Goodwill South Florida Reduces Cutting Room Planning Time from Days to Minutes with Lectra Valia Manufacturing

Goodwill South Florida embraces intelligent automation to boost operational performance, achieve a five-month payback period, and realize nearly $400K in net savings

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lectra, a leading provider of industrial intelligence technology solutions for the fashion industry, today announced that Goodwill South Florida has implemented Valia Manufacturing, Lectra’s new cloud-based solution to modernize and automate cutting room operations, marking a significant step forward in efficiency and operational performance that will yield nearly a 99% reduction in cutting room planning time.

Based in Miami, Goodwill South Florida operates a centralized manufacturing division producing over one million U.S. military garments annually, including trousers, coats, and combat shirts. As production demands continue to grow, Goodwill identified the need to modernize its planning workflows that were taking up to two days per order to complete.

The deployment of Valia Manufacturing will enable Goodwill South Florida to automate marker planning and nesting, integrate order data directly from its ERP system, and gain real-time visibility across planning, spreading, and cutting. The result is a faster, more connected workflow that replaces manual, spreadsheet-driven processes with AI-powered decision-making.

“We set out to fundamentally rethink how our cutting room operates,” said Eduardo Dominguez, Vice President of Manufacturing at Goodwill South Florida. “Valia Manufacturing allows us to replace manual planning with intelligent automation to build a smarter, more connected cutting room. The speed, visibility, and control we gain across our entire workflow will have a lasting impact on how we produce and scale moving forward.”

By implementing Valia Manufacturing, Goodwill South Florida expects to:

• Transform planning from a two-day process into a 15-minute task — a 99%-time reduction
• Achieve around 1% in material savings.
• Realize a payback period of approximately five months.
• Deliver nearly $400,000 in net savings in the first two years, while also reducing manual intervention and improving production control.

“With Valia Manufacturing, Goodwill South Florida is taking a decisive step toward a fully connected, Industry 4.0 enabled cutting room that is built for the future,” said John Brearley, President, Americas at Lectra. “In today’s fast-paced manufacturing landscape, the ability to accelerate operations and adapt to shifting market demands is a critical competitive advantage. By automating planning and connecting systems end-to-end, Valia enables manufacturers unlock speed, improve material utilization, and gain the operational visibility needed to scale efficiently. This collaboration demonstrates how intelligent automation can deliver rapid, measurable impact in high-volume production environments.”

Valia Manufacturing will integrate into Goodwill’s existing technology stack, connecting ERP order intake to planning, nesting, and cutting execution within a single, unified platform. Beyond near-term financial returns, the project lays the foundation for scalable growth and greater agility, marking a key milestone in Goodwill South Florida’s shift toward a more efficient, data-driven manufacturing operation.

About Goodwill South Florida
Goodwill South Florida, serving Miami, Broward and Monroe counties, is the 18th largest employer in South Florida. The non-profit’s mission is the training, employment and job placement of people with disabilities and other barriers to work; helping individuals increase productivity and achieve greater independence. The agency provides disability services to over 5,800 South Floridians. Goodwill engages in a unique social enterprise model that funds mission services and employment for over 3,100 people.

Although most known for its Goodwill donation centers and retail stores, the organization’s other entrepreneurial businesses include Ryder Apparel Manufacturing, Custodial Services, Laundry Services and Third-Party Logistics Solutions, which train and employ many people, while providing mission funding. Goodwill South Florida is one of the most cost-effective non-profits in the U.S with 96% of its budget going directly to programs that are aimed at people with disabilities and other barriers to work. For more information, please visit goodwillsouthflorida.org or visit us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

About Lectra
At the forefront of innovation since its founding in 1973, Lectra provides industrial intelligence technology solutions - combining software in SaaS mode, cutting equipment, data, and associated services - to players in the fashion, automotive and furniture industries. Lectra accelerates the transformation and success of its customers in a world in perpetual motion thanks to the key technologies of Industry 4.0: AI, big data, cloud and the Internet of Things.

The Group is present in more than one hundred countries. The production sites for its cutting equipment are located in France, China and the United States. Lectra's 2,800 employees are driven by three core values: being open-minded thinkers, trusted partners and passionate innovators. They all share the same concern for social responsibility, which is one of the pillars of Lectra's strategy to ensure its sustainable growth and that of its customers.

Lectra reported revenues of €507 million in 2025, including €89 million in SaaS revenues. The Company is listed on Euronext, and is included in the CAC All Shares, CAC Technology, EN Tech Leaders and ENT PEA-PME 150 indices.

For more information, visit lectra.com.

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