
“CASCADE recirculates parts of the process steam in cylinder dryers, enabling genuine, efficient energy recycling within the machine,” explained Karl-Heinz Vaassen, head of Textile Drying at KARL MAYER.
For example, an Asian textile manufacturer running a dryer with 14 cylinders over 7,000 working hours can save up to $17,000 per year using Cascade, according to Karl Mayer. To illustrate the savings, the machine dashboard displays the corresponding reduction in carbon dioxide equivalents as calculated using data from a sensor that provides in real-time the amount of steam circulating in the unit.
The patented Cascade system is now included as standard equipment on Prosize sizing machines. The next step is for the company to integrate Cascade into other dryers as well
as its Bluedye system.
Switzerland-based Archroma recently launched COLOR MANAGEMENT+, a color design and development solution created to aid collaboration between textile brands and manufacturers. According to Achroma, the solution features the industry’s largest off-the-shelf color atlas containing more than 5,700 unique colors for cotton, polyester and blends. Combined with design tools and engineered color standards created using Archroma’s SUPER SYSTEMS+, Color Management+ provide accurate color reproduction with a reduced environmental impact.The company reports Color Management+ provide recipes and references that colorists need to bring colors to life.
Germany-based Brückner Trockentechnik GmbH & Co. KG recently supplied a Brückner POWER-FRAME tenter frame with vertical transport chain to Spain-based Campos, a producer of mattress fabrics and stretchable knit fabrics. A few years ago, the company decide to expand and finish its fabrics in-house and selected the tenter from Brückner for a variety of reasons including the quality of the machines and company philosophy.
According to Brückner, countered heating and ventilation elements in the Power-Frame tenter ensure uniform air impingement across the entire fabric width; a split-flow ventilation system and low specific energy consumption contribute to drying performance; and the robust construction and low-maintenance chain ensure long service life and low wear.
Leslie Jee Textiles, a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based upholstery textile design and distribution company has partnered with TSG Finishing, Hickory, N.C., for warehouse and distribution services. The agreement will benefit Leslie Jee Textile’s customers with more efficient delivery and service. TSG’s distribution center has a 50,000-roll capacity as well as 30,000-square-feet of open floor space for specialty product storage. The alliance hopes to harness the expertise of both companies to optimize logistics and distribution.
The re.solution team received the 2024 ACHEMA 2024 Start-up Award in Frankfurt this June.
Textile supply chain practices in Germany are poised to be positively impacted by the country’s precarious energy supply situation.
TW Special Report
It’s notable that major developments in the textile manufacturing supply chain are at present to be found at either side of the basic yarn spinning and fabric formation stages of production.
Software advances for all technologies aside, one major focus is currently on the development of more sustainable new feedstocks, fibers and chemicals — both natural and synthetic — while another is on dyeing and finishing processes, which for a long time have been the most resource draining stage in the manufacturing chain in terms of energy, water usage and waste.
ACHEMA 2024
Fittingly — given the current major interest in the recycling of synthetic fibers — re.solution, a spin-off from RWTH Aachen University, has just claimed the ACHEMA 2024 Start-up Award.
ACHEMA, held every three years, is a trade fair for the processing industries, and the latest edition recently took place in Frankfurt attracting 2,842 exhibitors from 56 nations and 106,000 visitors from 141 countries.
The event showcased the latest developments in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food processing industries — including the production of synthetic fibers — and also featured a total of more than 900 lectures, discussion panels and workshops.
Start-Ups
The fact that start-ups are now an integral part of all major processing industries was demonstrated not only by the number and quality of the applications for the ACHEMA’s 2024 Start-up Award, but also by their range — although all generally reflected the major manufacturing trends of sustainability and digitalization.
Re.solution has developed a new chemical process based on hydrolysis for recycling PET polyester with renewable energy and low water and chemical consumption.
The robust process has been further designed to overcome textile-specific recycling challenges such as accommodating fiber blends and the removal of impurities, resulting in high product quality.
The start-up has also developed a salt-waste free downstream recycling method of dealing with the hydrolysis depolymerization technology’s consumption of vast amounts of auxiliary chemicals. With the successful recycling of these additives, re.solution reports it can produce feedstock that is sustainable and price competitive with virgin feedstock.
Re.solution is currently being funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Pro-tection (BMWK) and the European Union as part of a research transfer program and plans are now underway for rapidly scaling the process up.
