From the Sector

Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, will be presenting its innovative and sustainable denim solutions for manufacturers and brands at DenimsandJeans Vietnam 2018, on June 27 and 28.
From fiber to finish, Archroma offers a scope of possibilities for effects and colors, from the authentic roots of indigo to the most innovative and eco-advanced solutions. Archroma is a recognized leader in integrated solutions, offering best-in-class auxiliaries for bespoke process packages.
Visitors will be able to discover solutions designed to make denim in a more sustainable and responsible way, in particular:
DENISOL®, BRINGING INDIGO BACK TO ITS ROOTS - NOW ANILINE-FREE*
Archroma’s Denisol® range is a newly developed pre-reduced liquid indigo solution that is manufactured in Archroma’s award winning ‘zero liquid discharge’ manufacturing plant in Pakistan.

• Denisol® Indigo 30 liq is compliant with major official eco-standards and requirements from retailers, brands and fashion leading companies and helps to produce fabrics suitable for current eco-labeling such as bluesign® and GOTS.
• Responding to demands for a non-toxic alternative to the dyes that are used for the iconic and traditional indigo blue that consumers associate with denim and jeans, Archroma just announced the upcoming new Denisol® Pure Indigo 30.

ADVANCED DENIM, TOWARDS WATERLESS DENIM DYEING
Consider this: The water needed to produce one pair of jeans is said to be ~ 11'000 liters(1). With approximately 167 million pairs of jeans produced monthly(2), that is 1,837,000,000,000 liters of water consumed every month in the process! Based on the Denim-Ox and Pad/Sizing-Ox dyeing processes, Archroma’s multi-awarded ADVANCED DENIM, dyeing technology allows savings of up to 92% in water, 87% in cotton waste and 30% in energy, compared to a conventional denim dyeing process.
The technology has been adopted by brands like Patagonia and received the prestigious 2012 ICIS Innovation Award and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit Award.

• Optisul® C, “soft colors” made easy
  Colors other than blue have been tricky to achieve in the past. With Optisul® C dyes, denim manufacturers can expand their color horizons with this range of six dyes especially designed to produce soft denim colors in continuous dyeing processes, as well as on coating and printing. Optisul® C affinity-free, sulfide-free dyes can easily be combined with each other to create garments suitable for wash-down treatments in a wide array of easily achievable and reproducible soft colors. They are suitable for GOTS and bluesign® approval.
• Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes
  Archroma’s Diresul® RDT Ocean Blues are a collection of vibrant, ocean-themed bright sulfur blue dyes. These best-in-class dyes and their auxiliaries bring out the best of indigo, improve workability, dyeing consistency and process safety.
  They can be combined with Denisol® Indigo 30 liq in bottoming/topping manufacturing routes for avant-garde blue styles. At the booth, Archroma will display an “illustration collection” of exciting indigo casts.
• Diresul® blacks & greys, a universe of greys and deep black and navies.
  Archroma’s dye portfolio of conventional and black Diresul® specialties allow to create a universe of greys and deep black and navies. From superficial to solid blacks for both extreme wash-down and stay black effects.

EARTHCOLORS, TRACEABLE FROM NATURE TO FASHION
As consumers increasingly aspire to functional, beautiful and meaningful clothing, brands and manufacturers are increasingly interested in the environmental impact of the denim industry. Archroma has placed sustainability at the heart of its innovation process to create products and processes that improve the industry’s sustainability.
The EarthColors patented range of “biosynthetic” dyes for cotton and cellulose-based fabrics, which are made from waste left over by the agricultural and herbal industry after extraction, such as almond shells, saw palmetto, or rosemary leaves. The latest NFC technology used on the end-product hangtags enables transparency and traceability through the supply chain to consumers.
The EarthColors allow to produce the earth tones that are coming strong: red, brown and green colors. They have been adopted by brands such as Patagonia, Kathmandu and G-Star, and won an OutDoor Industry Award 2017.

SOLUTION PACKAGES FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Brand owners and retailers around the world are taking action to evaluate the environmental impact of textile treatment, dyeing and finishing processes in response to consumer concerns.

Archroma recently introduced the ONE WAY Process Simulator, the last update of a calculation tool that supports its ONE WAY Sustainability Service introduced back in 2012. The new, online software can be used to mimic and compare products and processes, and thus calculate the ecological and economical profile of the final end-product.
Archroma’s portfolio of ZDHC MRSL-compliant chemicals and dyes is integrated into the ONE WAY calculation tool since 2013.
“Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand,” says Paul O’Prey, Head of Sales, Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, Archroma, Vietnam. “While developing new products and services, we always consider the environmental impact so they are as sustainable as possible. This can be seen in our innovative and eco-advance products, such as the water-saving ADVANCED DENIM and the aniline-free* Denisol® Pure Indigo.”

