Miti wanted to gain control over hide consumption, reduce operational costs, and ensure the quality of cut pieces by incorporating leather cutting into the in-house production process. Previously, Miti designed and assembled products in-house and subcontracted the leather cutting. However, outsourcing leather cutting resulted in a loss of control over quality and material consumption which, given the high quality of the hides, was very costly. These issues spurred Miti’s management team to consider overhauling its production processes to include leather cutting.

ASTRO Apparel needed to update its design and product development capabilities to maintain its ISO-certified quality standards amidst increasingly complex production requirements. The company, which produces 1.5 million garments annually, including school wear and menswear, distributes its products through over 1000 stores in the US. To manage this complexity and maintain its competitive edge, ASTRO required intelligent technology solutions. The company has been a Lectra customer for 30 years and constantly seeks to improve production efficiency and accelerate time-to-market.

Art Stone designs and manufactures dance attire, which requires handling intricate fabrics and managing a wide range of styles that change frequently. The company needed to achieve fast turnaround times with shorter production runs while remaining cost-effective. Inefficiencies in the cutting process and poor fabric utilization were significant challenges that needed to be addressed.

F&F, the clothing branch of UK supermarket chain Tesco, faced the challenge of competing in the fast-paced fast-fashion industry while expanding internationally. To gain market share and ensure customer satisfaction, F&F needed to improve fit and quality control across various styles and suppliers. The company aimed to provide a consistent and reliable fit for customers who often do not have the time to try on clothes. Additionally, F&F needed to enhance communication and collaboration with suppliers to manage the complexities of global sourcing and production.

For over 80 years, Johnson Controls has led the automotive trim cover industry by providing seating systems that differentiate vehicles and offer customers what they want most—style, comfort, and safety. However, as the trend in automotive interior personalization became more mainstream, the innovative automotive supplier recognized that producing the same volume of car sets as they had in the past while managing the proliferation of options for interiors—different fabrics, styles, and features—would be impossible with the die press system they had been using. Long changeover times, the cost of changing die boards midway through a program, and the inability to change the pattern in a die severely limited Johnson Controls’ production flexibility. In addition, high levels of fabric waste caused by the large buffer between pieces and end loss due to the fixed length of the die board, increased production costs. To improve its competitive position in a changing market and win new business required finding a solution that would allow them to deliver a wider variety of options, meet tight production schedules and reduce fabric costs. Johnson Controls’ executive team decided to undertake a highly strategic project to transform their fabric-cutting value chain by replacing all the die presses in their European plants with automated computer numerical control (CNC) cutting equipment.

The contract market has changed immensely since Godfrey Syrett’s founding in 1947. Over the years, the popularity of steel frame, straight-lined furniture in public spaces has given way to softer, more innovative and complex designs. Office furniture must be flexible in order to adapt to the nomadic nature of contemporary work environments. A rising number of companies are also ordering furniture equipped with charging docks and power sockets for reception areas. Customers are becoming more demanding not just in terms of style and function but also of delivery times. “Three or four years ago, we would have had six to eight weeks to deliver furniture to the customer. That has now been reduced to three or four. We even have products where we have to deliver within seven working days on receipt of an order,” explains Michael Donachie, Operations Director. The company’s manual manufacturing process was no longer suitable to its design, manufacturing and growth ambitions, creating capacity and quality issues. In addition to continuing to produce practical yet innovative furniture solutions, Godfrey Syrett aspires to expand its market share in the private and student accommodations sectors. Growth in these sectors will help the company reach its target of becoming a £40 million business within the next five years.

Since 1952, Moroso has been creating sofas, armchairs and accessories whose vibrancy, eccentricity and sophistication are just as suitable to design museums as residential spaces. Moroso wanted to accelerate time to market, and optimize the cost evaluation and industrialization stages without sacrificing their unique design identity.

Odlo, a renowned technical sportswear brand, aimed to expand its consumer base by targeting more performance-oriented customers. To achieve this, the company needed to speed up its product development process to quickly react to fashion and weather trends. This would enable them to get new products to stores in time to capitalize on market demand. The challenge was to streamline the development process while maintaining the high quality and performance standards that Odlo is known for.

Jack Victor, an international men's fashion company, faced the challenge of maintaining high-quality production while managing costs and meeting growing demand. The company was committed to keeping its operations in Canada, which necessitated upgrading to advanced technology to stay competitive. The management team sought a technological partner that could provide solutions to enhance their manufacturing process, ensuring product quality and customer service while respecting the company's traditional values.

Ese.Y, a leading manufacturer in the women's pants category in China, faced the challenge of adapting to the rapidly growing consumer demand for fashion and the rise of e-commerce. The company needed to transition to intelligent manufacturing to create a more agile supply chain and handle small-batch production orders. The unpredictable peaks in demand and the millennial preference for personalized products required a more flexible setup than traditional, order-based production. During the 'Double 11' festival in 2016, Ese.Y's Tmall.com store clocked RMB 10 million in sales in just 20 minutes, highlighting the need for an agile production setup to handle such spikes in orders.

Façonnable was exploring ways to check and track major events in the product lifecycle to enhance collection development. Structuring information presented to supply partners and allowing information to be easily archived and analyzed to support development and brand evolution were top priorities. Product quality, on-time deliveries, and business growth were key goals when researching ways to control the development process and harmonize communication from design to the final product.

Design and economy can make for uneasy partners. Top-level design requires an attention to detail and a vision that is often incongruous with economy’s need to increase efficiency and reduce costs whenever possible. How could Désirée do both at once? The solution seemed to require the use of a technology that would help streamline their design and production process while allowing the company to remain true to its artisan roots.

An expert in manufacturing high-end womenswear for prestigious European brands, Lithuanian-based company Kauno Baltija decided to take matters into their own hands in 2013 by launching a first own-brand, LOULU ET TU. This elegant womenswear offer with a contemporary twist has been acclaimed by the European fashion press and spotted on celebrities. Yet manufacturing and brand development are not the same game. The biggest challenge for this company was to continue providing the same excellent service and flawless product to their manufacturing customers while shifting their business model to that of a hybrid company. Kauno Baltija needed to manage these changes effectively and achieve perfect fit, rapid time-to-market and superior quality in order to compete on the international stage.