Monforts outlined its plans to use green hydrogen at two well-attended seminars during ITMA 2023 in Milan last June.
Green Hydrogen
One of the major themes of this year’s ACHEMA was the potential of green hydrogen as a key element of the energy transition, which given Germany’s precarious energy supply position, is being taken very seriously by the country.
Hydrogen is a versatile chemical feedstock and energy carrier that can be used to secure energy supplies for many sectors and if produced in a climate-friendly way, has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions and ultimately contribute to bringing them down to zero.
However, the production of hydrogen is comparatively energy-intensive, which is why it should be used for applications where renew-able electricity cannot be utilized directly. In addition, the costs of producing hydrogen are currently still high, and the capacities for generating it are insufficient. This means that large investments need to be made in developing electrolysis capacities, compensating for higher operational production costs, as well as ensuring stable conditions for selling green hydrogen at an economically viable price.
Germany’s government is supporting these efforts through its National Hydrogen Strategy which has made several billion euros available from federal funds to promote hydrogen generation, build the necessary infrastructure and enable its use.
WasserSTOFF
Funded projects are now underway across the entire value chain, including the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel for energy-intensive industries, and one such industry is certainly the dyeing and finishing of textiles.
Since November 2022, Germany-based A. Monforts Textilmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG has been leading a consortium of industrial partners and universities in exploring all aspects of this fast-rising new industrial energy option in a three-year WasserSTOFF project. The aim is to establish to what extent hydrogen can be used in the future as an alternative heating source for textile finishing processes.
Monforts specializes in advanced technology for fabric finishing based on successive industry developments over many decades and is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year. It was founded in 1884 in Mönchengladbach, Germany, where it is still head-quartered today, which is also where its Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) is situated.
Monforts Montex tenter frames —for processes such as drying, stretching, heat-setting and coating — are an industry standard for the fabric finishing industry, particularly in the denim and home textiles sectors, providing a number of advantages in terms of production throughput and especially in energy efficiency and savings. The other key technologies in the company’s range include relaxation dryers, Thermex dyeing ranges, Monfortex compressive shrinking ranges and Montex Coat and coaTTex coating units.
Concern
The cost of energy remains a major concern for textile manufacturers and for the latest Monforts Montex tenters, the MonforClean heat recovery system with air/air or/and air/water is fully integrated into the tenter chamber. In combination with other new features, the heat recovery system results in energy savings of up to 43 percent.
The company also offers a number of options for retrofitting to existing lines such as the Monforts universal Energy Tower — a flexible, free-standing air/air heat exchanger for recovering the heat from the exhaust air flow of thermal processes. It can result in a 25-percent reduction in the energy consumed by a line, depending on the exhaust air volume and operating temperature.
A Monforts Eco Booster, integrated into the chamber design of the Montex tenter, is another retrofitting option. As a single heat recovery system with automatic cleaning, it can be added to existing ranges and up to 35-percent energy costs can be saved. In addition, the Eco Booster consumes only minimal amounts of water during the cleaning cycle and the entire process is controlled and monitored automatically.
Options
Within the WasserSTOFF project, tests on laboratory equipment together with associated partners have already been carried out and the results are now being transferred to an industrial-scale pilot tenter frame at the Monforts ATC in Germany.
The next stage in the project is to compare the results of trials powered partially or fully by hydrogen, with those of existing energy combinations of electricity, gas and steam, as well as fully analyzing the full impact of the various energy-saving technologies that have already been developed.
“Green hydrogen’s potential as a clean fuel source is tremendous, but there is much we need to explore when considering its use in the textile finishing processes carried out globally on our stenter dryers and other machines,” said Monforts Managing Director Gunnar Meyer. “Everybody knows that textile finishing is a high energy consuming process and to make the processes more efficient, we already offer several solutions, but as a technology leader we are also rising to the challenge of exploring alternative heating options to be ready for the future.”
Some plants may run perfectly, but others can benefit from tips on how to improve production.
TW Special Report
Maximizing production in a textile plant requires a combination of process optimization, quality control, technology integration and people management. This is a practical set of steps to improve production while maintaining high quality standards. Germany-based Sedo Treepoint GmbH, with its numerous installations and operations worldwide, has gained invaluable insights into running a plant efficiently. Conversely, the company also has experience with countless traps and challenges that can lead to inefficiencies if not addressed effectively.
