Lectra insources cutting equipment production in China

Lectra's teams have over 35 years’ experience in the Asia-Pacific region, which in 2022 generated 25% of the Group's revenues.

Since the acquisition of its competitor, Gerber Technology, in 2021, Lectra had been relying on a plant belonging to Dutch group VDL Groep (VDL), to manufacture Gerber-brand multi-ply cutters and spreaders. 

For its industrial activities, Lectra aimed to adopt the same standards of operational excellence in China as those currently in effect at its Bordeaux-Cestas and Tolland sites. The Group therefore created a new subsidiary, Suzhou Lectra Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., to take over from subcontractor VDL as of December 1, 2023.

“Our objective is to offer our customers unrivalled quality, wherever they are located. This means applying the same standards of operational excellence to all our equipment manufacturing sites. We must also ensure that we optimize our production lead times, while contributing to the dynamism of our local supplier ecosystems. That's why we favor local production sites in each of the major regions where we operate. Today, we are the only company in our sector to have three manufacturing sites, in China, the United States and France”, explains Jérôme Viala, Executive Vice President of Lectra.

Following the takeover of in-house production at the Tolland site in October 2022, the creation of the Suzhou Lectra Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd. subsidiary marks a new milestone in the deployment of Lectra's industrial excellence strategy on a global scale. The Group intends to give priority to regional industrial production, which is beneficial to the local economy.