Paris, June 27, 2006 – Lectra announces the sale of the 100thVector MP automated cutting solution. Launched in 2003 for the fashion, automotive and furniture markets, the MP range met with immediate international success. With the Vector MP, Lectra offers an adapted technological response to the needs of leading manufacturers of clothing, automotive interiors and furniture, and demonstrates the added value its solutions bring to the success of its customers.

“Lectra has a long history of working closely with customers to develop effective new solutions to their challenges,” said Pierre-Michel Richer, Lectra’s Production Solutions Marketing Manager. “Apparel manufacturers face new challenges in the post-quota world, and automotive interiors manufacturers need to adapt to numerous transformations from OEMs. The Vector MP range is the result of extensive research and development, and the sale of 100 Vector MPs in just three years proves that the value of our efforts.”

Increasing flexibility is a strategic concern for manufacturers across all markets, as they are increasingly influenced by consumer demand and the multiplication of styles and model variations. Product customization has forced many producers to shift from a mass production logic to one of flexible, high-volume production. This requires an ability to cut large quantities of material quickly, in order to meet rapidly shifting demands in a context of shortening response times.

The Vector MP range is the market's most complete response to this challenge. Since the launch of the first Vector in 1993, Lectra has become the world leader in fabric cutting solutions, selling 3,500 cutters. The Vector MP cutting technology provides unmatched productivity and accuracy, adapting to all types of forms and materials. The operating software optimizes the cut path in real time, routine operations are automated, and improved cutting quality ensures correct assembly of cut pieces. In addition, the Vector MP’s Eclipse function enhances cutting performance still further by permitting pieces to be cut while the conveyor is advancing.

The Vector MP range can be accompanied by a remote expertise service option, provided by Lectra's five International Call Centers, by which Lectra experts access the cutter through a secure, remote connection to calibrate various settings according to the customer’s actual use of the system, perform tests and diagnostics and, if necessary, correct errors without direct physical intervention on the cutter. Lectra’s remote expertise service improves ROI and significantly reduces downtime.

Specifically adapted responses for each market 

The Vector MP range is the result of a deliberate Lectra R&D policy of pooling expertise acquired across the various markets it serves to develop complete, coherent solutions for each of them. In the fashion market, for example, the VectorFashion MP adapts to each customer’s strategic challenges (reducing material consumption, improving productivity and flexibility, ensuring higher quality, etc.) to satisfy the needs of apparel manufacturers in major subcontracting regions (China, India, Southeast Asia, Turkey, North Africa and Central America) as well as prime contractors in Europe or North America. 

For the global automotive sector, in which production flexibility is increasingly a strategic necessity, Lectra's VectorAuto MP9 has established itself as the ideal solution for high-volume cutting, and the first viable alternative to die cutting. Adopted by Johnson Controls, one of the world’s leading suppliers of automotive interiors, the VectorAuto MP9 provides all the flexibility required to adapt to the enormous variety of models and options proposed by today's automobile manufacturers. 

“The Vector MP is one of the pillars of our offering,” says Lectra CEO, Daniel Harari. “It enables our customers to overcome the major challenges they face today, and thereby ensures that Lectra is their partner in success. This is why the sale of the 100th Vector MP is extremely satisfying, for me and for all Lectra collaborators.”