• Additives, pigments and masterbatches for transportation, packaging, textiles & fibers
• Support to “future-proof” medical applications
• Contributing towards more sustainable engineering plastics

Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, turns the spotlight on its increasing on-the-ground support and innovation focus for North America’s four key plastics application segments at NPE 2018 Booth S18155.

Clariant is pushing forward with plans for growth in the region by advancing R&D competencies, and increasing its manufacturing footprint and technical capabilities across its 50+ sites, 3 R&D and 6 technical innovation centers. Clariant’s innovations for the plastics industry include advanced additives, masterbatches and pigments which support the packaging sector in engaging consumers via differentiated, convenient solutions. At NPE, it will also highlight solutions for enhancing and protecting healthcare products, as well as its contribution to stronger and colorful textiles and fibers for everything from e-mobility to industrial applications.

Deepak Parikh, president of region North America, Clariant comments: “Clariant’s product innovation for the US and wider North American plastics industry embraces the region’s fastest growing end-use areas of automotive and construction. It also addresses the impact of trends driven by changing consumer lifestyle preferences and market regulations on other important segments such as packaging and healthcare.”

Transportation
Clariant brings color and protection to support the increasing use of engineering plastics and high temperture resins in automotive interiors, exteriors and under-the-hood. Halogen-free Exolit® OP 1400 provides outstanding flame retardancy to polyamide parts, enhances safety with UL 94 V0 performance down to 0.4 mm and enables the molding of complex parts with no mold deposits and blooming. Exolit OP 1400 has been awarded the Clariant EcoTain®label for outstanding sustainability and performance. At the same time, Clariant offers low-halogen controlled high-performance PV Fast® pigmentswith excellent migration and weather fastness properties to meet the high requirements of today’s transportation and automotive industry. Easy processing Renol® compounds and masterbatches for engineering and high temperature resins provide heat and light stability, and flame retardancy, while maintaining critical flow properties in parts like SMT connectors. Importantly, they are available as small lots which enables customers to purchase only what they require and contribute to a reduction in their carbon footprint.

Packaging
As US packaging manufacturers explore more consumer-friendly, lighterweight and appealing solutions, Clariant is on hand to support their functionality, sustainability-related and color desires. Clariant Pigments has an innovative cooperation with Konica Minolta and matchmycolor to enable fast, precise and efficient color matching of HDPE products, using select organic PV Fast and Graphtol® pigments that comply with FDA regulations. The ColorWorks®center in Chicago is dedicated to US brand managers and designers with teams of color design experts to create color formulations faster than ever before for bottles, caps, closures and films.

According to market reports, plastic pouches are gaining share from traditional pack types in packaged food and are mainstream in home care. To support smoother and more environmentally-compatible processing especially for film applications, Clariant offers an FDA-compliant, vegetable-based powder amide wax, Licolub® FA 1, which acts as a slip and anti-block agent. It is suitable for polyolefins and PVC.

Textiles & Fiber
At NPE 2018, Clariant puts the focus on strong and colorful textiles, carpets and industrial fibers. New AddWorks® TFB 117 offers a number of benefits to help stabilize and smoothen fiber production processes, protect color, and improve heat stability and mechanical properties of fibers. AddWorks TFB 117 ensures smooth spinnability with less filaments breakage, even at low processing temperatures and at high speed spinning up to 5,500 m/min. Clariant also offers a broad range of colorants for polypropylene, polyester, polyamide and acrylic fibers, featuring migration fastness, chemical stability, light- and weather-fastness.

Healthcare
Clariant supports risk control and regulatory compliance for medical polymer and pharmaceutical packaging solutions. Its Mevopur® color and performance masterbatches and compounds include a USP Class 6 line of compliant products and multiple global ISO, 87, 88, and 661.1 certifications ahead of the market deadline. Clariant also offers selected FDA-compliant organic pigments and polymer soluble dyes that meet purity migration fastness as well as toxicological properties for medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging.

• Clean Green Certified Companies Commemorate Earth Day 2018

U.S. Clean Green certified laundries are marking Earth Day 2018 (April 22) by commending the 250,000+ businesses across the nation that use such certified operations for linen, uniform and facility services.

