Desirée Streamlines Design While Preserving Artisanship with Lectra’s Designconcept 3D

• Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
• Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

• Product Research & Development
• Quality Assurance

• Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
• Predictive Quality Analytics

• Software Design & Engineering Services
• System Integration

Design and economy can make for uneasy partners. Top-level design requires an attention to detail and a vision that is often incongruous with economy’s need to increase efficiency and reduce costs whenever possible. How could Désirée do both at once? The solution seemed to require the use of a technology that would help streamline their design and production process while allowing the company to remain true to its artisan roots.

Désirée Furniture, founded in 1968 and part of Gruppo Euromobil for more than 15 years, has seen many changes during its history. The company has grown from a small artisan furniture maker to a mid-size company that expertly blends modern technologies with its hand-made traditions. Controlling the design, development, and production processes from start to finish, Désirée’s products are known for their innovative design, comfort, and quality workmanship. The company now employs 40 workers, making around 80 different furniture products with annual sales in excess of €8.5 million. Its wares are sold at some 900 outlets around the world.

With its state-of-the-art DesignConcept 3D technology as well as its furniture cutting room solutions, Lectra offered exactly what Désirée was looking for. Starting in 2005, the furniture maker started to integrate Lectra’s solutions into the design process, visualizing what the final product would look like and being able to make costing and marketing decisions from very early on. Their process became faster, easier, and more precise. According to Luigi Lucchetta, Désirée’s director and the son of one of the four founders of parent company, Gruppo Euromobil, Désirée had confidence in Lectra’s history of producing high-quality products for the furniture industry that made it easy to find satisfied customers. He said he also valued Lectra’s array of products, which meant Désirée could use Lectra solutions to address different areas going forward, developing a relationship with the company and eliminating the need to piece together technologies from different suppliers.

• The process of creating a new product and making adjustments has become much easier. It allows the company to experiment with an array of design options without the effort, materials, and production capacity required to actually produce them, making the kind of initiative design decisions already in the company’s DNA flourish.
• Today, 40% of Désirée’s products are sold in Italy the remaining 60% in Europe and other parts of the world. The company designs, develops, and produces many collections, each with its own flair. At any point in time, it will be producing around 30 different sofa designs, 20 seats and chairs, 15 beds, and a dozen miscellaneous pieces. New collections are introduced roughly at the same rate that older designs are retired.
• Most impressively, because of the use of DesignConcept 3D technology and other innovations, it takes just eight to ten months before a new design enters into production. The software allows for virtual prototyping, so that Désirée can model prototypes, offer variations quickly and easily, and accelerate the course of production.

• Combined, the changes helped a company with sales of €750,000 in 1995 turn into one with total revenues of €8.5 million.
• The number of employees grew from 30 to 40—meaning that because of the changes at Désirée over the last 15 years, staff grew by a third while sales boosted an average of 18% per year.
• They help save time; they help make more efficient acquisitions. We save all around, maybe 20 or 30 percent on costs, while still finding it easier to innovate.