Lectra is pleased to announce the release of its latest version of DesignConcept Furniture, its 2D/3D collaborative design, costing and virtual prototyping solution for upholstered furniture.
In a buoyant but ultra-competitive global marketplace, differentiation, time to market and cost management are key success factors for furniture manufacturers.
As well as satisfying consumer demand for greater choice, customization and built-in technology, manufacturers have to find a way to stand out from the crowd in order to maintain and improve their competitiveness. Creativity is the answer. With this new version, all types of upholstery, including tufting and buttoning, such as used in chesterfield furniture, can be virtually prototyped, costed and prepared for production. From now on, the only limit is the designer's imagination.
DesignConcept Furniture has been conceived to significantly shorten process times: up to 20% in preparing design reviews, 25% in physical prototyping and 25% in developing tufted and buttoned models. It is achievable by fostering a collaborative product development and pre-production process, so that teams are able to work simultaneously on cover, foam and frame. Using DesignConcept Furniture, designers and prototypists are able to simulate new models and explore multiple options, virtually, dividing by two the number of expensive, time-consuming physical prototypes necessary. In addition, time savings are exponential. Companies vary, but it can take anything from 3 days to 3 months to produce a physical prototype and up to eight physical prototypes before final validation. For a traditional sofa, the normal 15 working day cycle to create a first physical prototype from scratch can be reduced by 4 days.
This new version also encourages the use of standardization, letting users share an upholstered component in 3D, such as a cushion or foot, and save it in a library for re-use in other models. Any style or dimension modifications made to the 3D model are automatically transferred to 2D manufacturing data and taken into account at the design review stage, with information shared through 3D pdf files for better communication. Technical documentation such as bills of materials, CNC "computer numerical control" cutting data for wood and foam parts and detailed assembly instructions are also generated. Not only does this eliminate the risk of error, it also contributes to reducing costs throughout the entire manufacturing process.
The benefits of this new version of DesignConcept Furniture have been evaluated by the Sylvain Joly Design agency and by prototyping specialists Daveluy Créations (France), who designed and built a sofa exclusively for Lectra as part of its recent global Furniture event. "With DesignConcept, all the visualization and fine-tuning is done on the 3D virtual model, either in face-to-face meetings or remotely. This means that the physical prototype assembly itself is quick and easy, like Lego. The risk of error is minimized and the result is good, first time. The solution allowed us to develop a 95% production-ready first and only prototype," explained Pascal Daveluy.
"Lectra is committed to supporting the upholstered furniture market in its drive towards operational excellence throughout the entire manufacturing process, from design to production. This new version of DesignConcept Furniture makes it easier than ever for them to get it right first time," declared Céline Choussy Bedouet, Chief Marketing Officer, Lectra.
