From the Sector

Lectra achieved record financial results in 2016: €260.2 million in revenues, rising 10%, and € 26.7 million in net income, an increase of 14%. The Group consolidated its positions in automotive, and fashion and apparel, as well as acquired strong positions in furniture. Lectra has entirely transformed itself and today benefits from its bolstered technological advance, the enhanced expertise of its teams, an extended global footprint, and a refurbished campus.

Looking ahead, Lectra is in a strong position to carry out its new strategy, carefully conceived to empower its customers to step into the Industry 4.0 era. In close collaboration with global customers, Lectra has identified four mega trends that will change the business: the Millennials generation, the digitalization of companies, the emergence of Industry 4.0, and profound changes in China’s economy. Their impact, set to intensify, represents considerable challenges. Lectra’s annual report analyses the implications of these mega trends, and outlines the company’s response.
Helping customers to tackle such challenges, Lectra is gearing up to commercialize Software as a Service (SaaS), leveraged by cloud technology. Its expert knowledge of business combined with ten years’ experience in the industrial Internet of Things and rising investments in R&D, means Lectra is in a formidable position to help its customers seize opportunities in the new industrial age.            

Any uncertainty about the state of the global apparel fabrics and accessories industry in the coming year was widely dispelled at last month’s Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition, with many exhibitors reporting strong increases in the number of contacts and enquiries they received compared to last year. While the visitor number was up slightly on last year – 71,450 from 103 countries and regions attended (2016: 71,163 from 100 countries and regions) – what was clearly evident in the feedback from exhibitors was that the quality of buyers sourcing at the fair continues to increase. Many exhibitors also commented that they received a healthy spread of buyers to their booths, both from China as well as from key markets in Asia and Europe, and that a satisfying proportion of these buyers were new potential customers.

Reflecting the fact that Intertextile Shanghai’s reputation as the industry’s leading event to conduct business each March & October has been steadily increasing over recent years, the exhibitor number grew by 5.9% this edition to 3,341 from 26 countries and regions (2016: 3,155 from 27 countries and regions). New exhibitor countries included Denmark, Malaysia and Poland. The top 10 visitor countries and regions, excluding Mainland China, were Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, the US, Taiwan, India, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia and the UK.            

Earlier this year, the Pensacola-based operation achieved Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification in its Quitman, Ga. and Columbia, Miss. facilities.
In addition, the Crown Health Care Laundry facilities passed three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare linens and garments and zero presence of harmful bacteria. To maintain their certification, laundry plants must pass quarterly testing including yeast and mold detection to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained.
This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations through testing and inspections that scrutinize quality control procedures in linen and uniform service operations. The Hygienically Clean standard provides for two inspections every three years. OSHA compliance is closely examined, particularly toxic and hazardous substance handling rules governing textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.
Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.
Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with TRSA launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles. With 100+ years as the textile services industry's leading business association, TRSA's expertise in laundry BMP development is unmatched.            

Düsseldorf, 6. April 2017. Gestern fand die dritte Ausgabe der LM Academy im La Martina DACH-Headquarter statt. Die rund 45 geladenen Gäste aus Mode, Medien und Sport trafen sich zu einem exklusiven Netzwerkabend. Gastrednerin des Abends war die international renommierte Stylistin Laila Hamidi, die kürzlich die “Goldene Maske für Visagistik 2017” gewann. Sie sprach in entspannter Atmosphäre zum Thema “How to be a Fashion Icon”. Gastgeber Bastian Ammelounx, Chef der La Martina Deutschland GmbH, begrüßte unter den Gästen zahlreiche Prominente, wie die Moderatorinnen Nina Moghaddam, Annica Hansen und Jennifer Knäble. Sängerin Kriemhild Siegel sowie Schauspieler Jo Weil verfolgten den Vortrag von Laila Hamidi ebenso interessiert wie Dr. Hermann Bühlbecker, Inhaber der Firma Lambertz. Auch Fußballprofi Maxim Choupo-Moting genoss mit seiner Frau Nevin bei La Martina den Abend abseits des Fußballplatzes.
Unterhaltsam und informativ erzählte die Stylistin aus Afghanistan von ihrer Herkunft und dem eigenen Werdegang, um schließlich aus ihrer Sicht zu schildern, was eine Frau zu einer wahren Stilikone macht. Laila Hamidi ist in der Welt des Celebrity Dressings zuhause und betreute schon zahlreiche glamouröse Events, wie beispielsweise die Filmfestspiele in Cannes, bei denen sie mit einer eigenen Styling-Lounge vertreten war.

“Ich freue mich, dass wir mit Laila Hamidi eine Gastrednerin bei der La Martina Academy hatten, die sich als erfolgreiche Stylistin zahlreicher internationaler Stars, wie Karolína Kurková oder Bar Rafaeli nicht nur perfekt in der Fashion-Welt auskennt, sondern zudem selbst eine spannende und charismatische Fashion Ikone ist”, so Bastian Ammelounx. Den passenden Rahmen bot, wie schon bei den beiden vorherigen LM Academys, die viergeschossige Villa am Rhein, die nicht nur das Headquarter, sondern auch den Showroom von La Martina beherbergt. Die Gäste erhielten hier einen einzigartigen Einblick in die Mode und Tradition von La Martina, wurden in exklusiven Shuttles von Maserati zum Event gefahren und genossen den Champagner-Empfang von Perrier-Jouët.