Selecting a Clean Green certified company reflects concern for maximizing sustainability in a business supply chain. Private- and public-sector organizations who choose such a provider are learning that how their reusable textiles are supplied, laundered and maintained is a factor in their environmental impact.
Clean Green operations use a third party (TRSA) to verify their conservation practices and quantify their compliance with water and energy use thresholds.

Laundered, reusable linens, uniforms, towels, mats and other products provided by the linen, uniform and facility services industry to enhance businesses’ image and provide clean, safe environments for their employees and patrons. Most Americans benefit from the industry at least once per week, either at work or by patronizing restaurants, healthcare facilities, hotels and other retail and service establishments.

Nearly 50 of the industry’s companies are Clean Green certified, serving business customers from more than 150 locations combined nationwide. These launderers work with customers to connect the certification to their efforts to minimize their carbon footprint. Certified operators report to TRSA that customers and prospects ask them about green laundry initiatives. These include environmentally friendly wash chemistry, water reuse and recycling, recapturing heat from hot water headed down the drain and operating efficient delivery routes.

“They are far more likely to inquire about the sum of environmentally friendly practices as opposed to the parts,” observes TRSA President and CEO Joseph Ricci of the industry’s customers. Many document their justification of purchase decisions, though, such as government agencies that profile the winners of contract bids. “Clean Green companies bidding for their work mention the certification in their sales promotion and these profiles reflect it.”

Linen and uniform services conserve water and energy best by using high-capacity, high-efficiency equipment, he pointed out, controlling expenses and thereby aiding efforts to keep service pricing under control. “It is the perfect sustainable business model. Business interests and environmental concerns align. Improving efficiencies reduces costs and reduces the impact on the environment,” Ricci says.

Based on the U.S. Census of the industry’s sales and a TRSA survey of member financial data, the association estimates that nearly 3 million businesses use the industry’s services. Clean Green companies are challenged to capture more of these industry customers. Their collective Earth Day 2018 campaign gives them an opportunity to highlight the extent to which their individual efficiencies have contributed to a nationwide movement. Publicizing their own gains around Earth Day can better qualify and quantify their environmental virtues to encourage detailed comparison with competitors’ efficiencies, Ricci noted.

• JEC Group pays tribute to the winners at JEC World 2018

The 2018 session of JEC World, the reference trade show organized by JEC Group, is in full swing and the focus is on innovation!
The JEC Innovation Awards ceremony, which took place on the Agora stage on Wednesday, March 7 at 5 pm, opened with a presentation by Yves Rossy, aircraft pilot and inventor of the first jet-powered wingpack. Then the jury revealed the names of the composite champions up for a JEC Innovation Award. Eleven winning innovations were chosen, out of the thirty finalists that had been previously selected from more than 100 applications from all over the world.

“JEC Group supports innovation. In 1998, it created the first award dedicated to composites, as a way to promote and reward the sector’s champions. Thanks to the work of JEC Group’s teams, the program has become an international benchmark. Each year, we receive more than a hundred applications from all over the world. Selection is now based on criteria like the level of involvement of the innovation’s partners in the value chain, the technical nature of the innovation, or its commercial applications,” explains JEC Group President & CEO Frédérique Mutel.
A new feature this year is that the jury revealed the winners during the ceremony, and the public could choose their favorite innovation before, during, and after the ceremony. So there is still time to vote! Votes are opened until Thursday March 8th, 5pm http://innovationawards.jec-world.events
Did you miss the ceremony?

11 AWARD WINNERS:
AEROSPACE APPLICATION
Winner:
AeroComposit, JSC (Russia) and its partner Solvay (United Kingdom)

• Infusion technology for an aircraft wing

The use of infusion technology to manufacture primary structural components for an aircraft wing. The technology makes it possible to create extra-long, integrated composite structures with complex aerodynamic shapes.

AEROSPACE PROCESS 
2 tied winners!
Winner: Airbus (Germany) and its partners, BMW Group (Germany), Technical University of Munich (TUM) (Germany), Neue Materialien Bayreuth GmbH (Germany), Werkzeugbau Siegfried Hofmann GmbH (Germany), BASF SE (Germany), Foldcore GmbH (Germany), Neenah Filtration (Germany) and SGL Carbon GmbH (Germany)

• Complex structural applications for MAI sandwich technology

Cost-effective production of a complex 2.5D structure made of thermoplastic composite sandwich, with very short cycle times: under 5 minutes for aerospace materials and 2.5 minutes for automotive materials.

