Anchored in the digitalization of industrial processes, from creation to production, Industry 4.0 is creating a new organization of factories' ecosystems. Increasingly flexible with optimized resources, factories are propelling a new digitalized lifecycle for products that will benefit consumers.

Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials, as they step into the Industry 4.0 era reveals a new strategy conceived to empower fashion and apparel, automotive and furniture companies.

In order to face these changes, a digital value chain is essential to provide real-time connections between creative teams and product development teams, smart factories, suppliers and consumers.

Furthermore, mass production is leaving increasing room for large-scale customized production, as well as providing quick-to-market, quality products expected by increasingly impatient and demanding customers.

Daniel Harari, CEO, Lectra said that to meet these new challenges, their customers can depend on their software and equipment offer, already compatible with Industry 4.0 principles, their deep knowledge of the industrial Internet of Things since 2007, and their teams' expertise in specific industries. Thanks to these strong fundamentals, they are massively enriching their offer, leveraging the latest technologies and integrating best practices, to entrench Lectra's position as an Industry 4.0 visionary.

Reflecting Lectra's new strategy is the launch of a Software as a Service (SaaS) offer, reinforced by cloud and developed since 2015. This offer, capitalizing on data analyses and exploitation, will translate into even smarter, connected equipment and finely tuned integration between equipment, software and services. New industry-specific services will reinforce the offer, enabling Lectra to continually improve customer processes.

Initially tested in 2017 with select customers, some of whom have been involved with the offer since the beginning of the design, the new offer will be commercialized from 2018.

Lectra will increase the share of revenues dedicated to R&D to 10 percent for the period from 2017 to 2019, representing a rise of about 50 percent between 2016 and 2019. This way they can support their customers on their path towards operational excellence, indispensable if they are to succeed in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

Lectra serves major world markets: fashion and apparel, automotive, and furniture as well as a broad array of other industries. With more than 1,550 employees, Lectra has developed privileged relationships with prestigious customers in more than 100 countries, contributing to their operational excellence. Lectra's solutions, specific to each market, enable customers to automate and optimize product design, development, and manufacturing.