Zanotta: a design icon
The history of Italian design couldn’t be written without mentioning Zanotta. Established in 1954 as a producer of traditional upholstered furniture, the company began establishing a reputation for avant-garde designs in the early 1960s.
The brand built its reputation on iconic pieces of Italian design with products like the Sacco beanbag chair and Blow, the first mass-produced inflatable chair. During its 67 years of existence, the company has created an astonishing 550 designs and been awarded four Compasso d’Oro, the most recent in 2020.
The need for a technology and workflow overhaul
Zanotta’s 90 employees, half of whom are skilled artisans, produce the brand’s iconic designs in its 16,000-square-meter Nova Milanese factory. To optimize fabric use and processing time, Zanotta combines orders as much as possible. However, the actual production process is not as efficient of standardized as it could be.
The company wanted to overhaul its fabric cutting workflow and create more synergies between the cutting room and the management software in order to reduce production times and minimize the risk of error. They chose Furniture On Demand by Lectra.
Improving quality, visibility and operator satisfaction
Furniture On Demand’s flexibility has helped the company improve its production processes on multiple levels. It enables Zanotta to standardize quality by centralizing processes therefore reducing reliance on operator skill level.
Connectivity between Furniture on Demand and the company’s IT system allows operators to easily monitor the production process. Since the more tedious tasks are now automated, operators are able to concentrate on the more interesting, value-added tasks, which creates a more stimulating work environment for them.