Time is undeniably one of the most valuable resources in production. Yet, it’s also finite, impossible to stop, but possible to utilize wisely. The efficient use of time directly affects production costs. Employing the best available technology, coupled with effective automation to minimize idle times, allows for the optimization of manufacturing processes.
There is always room to grow, even in well-organized, clean and state-of-the-art factories employing experienced people. Following are some areas to examine in order to optimize plant operations.
1. Assess Current Production Processes
How is the current today, where are bottlenecks, inefficiencies and areas for improvement? Document the entire production process from raw materials to finished products and determine how effectively the current automation systems are performing their intended tasks. Are they improving productivity, reducing errors, and optimizing processes as expected? Are there still manual processes used? Are there still spare parts/service available?
If not, plan upgrades in time, before machines unexpectedly break down and disrupt production. Are there any potential risks or safety concerns associated with machine operation? What about water and energy consumption?
Can automation and a manufacturing execution system (MES) solution be scaled to future changes and growth? Evaluate how well the automation systems integrate with other manufacturing processes and technologies within the plant. Is software still supported and are upgrade possible? Is software already linked to other production units or are links possible? Can all machines and systems be linked or just a group?
2. Invest In Technology Because Automation And Digitization Are More Important Than Ever
Investing in technology is crucial, particularly in automation and digitization. Advanced machinery and automation technologies streamline production processes, reducing manual labor and increasing output efficiency. Introduce cutting-edge machinery and automation to enhance production efficiency. Incorporate software solutions for inventory management, production scheduling, and quality control. Additionally, integrate Internet of Things (IoT) devices for continuous real-time monitoring of equipment and processes. Software systems made for the textile industry — such as MES, color management, energy management, automatic optimized production planning, Enterprise Resource Planning and other systems— can help to enhance overall plant performance as well.
Seek out a neutral partner to act as a guide through this digital transformation journey. Such a partner can provide unbiased advice, independent of specialized providers focusing on singular aspects, ensuring a comprehensive approach to digitization projects.
Moreover, technology can help textile companies meet regulatory requirements and sustainability goals by enabling better tracking and management of resources and waste. Also, plan investments according to their return on investment. Some systems may be indispensable today, but are no longer supported. Plan to replace such systems, possibly in different stages.
Use color management and recipe systems for color consistency, accuracy, efficiency and cost savings.
3. Train And Empower Employees
Enhancing employee skills and fostering a culture of empowerment are essential for achieving peak performance in any textile plant.
To begin with, investing in comprehensive training programs is primary. In today’s fast-paced environment, inefficiency is no option and errors can quickly become costly. Therefore, keeping staff well-trained is crucial to ensuring smooth operations. Regular updates and refresher courses are necessary to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies and industry knowledge.
Moreover, it’s vital to cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the workforce. Encouraging employees to contribute ideas for process optimization not only boosts morale but also leads to valuable insights that can drive efficiency and innovation throughout the plant. Empowering workers to make decisions instills a sense of ownership and responsibility, further fostering teamwork and productivity. A positive team spirit not only inspires employees, but also enhances productivity and streamlines workflows.
In summary, prioritizing employee training and empowerment creates a motivated workforce capable of driving ongoing improvement and success in a textile plant.
4. Optimize Supply Chain Management And Inventory
Building robust relationships with suppliers is important to guarantee the punctual delivery of high-quality raw materials to a textile plant. Fostering strong partnerships can enhance reliability and consistency in the supply chain.
Implementing lean principles is instrumental in streamlining operations and minimizing waste while simultaneously reducing lead times. Embracing lean methodologies enables a plant to operate more efficiently and respond swiftly to market demands. Furthermore, utilizing forecasting techniques helps anticipate fluctuations in demand and optimize inventory levels accordingly. By accurately predicting customer needs, a plant can avoid overstocking or understocking situations, ensuring smoother production cycles and minimizing costs. Inventory management systems provide real-time information about stocks of raw/finished goods, chemicals and dyestuffs, for example.
