Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials - textiles, leather, industrial fabrics and composite materials - has launched Versalis? Auto, its new line of leather cutting products specially designed for the automotive industry.

"Facing massive productivity constraints and a growing rise in leather prices, from 50% to 100% in the last eighteen months, automotive manufacturers are now seeking solutions to optimize their lead times and manufacturing costs. Built on more than twenty years' experience with the most demanding customers and developed to cater specifically to the production models used in the automotive industry, which are very different from those in other industries, Versalis Auto marks a veritable technological turning point and a new era in leather cutting," said Daniel Harari, Lectra CEO. Based on an analysis of the specific processes of each automotive customer, Lectra's new Versalis Auto line enables users to optimize production and achieve substantial material savings without compromising cut quality.

The new Versalis Auto line comprises three cutters with one, two, or three cutting heads. Combined with an automated hide analysis solution as well as operation management and optimization software, the cutters meet the specific needs of the different production modes used by automotive manufacturers: cutting of pre-series and/or small runs, mass market, and small pieces (gear sticks, steering wheels, etc.).

In the automotive industry, the number and size of pieces to be cut and the complexity of shapes massively increase cutting time, and this limits the productivity of today's existing systems.

Versalis Auto solutions achieve a perfect balance among the various work phases - scanning, markermaking, cutting and offloading of pieces - ensuring a fluid sequence with no slowdowns or blockages for operators, while delivering perfect cut quality, which it achieves through a process split into two decorrelated stages.

First, hide qualification is performed prior to cutting, with flaws pre-marked outside the production cycle. In the second stage, these pre-marked flaws and the hide contours are automatically identified by the Versalis Auto scanner, thus avoiding the risk of error or cycle slowdown. This decorrelated process, combined with the use of a single conveyor, guarantees uninterrupted performance over the entire cycle, particularly during the cutting phase.

Leather type and the required high quality of finished products have a significant impact on cutting time: the most commonly used leathers are corrected leathers, which, despite being very resistant, incorporate a considerable number of flaws (scratches, insect bite marks, wrinkles, burn marks, etc.).

For flawless finished products, hides must be fully analyzed, so hide qualification and flaw recognition can take time. High-standard hide qualification benefiting from pre-marking prior to cutting, combined with scanner precision and powerful automatic marker-making algorithms, allow Versalis Auto to achieve unequalled material savings of 5% to 10% in record amounts of time.

Lectra Technologies Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. Tel: 080-40018000. Fax: 91-80-40018008. Email: g.lobo@lectra.com