From the Sector

Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, is pleased to announce the appointment of Holger Max-Lang as Managing Director of Lectra Central & Eastern Europe region, Russia. Holger Max-Lang is based in Ismaning, near Munich, Germany.

Central & Eastern Europe and Russia is a strategic region for Lectra, offering strong potential in the Group’s main market sectors thanks to: a robust automotive industry; a dynamic furniture industry, especially in Germany and Poland; and a close connection between fashion brands in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and suppliers in Eastern Europe.

Holger Max-Lang will focus on delivering Lectra’s customer-focused strategy to empower fashion & apparel, automotive and furniture businesses to succeed as they embrace Industry 4.0. Anchored in the digitalization of industrial processes, from design to production, Industry 4.0 is redefining how factories are organized; smart and connected, they are driving the value chain, propelling a new digitalized lifecycle for products. 

“The transformation to Industry 4.0 is in full swing: the Industrial Internet of Things, Software as a Service (SaaS), cloud technology, data analyses and data exploitation have become key,” underlines Daniel Harari, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lectra. “Working for Lectra for over 15 years, Holger has a deep experience and knowledge of Lectra’s DNA, and is in a very strong position to support our customers in the digitalization of their processes.”

“Industry 4.0. started in Germany. Therefore, many companies are keen to adopt its principles in our region. Lectra is very well-positioned to support our customers in their transformation,“ says Holger Max-Lang. “In my role, I am looking forward to a growing dialogue with our customers and prospects, to bring them a full understanding of the expertise we have built - and are building. We will leverage this expertise to boost our customers’ competitiveness and generate higher added-value for their businesses.”

Following marketing and sales positions in the IT and automotive industry sectors, Holger joined Lectra Germany in September 2002 as a salesperson for automotive accounts. He then held diverse sales’ roles in the region, including the position of Sales Manager for all Lectra markets in Central & Eastern Europe region, Russia. Since September 2017 Holger has held the role of Business Development Director, Automotive, with the responsibility to develop the leather cutting activity worldwide.

• HPR is the highest status a plant can achieve for fire risk prevention and protection
• The site Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines is the second in the Beaulieu International Group to reach HPR status
• Underlines Group’s commitment to risk prevention at B.I.G. sites & to reinforcing our strong business contingency plan

Wielsbeke, Belgium – Beaulieu Yarns, the global supplier of high-quality polyamide and polypropylene yarns, is pleased to announce the achievement of Highly Protected Risk (HPR) status for its French production site, Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines. Awarded by FM Global, HPR designation means a facility meets the highest industry standards for property protection.

FM Global, Beaulieu International Group’s (B.I.G.) industrial property and business interruption insurer for the past two years, offers a unique concept that supports the Group in reducing its exposure to loss and increases its business resilience. A dedicated worldwide team of engineers focuses on providing assistance and protection of its assets, helping the Group to achieve a higher level of risk protection.

The Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines site produces high quality yarns for a large variety of application and market segments including the automotive industry. It scored exceptionally well in its FM Global assessment which focused on aspects including fire protection, protection against natural hazard, mechanical breakdown of machinery and also cyber risks.

Its overall risk mark of 76 ranks it within the top 25% of its industry for fire risk prevention and protection.

Commenting on the Award, Emmanuel Colchen, Global Sales Director Yarns within BU Beaulieu Engineered Products, said: “This HPR yarn production site reinforces strongly our supply chain security and demonstrates our engagement towards our customers and partners. Our contingency planning and risk management are essential, well-considered elements within our long-term business strategy to demanding sectors such as Automotive and Commercial & Residential floor covering contracts.”

Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines is the second facility in the Group to attain HPR status, and the very first in Europe. Pinnacle Polymers LLC in the USA also achieved the HPR as a chemical plant, which is a rare achievement within the chemical business. Fire risk prevention is part of the Group’s broader risk management activities. B.I.G. is investing in increasing the level of protection at all B.I.G. plants in order to protect its business continuity.

The divisions of B.I.G. are also implementing a number of safety programmes to raise awareness of workplace safety and to maintain strong safety records.

Karena Cancilleri, Vice President BU Beaulieu Engineered Products, commented: “I am proud of Beaulieu Yarns for achieving the highly-regarded FM Global HPR Award and setting an example for the whole Beaulieu International Group. This positive step reflects the strong commitment of the Engineered Products division and the rest of the Group to improving safety and protecting our workplaces and our production facilities.”

Beaulieu Yarns received the HPR Award at a ceremony on November 7, 2017 attended by all staff, and representatives of B.I.G. Management, Beaulieu Yarns Management and FM Global Management.

Paris - On April 12th 2018, top European talents from 120 campuses will compete in the fourth edition of the Morpheus Cup to showcase their skills and highlight their most innovative projects. After Luxembourg in 2017, the event will take place in 2018 at the Palais Brongniart (Stock Exchange) in Paris and will focus on burning topics such as Digital Transformation, Creativity, Deeptech, Circular Economy, Ecommerce and much more.