Winner: M. Torres Diseños Industriales SAU (Spain)
Moldless process to manufacture one-piece parts
A new manufacturing process for oversized one-piece reinforced composite structures, without requiring the use of complete molds.

AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATION
Winner: Ford Werke GmbH (Germany) and its partners, Gestamp (United Kingdom), GRM Consulting (United Kingdom) and University of Warwick (United Kingdom)

• Lightweight composite automotive suspension part

Structural suspension part made of lightweight composite, using a brand-new patented process for prepreg/SMC/steel overmolding that was designed using a new computer-aided engineering (CAE) technology.

AUTOMOTIVE PROCESS
Winner: Audi AG (Germany) and its partners, Voith Composites GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Dow Automotive (Switzerland), and Zoltek Corp. (United States)

• Series production of a rear panel module made of carbon composite

For the first time, the potential of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) is used to full advantage in series production with a new rear panel module and cost-effective production technologies.

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE
Winner: Komatsu Seiren Co., Ltd. (Japan) and its partners, Kanazawa Institute of Technology (Japan) and Nagase ChemteX Corporation (Japan)

• Cabkoma cable made of CFRTP

Komatsu Seiren has developed a cable made of molded carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP), using a very cost-effective process that consists in polymerizing a thermoplastic epoxy resin in situ.

MARINE
Winner: Uljanik JSC (Croatia)

• Composite cargo decks for a vehicle carrier

On the SIEM Cicero, a vehicle carrier with a capacity of 7,000 vehicles, glass-fiber reinforced composites are used for a number of the structures for the cargo decks, thereby considerably reducing the ship’s weight, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

RAILWAY
Winner: ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. (United Kingdom) and its partners, Alstom Transport (United Kingdom), Magma Structures (United Kingdom), the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom), and the University of Huddersfield (United Kingdom)

• A bogie frame made of optimized lightweight carbon fiber

This project has developed the very first carbon-fiber bogie frame that uses a recycled material, making it possible to overcome the obstacles to a commercial adoption of this type of structure.

SPORTS & LEISURE
Winner: BMW Group (Germany) and its partners EDAG Engineering GmbH (Germany), KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH (Germany), Chr. Karl Siebenwurst GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), TUM-LCC (Germany), Automation W + R GmbH (Germany), and FHG-IGCV (Germany)

• A modular construction system for the rear swing arm suspension of a motorcycle

A modular system to produce a complex-shape swing arm suspension reinforced with carbon fiber. The system can adjust the mechanical properties on a case-by-case basis, for a competitive cost and weight compared to metal solutions.

SMART CITIES
Winner: MC Materiales Compuestos (Argentina) and its partners, Plaquimet (Argentina), Purcom (Brazil), IS Groupe - Composite Integrity (France), and G12 Innovation (Brazil)

• The Wet Core Pod composite housing module

The Wet Core Pod is a composite housing module with an industrialization potential that can facilitate the most complex, costly and difficult step in a construction project.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Winner: Cetim-Cermat (France) and its partner, CETIM (France)

• “3-in-1” line for producing recycled composites

A modular line that uses an innovative thermomechanical process to make large panels from recycled composites or plastics. The panels are then thermoformed into parts.
 

• Lectra – ESCP Europe ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair round-table event hears panelists emphasize the need for fashion companies to embrace Industry 4.0.

Paris, February 27, 2018 – Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, the French business school ESCP Europe and their joint ‘Fashion & Technology’ Chair explored the impact of Industry 4.0 on fashion’s value chain during a recent insightful round table discussion at ESCP Europe’s London campus.
For the participants Robert Diamond, Founder and CEO, Fernbrook Partners; Dan Hartley, Global Head of Digital Commerce, AllSaints; Laëtitia Hugé, Vice-President, Product Marketing, Lectra; Pierre Mercier, Senior Partner and Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group; and Evelthon Vassilou, CEO, Alison Hayes, there was consensus. Industry 4.0 represents unparalleled opportunities to take the fashion industry forward.

From brand to manufacturer, panelists from across the value chain emphasized the necessity for the industry to embrace the alliance between man and machines to leverage massive benefits, from quicker decision-making to cost-reduction.
Exploring the advantages of Industry 4.0 technology, Evelthon Vassilou commented: “Interpreting the data of what is, and isn’t, selling should help to speed up decisions. You can react very quickly across the entire supply chain, and either stop producing something unsuccessful or ramp up production if successful. Data and data analytics is not sufficient, to succeed this also requires a high degree of trust and integration between retailers and suppliers.”