5. Focus On Quality Control
To ensure high-quality output in a textile plant, it’s essential to implement stringent quality control measures at every stage of production. This includes conducting regular inspections and audits to swiftly identify and address any quality issues that arise. Investing in quality testing equipment is crucial to verify that all products meet both industry standards and customer expectations. However, use software to save quality measurements, so that the history is available. Furthermore, documenting production procedures is key to facilitating seamless adoption by both new and existing personnel. Even seemingly basic rules, such as dyeing from light to dark, should be clearly outlined to prevent any confusion or errors. Despite their apparent simplicity, adherence to such procedures can significantly impact the overall quality and consistency of the final products. Save dependencies in software formulas — store qualities, colors, and machine preferences in the system to automate their usage, minimizing errors and ensuring seamless operations.
Focus on maintaining plant equipment.
6. The Underestimated Importance Of Color Management Systems
Color management and recipe systems are often underestimated in the textile finishing industry but are important for many reasons.
Color Consistency — Ensuring consistent color across different batches of textile products is vital for brand reputation and customer satisfaction. Color management systems help maintain uniform color shades, eliminating variations that can occur due to differences in dye lots, materials or processing conditions.
Recipe Accuracy — Recipe systems ensure that the exact proportions of dyes and chemicals are used in every batch, leading to consistent results. This precision is essential for meeting the specifications required by clients and for maintaining uniformity in large-scale production.
Reduced Waste — Accurate color management and recipe systems minimize trial and error in dyeing processes, reducing the amount of wasted dyes and chemicals. This efficiency not only saves costs but also reduces the environmental impact.
Time Savings — By using standardized recipes and automated color matching, the time required for adjusting and correcting colors is significantly reduced, speeding up the production process and improving overall productivity.
Meeting Standards — These systems help in maintaining the high quality of textile products by ensuring that the colors meet specific standards and client requirements. This is particularly important for industries such as fashion and home textiles where color accuracy is critical.
Reproducibility — With accurate color management and recipe systems, reproducing the same color across different production batches becomes feasible, ensuring that
repeat orders or large production orders have identical color quality.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction — Consistent and high-quality color results lead to greater customer satisfaction. Reliable color matching ensures that customers receive the exact shade they expect, which is particularly important for brands with specific color identities.
Regulatory Compliance — Many regions have strict regulations regarding the use of dyes and chemicals in textiles. Accurate recipe systems help in ensuring compliance with these regulations by precisely controlling the types and amounts of substances used.
Environmental Sustainability — Efficient color management and precise recipe systems contribute to more sustainable production processes. By reducing waste and ensuring the efficient use of dyes and chemicals, these systems help minimize the environmental footprint of the textile industry.
Digitalization and Automation — Modern color management and recipe systems often integrate with advanced technologies like spectrophotometers, dispensing stations, solving stations, paternosters and distribution systems for example. This integration enhances the accuracy and efficiency of the color matching and dyeing processes. The transmission of digital color files eliminates the need to send swatches, which is costly and time-consuming.
Rules and Formulas — By entering production knowledge in rules and formulas, dependencies and knowledge are stored in the software and automatically implemented in production.
Data Management — These systems enable better data management and traceability, allowing for detailed records of dyeing processes, recipes, and outcomes. This data is invaluable for continuous improvement and troubleshooting.
Fully integrated color management and recipe systems are fundamental to the textile finishing industry due to their role in ensuring consistent quality, reducing costs, enhancing customer satisfaction, ensuring regulatory compliance and promoting sustainability. By integrating advanced technology, these systems streamline the production process and support the industry’s move towards more efficient and environmentally friendly practices.
7. Implement Energy-Efficient Practices
In pursuit of sustainability and cost-efficiency, it’s imperative to identify opportunities to minimize energy consumption throughout a textile plant. This involves assessing existing equipment and processes to pinpoint areas where energy usage can be reduced through upgrades and optimization.
Investing in energy-efficient machinery and lighting systems is another effective strategy to decrease energy consumption. Upgrading to equipment with higher energy efficiency ratings and implementing energy-saving lighting solutions can yield significant long-term savings while also reducing the environmental footprint. Additionally, fostering a culture of energy conservation among employees is crucial. Encourage them to adopt simple yet impactful practices such as diligently turning off equipment when not in use, to contribute to overall energy savings across the plant. By collectively prioritizing energy efficiency, a textile plant can not only reduce operational costs but also contribute to environmental sustainability.
Today’s newer machinery can collect production and energy data. Analyzing this information in in conjunction with software offerings may reveal further optimization potential.
Combine process optimization, quality control, technology integration and peo-ple management to improve production.