Since its launch in 2015, the Morpheus Cup has been placed under the high patronage of the European Commission with the support of Commissioners Marianne Thyssen and Carlos Moedas in 2017. "The championship is a great opportunity for young people to showcase their skills and to help to bridge the gap between universities, schools and the European employment market. In the Commission, we believe that the right skills not only improve young people's life chances, but also act as a driver for our future competitiveness and growth" underlines Mrs. Thyssen.

In the last three years, the event already attracted hundreds of campus from more than 20 countries and rewarded many of them including Warshaw School of Economics, Mannheim Business School, HEC Paris, Polytechnique Nantes, universities from Oxford, Berlin, Luxembourg, Athens, and Barcelona.

New challenges for new talents

The next edition will take the competition to another level by featuring tech, business, science, marketing, creative challenges in five different rooms, suggesting meetings with employers, innovative brands and investors through 50 stands and presenting not less than 20 categories for students to submit their projects/startups ideas (Morpheus Prize). Apart from the live experiences and challenges designed by entrepreneurs or partners of the event, almost 500 research projects and startups will be showcased to win awards, the championship and up to €50,000 worth of prizes.

Art, circular economy, human capital, smart cities, mobility, FinTech, design, industry, sport, artificial intelligence, topics, regardless of the students’ profiles and education level, invite them to be creative in many different fields.

Finalists will have to pitch in front of an international jury. Past editions welcomed jury members from Google Lunar XPrize, WarnerBros, Accenture, European Investment Fund, FC Barcelona, ESA, Canal+, Novak Djokovic Foundation etc. Daimler, Forbes, Expon Capital, Davidson, Leroy-Merlin, PwC have already joined the next edition.

Registrations are already open. First partners, jury members and employers will be unveiled before Christmas season.

The Morpheus Cup’s website unveils the main characteristics of the championship and also the past editions prize-winners.

Based in Porto, Portugal, Rodrigo Siza will focus on nurturing new regional collaborations to benefit the needs of Lectra’s customers, and faciliate their success in the Industry 4.0 era. Rodrigo will rely on Lectra’s highly experienced teams located in the region.
“Rodrigo has very effectively established long-term partnerships with our fashion and apparel, automotive and furniture customers in Portugal. He has helped our customers to emerge stronger from the world crisis which heavily impacted them. After 10 successful years as head of Lectra Portgual, Rodrigo is now also in charge of meeting the expectations of our Spanish customers,” stated Daniel Harari, Lectra Chairman and CEO.

Players in the region are witnessing a strong dynamic, notably fashion brands in Spain and fashion and automotive industrialists with heightened added-value in Portugal. With the recent announcement of a new strategy to focus on Industry 4.0, Lectra is in a strong position to support these businesses in the digitalization of their processes.
For industries faced with more demanding consumers and ever-shorter product development and manufacturing cycles, integrating all steps along the extended supply chain, from design to cutting, is now a top priority. This is particularly apparent in Spain and Portugal, two countries positioned, in their own way, at the heart of Europe’s fashion and automotive industries.
Rodrigo started his career at Tradetex, a trading company of textiles for clothing, as a textile designer. From 1991 to 1999, he was an associate of V-Sistemas Informatica, specialized in the development and distribution of technical solutions for the textile industry. In 2000, he joined Lectra Portugal as a design and merchandising manager, and then evolved into the position of international consultant in 2004. He left Lectra in 2005 to take the position of Sales Director of RPB Têxteis e Vestuario, a company that makes clothes, before returning to Lectra in 2007 to take over the management of the Portuguese subsidiary. Rodrigo has a masters in marketing from Minho University and a degree in design and communication from Porto University, both located in Portugal.

As the product development process in the apparel industry continues to speed up, producers are looking for new fabric and accessory options outside of the traditional sourcing seasons. As such, with its added advantage of being located in the core area of China’s fashion industry and nearby Hong Kong, the popularity and importance of July’s Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen has been growing within the apparel market in recent years. A number of renowned international and domestic brands, such as DKNY, Embry, FILA, Initial, Nine West Group, Peacebird, s.Oliver and many more, have already signed-up to attend this year’s fair, where they will source from around nearly 700 exhibitors.

“Once again this edition we are putting significant effort into inviting VIP buyers and matching them with our exhibitors, so we know that many key brand buyers will source at the fair again,” said Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. “Last year the feedback from these buyers, such as Diesel, DKNY, KINJI and Marc O’Polo, was that they are consistently seeking new materials to develop new products throughout the entire year, therefore, they find Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen increasingly beneficial to them, particularly because of its timing and high quality of products.”
One buyer already confirmed to attend, DKNY, sent its Fabric Manager Mr Patrick Chan to visit the fair last year, who praised the experience after his trip. “I’m satisfied with the quality of the suppliers and their products. I’ve found some potential suppliers in the Fine Japan Zone and received some samples. They provide high-quality fabrics with good design,” he said.