“It’s about using technology to deliver continuous improvement in everyday business,” said Robert Diamond. “People are not good at making a large volume of repeatable decisions with many different data inputs”. Identifying where machines, and where people, bring value is an important part of embracing Industry 4.0. “If the business decision, or the outcome of the resolution tomorrow, is pretty much the same as what happened yesterday, then there is a chance for machine learning to help improve the situation.”
For Pierre Mercier, technology propelled by Industry 4.0 is disrupting former sources of competitive advantage, “forcing companies to rethink how they want to compete in their respective industries, and how to use data to compete differently. The common denominator in the fashion ecosystem is that everyone is facing the opportunity for a step change and need to figure out where to double down and accelerate their transformation.”

“Agility and flexibility are increasingly important for fashion players. Cutting-edge technology is supporting the fashion industry as it steps into the 4.0 era, ensuring businesses have the right solutions in their own ecosystems, to effectively harness the right data to make the right decisions,” stated Laëtitia Hugé.

At UK fashion brand AllSaints, valuable data harnessed from the net promoter score is paramount for their business. “We take customer feedback very seriously and we use it as a framework for our internal roadmap - from a tech and development point of view, through to design and fit, the customer is at the heart of everything we do,” stated Dan Hartley. In addition, he underlined that using technology across communications “will be huge going forward for AllSaints. From supply chain to store teams, we aim to use a cloud-based system that works within our own eco-system, complementing our agile model.”
The round table was moderated by the co-director of Lectra-ESCP Europe ‘Fashion and Technology’ Chair Valérie Moatti.
 

For the first time at FILO Milano, Filatura C4 is proud to present, in addition to the already established Re.Verso™ collection for contract, the Blue Drop winning fabric by Audejas, made with Re.Verso™ re-engineered wool. A result born from the shared commitment and vision to integrate a new generation of eco values into their circular economy creations.

Since 1962, Filatura C4 has been known for smart innovation in furnishing contract markets and is now specializing in the recovery of both technical and natural fibers. The company offers a wide range of styles and typologies of yarns for the Technical, Natural and Classic categories. From the choice of raw materials up until the final packaging, Filatura C4 develops and proposes, together with its partners, tailored solutions apt to satisfy a diversified demand. Thanks to its background and its grounding, Filatura C4 is a unique partner for Re.Verso™ in the contract sector.

The collection was planned to satisfy the market’s increasingly more specific needs, which require increased specialization and responsibility in the recovery of textile fabrics. Thanks to the Re.Verso™ system, the company offers quality products with low environmental impact through the use of pre-consumer wool packaging cuts which are collected, selected and processed in an accredited, fully transparent and traceable way. The Re.Verso™ collection is mainly employed in contract and home furnishing.

The Re.Verso™ product is available in a range of counts going from 5,000 to 9,500 Nm and it can be supplied both in singles and in twisted plies.  Re.VersoTM yarns by Filatura C4 are certified by ICEA (Environmental and Ethical Certification Institute) according to GRS (Global Recycled Standard) issued by the international body Textile Exchange and can boast unique savings (in comparison to virgin wool) in terms of energy (-27%), water consumption (-53%), and CO2 emissions (-49%), as certified by the LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) study led by Prima Q.

At Filo, Filatura C4 presents the prizewinning product signed by Audejas, leading Lithuanian producer of upholstery and home textile fabrics since 1946, made for the 75% of wool (55% Re.Verso™ wool) in mix with 20% polyamide and 5% other fibres. This product received the Blue Drop Award on the second day of MoOD 2017. MoOD Brussels is an exhibition dedicated to producers of upholstery, window and wall coverings for the residential and contract market. The Blue Drop exhibition is an inspiring overview of the “best of the best” of what you can find at MoOD selected from creations submitted by exhibitors. Unique in its own way because it is the world’s only quality label of its kind for interior textiles. The “Floris” fabric by Audejas, won the first prize of the Circular Material category, being recognized as a  product that made great effort reducing waste by focusing on eco-centric materials.