8. Embrace Sustainable Practices
Implementing ecofriendly manufacturing processes is essential to minimize the environmental impact of a textile plant. This involves adopting sustainable practices that
reduce resource consumption and pollution. Investing in renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, is a proactive step towards reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. By harnessing clean, renewable energy, a plant can significantly decrease its carbon footprint and contribute to a greener future.
Furthermore, reducing water consumption and waste generation through recycling and reuse initiatives is crucial for sustainable operations. Implementing water-saving technologies and systems, along with establishing recycling programs for water or materials like fabric scraps and packaging materials, can help minimize environmental impact and conserve valuable resources.
9. Maintain Equipment: Preventive Maintenance Is Crucial
Keeping up with preventative maintenance is crucial for a number of reasons, including:
Minimizing Downtime — Regular maintenance helps to identify and address potential issues before they escalate into major problems, reducing the risk of unexpected break-downs and minimizing downtime in production.
Optimizing Equipment Performance — Scheduled maintenance ensures that equipment operates at peak performance levels, maximizing efficiency and productivity through-out the manufacturing process.
Extending Equipment Lifespan — Proper maintenance prolongs the lifespan of machinery and equipment, reducing the need for costly repairs or premature replacements.
Ensuring Safety — Regular inspections and maintenance checks help identify and mitigate safety hazards, creating a safer working environment for employees and reducing the risk of accidents or injuries.
Cost Savings — Preventive maintenance is often more cost-effective than reactive maintenance, as it helps avoid costly emergency repairs and unplanned downtime, ultimately saving money in the long run.
Maintaining Quality Standards — Well-maintained equipment is essential for consistently producing high-quality products that meet or exceed industry standards and customer expectations.
Overall, preventive maintenance is essential for maintaining operational efficiency, ensuring safety, and reducing costs in manufacturing operations. Develop a preventive maintenance schedule and train staff. Integrate the maintenance schedule into the software system, with reminders to follow up in time. Keep detailed records of maintenance activities and equipment performance for analysis and improvement. Stock important spare parts so they are available if needed.
10. Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Today, there a lot of data exists collected in an average plant. Check if the information provides necessary insights and see how the data can be used to improve performance.
• Establish KPIs related to productivity, efficiency, quality and cost.
• Regularly monitor and analyze KPIs to identify trends and areas for improvement.
• Use KPI data to set targets and track progress towards performance goals.
• Don’t stop at production data, but also think about how to utilize the information for other areas. Can it be combined with energy data, customer data, quality data and more?
Employing someone who really understands this data analysis can provide new insights beyond surface level observations. The data should be used for strategic decision making and for solving problems, as well as innovations and optimization.
Employing someone who really understands this data analysis can provide new insights beyond surface level observations. The data should be used for strategic decision making and for solving problems, as well as innovations and optimization.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging feedback and suggestions from employees at all levels;
• Implement regular performance reviews and brainstorming sessions to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities;
• Stay updated on industry trends and best practices to remain competitive and drive ongoing improvements;
• Use new technologies such as using digital color swatches instead of physical samples; and
• Set up a database of rules that are important for your company.
These tips are not an inclusive list, but can guide a plant when reconsidering certain key areas for improvement. These tips may improve plant operations and help reach new levels of optimization. Companies such as Sedo Treepoint, with more than 45 years of experience in automation and software for dyeing and finishing operations, can offer guidance or support in implementing such measures, and conduct personalized audits to determine the best way to achieve a set of goals.
Lectra’s VectorFurniture iX2 is a versatile, low-ply cutter.
Lectra recently showcased its “Furniture on Demand” enhanced with Lectra’s Valia platform to industry insiders.
TW Special Report
Recently, Lectra welcomed industry insiders to an exclusive furniture event showcasing “Furniture on Demand” with Valia at Lectra’s Experience Center in Atlanta, Ga. The event showcased the new Valia platform, which was announced earlier this year. When the product was introduced, Maximilien Abadie, Lectra’s chief strategy officer and chief product officer, explained that Lectra was continuing to innovate Furniture on Demand by enhancing the solution with Valia — a digital production preparation and planning platform for upholstered furniture. “Furniture On Demand by Lectra connects all the components in the cutting room and facilitates order and production data processing,” Abadie noted. “Our customers gain additional advantages for optimizing automated manufacturing workflows and material consumption on their production lines. With this new offer, they are fully committed to Industry 4.0 and benefit from a significant competitive advantage, offering new growth drivers for more sustainable production.”
