With 25,000 customers in more than 130 countries, Gerber has more than 40 years of experience in providing solutions for product lifecycle management, product development, CAD, automatic cutting and spreading, for a diverse range of sewn products and flexible materials. This was more than enough for Wilson Sporting Goods football factory in Ohio producing 800 official Super Bowl footballs for installing Gerber’s new Taurus II leather cutting system. The company is comparing hide utilization results when cutting hides manually vs. using the Taurus II system. Each hide has different flaws and is unique in size and shape, the Taurus II leather cutter captures the hide and its flaw zones in seconds using a digital camera mounted above the cutter. The system’s nesting software then applies powerful algorithms to analyze the hide and efficiently place parts to ensure users get the most cut parts from every hide. With parts placed edge to edge, Gerber’s proven knife technology cuts quickly and precisely to ensure accuracy and uphold product quality.
On an average, at Wilson’s Ohio factory, 10 footballs are manufactured from one cowhide. Because cowhides are costly, improving hide utilization by even 1 per cent can reduce material costs significantly. Dan Riegle, Wilson’s factory manager said, “We’re excited about the opportunity Gerber’s Taurus II offers us to ensure quality and reduce our material costs; we’re seeing as much as 10 per cent improvement in yields as a result of Taurus’ computerized nesting capabilities.” The factory’s 120 employees produce 4,000 footballs a day and more than 7,00,000 each year. In addition to the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and all NFL footballs, the factory also manufactures the official footballs for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), 28 high school associations, American Youth Football and countless other leagues.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