• Unique ROICA™ Premium Stretch Innovations for the Active Wardrobe Debuts @ ISPO Brandnew Village
• Hall B4, Booth No. B4.430 BN 02 Munich 28th-31th January 2018

Come and enjoy a real dedication to Responsible Innovation and Wellbeing in our new ROICA™  booth experience for Fabric Innovation inspiring the ROICA™ Active Wardrobe and the international ROICA™ Closet. Together, they will guide you to new hi-tech performance solutions in our partners unique stretch ideas, designed to meet both contemporary business and astute consumer desires. These latest ROICA™ innovations will be presented within the special ISPO BrandNew arena, a new high visibility concept of creativity revealed inside ISPO that truly matches the core DNA and values of the ROICA™ premium stretch brand.

ROICA™ will present The Modern Wardrobe concept in 3 distinct dimensions.

Together they bring to life our new stretch solutions that fit the supply chain for our target consumer confirming a clear brand identity that redefines performance creativity.

1 ROICA™ ACTIVE WARDROBE: Come and see leading commercial fashion ranges ready for the Summer 2018, that include the ROICA™ Eco Smart family and the ROICA™ Feel Good family of unique premium stretch yarn solutions.

2 ROICA™ INNOVATION: Here you can find the latest textile performance innovations from our partner mills to inspire even more brand creativity.

The ROICA™ Fabric Gallery is a rich and varied fabric offer that focuses on:
•    The revolutionary ROICA™ Eco Smart family of sustainably designed stretch yarns. These yarns are either GRS certified, or have the Cradle-to-Cradle Innovation Institute GOLD LEVEL certificate for material health, plus the Hohenstein Environment Certificate, where at its end-of-life, it smartly breaks down releasing less harmful materials. These unique commercialized solutions suites for intimates, athleisure, sportswear, and more.
•    The unique ROICA™ Feel Good family promises a new level of performance with ‘feel-good comfort’ and freshness. The ROICA™ CF yarn delivers an odor-neutralizing durable function in wash and wear because its active ingredient is locked inside the yarn and only requires a modest % to perform in most fabric structures.
•    A new ROICA™ Stretch Energy™ is a truly verified heat-generating system that combines a customised ROICA™ polymer with special fabric structures where a stretch and recovery action produces real warmth, maintaining support during exercise.

3 ROICA™ CLOSET: In this zone you can explore new ROICA™ garment designs from our experimental laboratory, using innovative Japanese fabric creativity.

Also at our ROICA™ booth, you will be able to explore sister brand Cupro innovations, designed responsibly for a new, luxe view of athleisure sportswear.

Today, the ROICA™ premium stretch brand sets the highest quality standards that are uniquely specialized and certificated perfectly focused on responsible performance for the active sportswear, swimwear and athliesure wear categories, making it the ‘smart-fit’ for the ISPO BrandNew Village presentation.

• Lectra contributes to Faurecia Seating Business Group Industry 4.0 readiness and “digital enterprise” transformation initiative

Paris, September 26, 2017 – Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with Faurecia through the signing of a global agreement for its Seating Business Group.

The cutting process for the production of seat covers, headrests and interiors is an increasingly strategic part of Faurecia’s Seating activity. Faurecia Seating supplies vehicle complete seats, frames, mechanisms and trim covers to major carmakers worldwide, whose manufacturing processes are gradually evolving toward Industry 4.0.

Faurecia Seating aims to double the production of its existing manufacturing facilities by reinforcing operations with advanced manufacturing technologies. The company’s extended partnership with Lectra entails focusing on operational excellence initiatives across its automotive seating division.

Standardization of the Vector® fabric-cutting solution—endowed with preventive and predictive maintenance capabilities and the highest-performance cutting system available on the market to date—will be instrumental to the implementation of these initiatives throughout the division’s fabric cutting facilities. Faurecia currently has more than 60 Vector fabric cutting solutions in production worldwide.

“More than ever, we face major challenges in terms of flexibility, agility and productivity—producing more while reducing costs,” observes Hagen Wiesner, Executive Vice President, Faurecia Seating. “Our cutting processes have become strategic in reaching these goals. Faurecia’s ‘digital enterprise’ project aims to achieve operational excellence in virtually every aspect of our organization. Together with Lectra, we will make this a reality in the cutting room, with smart automation and predictive maintenance”.

“Given the profound transformations gripping manufacturing, helping our customers ready their operations for the Fourth Industrial Revolution has become without question our core mission,” remarks Daniel Harari, Lectra Chairman and CEO. “Faurecia is among the automotive suppliers at the forefront of this movement. Digital technologies and industry expertise are the business enablers that will allow manufacturers to connect inside and outside the value chain in the near future.”