How Export City achieved 9% material savings with Valia Furniture

Export City is a family-owned furniture manufacturer based in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over the past 22 years, the company has evolved from a small local business into a leading player, employing around 400 people and operating modern facilities covering more than 30,000 m². Today, Export City produces approximately 1,500 upholstered chairs and seating furniture pieces daily, serving major international markets and partnering with leading European brands. 

Despite its strong growth, Export City’s operations relied heavily on manual production processes, which limited scalability and consistency. This dependence on individual expertise made it difficult to standardize workflows and ensure consistent quality across production. The company faced several key challenges: 

• Cutting errors linked to manual processes 
• Pattern and material mismatches affecting quality and efficiency 
• Limited ability to scale production while maintaining precision 

I would definitely recommend Valia Furniture to any company looking to move toward a more efficient, scalable, and future-ready production environment.

Amir Turcinovic, Co-founder

Export City chose Lectra to support its long-term digital transformation and to partner with a technology provider capable of driving sustainable operational improvements. The decision was guided by the strong potential for material savings, labor optimization, and process automation. 

By implementing Valia Furniture, Export City transitioned from fragmented manual workflows to a fully digitalized cutting room environment. The deployment was smooth and efficient, enabled by strong collaboration between Export City’s teams and Lectra experts. Key success factors included: 

• Support from a dedicated Project Manager and Customer Success Manager 
• Clear communication and step-by-step deployment 
• Rapid adoption of new digital tools and processes 

“The implementation went very smoothly thanks to strong collaboration with Lectra. Their support was key to the project’s success,” said Boris Zivkovic, Engineering Manager, Export City. 

With Valia Furniture, Export City introduced standardized models and automated parameters, significantly reducing the complexity of product development and preparation. Previously manual and time-consuming tasks are now streamlined, enabling faster and more reliable production planning. 

The company also benefits from integrated system management, allowing it to automate key processes across material preparation and cutting operations. This transformation has given Export City greater control over its entire cutting room while improving coordination between teams and equipment. 

The implementation of Valia Furniture has delivered clear and measurable results for Export City, transforming both operational performance and team experience. The company has moved to a highly efficient, digitally driven production model, improving precision and scalability. 

Key benefits include: 

• Around 9% material savings, significantly reducing waste 
• Lower labor costs through process automation 
• Increased time efficiency and process consistency 
• Improved cutting accuracy, eliminating common errors 

Cutting jobs are now automatically distributed, with operators receiving clear, ready-to-execute instructions. All elements are aligned before production begins, ensuring smoother workflows and minimizing disruptions. This shift has eliminated issues such as incorrect patterns or material mismatches, which previously impacted performance. 

In addition, Export City now benefits from automated production management, enabling better orchestration of the entire cutting room. This results in optimized equipment usage, improved throughput, and greater operational visibility. 

As a result, our workflows are smoother, our teams experience less stress, and our overall efficiency has significantly improved,”

Boris Zivkovic, Engineering Manager

Beyond operational gains, Valia Furniture has become a true driver of long-term digital transformation. It provides the stability and precision needed to scale production while maintaining Export City’s high-quality standards. The company now sees its collaboration with Lectra as a strategic partnership supporting continuous improvement and future growth.