Experience Center
Guests were welcomed to the insider event by Lectra President Americas Lenny Marano who kicked-off the event with a brief history of Lectra’s leadership in bringing advanced technology solutions to the industry through the years.
Cindy Hodnett, Furniture Today’s executive editor, Home+Design, brought the guests up-to-speed with a presentation titled “The Future is Now: The new reality of home furnishings.” She illustrated trends that set the stage for driving Industry 4.0 and new ways to manufacture.
Marano then led a panel discussion featuring Lectra’s Global Senior Vice President Business Development Furniture & Automotive Olivier Nold; Senior Vice President of Customer Success, Americas John Brearley; and CSM Director Christine Fox. The panel covered various topics including “Why Lectra implemented 4.0 solutions,” how it helps customers and how Lectra is expanding the offering.
Product Marketing Director Clementine Mitard explained what Valia is and how it works, emphasizing the overarching achievements possible with Valia — removing complexity and dependence on expertise, while providing visibility and control regardless of upholstery type or production volumes.
In-Depth Demo
Luis Magna, Lectra’s Technical Sales director, Manufacturing, got to the heart of the matter with a Valia demonstration creating several orders for sofas with varied requirements including multiple orders and matched upholstery patterns. Magna’s presentation explained cutting solutions for made-to-order, mass customization and mass production.
Live Equipment
Lean Business Consultant Jerin Xavier and Presales Consultant Gilberto Nava then demonstrated the cutting process on the VIRGA single-ply fabric cutting line and the Vector low- and high-ply fabric cutting line.
Guests were able to move about the equipment and spend one-on-one time with Lectra staff asking more technical questions and exploring the possibilities of the new technology for their own operations.
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Lectra’s Furniture On Demand digitalizes production steps and automates workflow.
Luis Magna, Lectra’s Technical Sales director, Manu-facturing
Product Marketing Director Clementine Mitard;
Remnants of the cutting process on the VIRGA single-ply fabric cutting line after a Valia integration demonstration.
(left to right): Lectra’s Olivier Nold global senior vice president, Business Development, Furniture & Automotive; Lenny Marano, president, Americas; John Brearley, senior vice president, Customer Success, Americas; and Christine Fox, CSM director
Lectra’s Presales Consultant Gilberto Nava (left) and Lean Business Consultant Jerin Xavier
The Porsche Experience
Finally, guests transferred to the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta for a tour of the Porsche Museum as well as a presentation by Porsche Consulting Manager Simon Tabke titled, “Industry 4.0 &Factory of The Future: The Journey to The Smart Factory at Scale.”
Tabke explained Porsche’s manufacturing challenges in the 1980s and how these issues led to the company’s adoption of current manufacturing processes. Tabke was joined by Michael Kopacko, associate partner, Porsche Consulting, who explained how Porsche took this knowledge and has been able to help clients adopt a process to move forward with the Industry 4.0 concept in a wide range of industries harnessing Porsche’s knowledge of the “Power of the Digital Transformation.”
Attendees were treated to the Porsche Ride Experience accompanying professional drivers on a closed-circuit course pushing the limits of the latest Porsche offering, as it happened, in the rain.
More Than Furniture
The event showcased Lectra’s commitment to support the evolution of fashion, automotive and furniture manufacturers by providing technical solutions with the potential to assist the transition to an efficient and sustainable Industry 4.0 business.
The Valia digital production preparation and planning platform is one step further into the future of supporting new ways to manufacture that embrace made-to-order, mass customization and mass production.
The Porsche Experience
The Furniture on Demand group ended the day of exploring Lectra’s 4.0 solutions with final presentations and networking at Atlanta’s Porsche Experience Center. Porsche Consulting Manager Simon Tabke and Associate Partner Michael Kopacko presented an overview of Smart Factory concepts developed during Porsche’s own Smart Factory transformation.
A video titled “REPLAY | PORSCHE SMART FACTORY BEST PRACTICES” is available on lectra.com for further exploration of Porsche’s journey. The video features a discussion between Porsche Consulting and Lectra focused on Smart Factory concepts and Industry 4.0 best practices. Lectra notes: “Aligned with Lectra’s Industry 4.0 digital cutting room approach, Porsche Consulting has helped enterprises across industries transform different parts of their manufacturing to accelerate how they perform.”
