News
Mindhive Global signs multi-year agreement with JBS Couros Mindhive Global, a producer of AI-powered
leather grading technology, has announced the signing of a multi-year agreement with JBS Couros, a global leather processor, to expand their existing partnership and implement its state-of-the-art automated leather grading system across 13 wet-blue leather processing and distribution sites in Brazil, with completion set for June 2025. The company stated that the agreement builds on the strong foundation of Mindhive’s ongoing collaboration with JBS Couros in the US. Mindhive has finished installation of its first wet-blue leather grading machine at JBS Couros in Brazil. The technology is capable of processing up to 360 hides per line, per hour, and working with a grading accuracy rate exceeding 91%.
Guilherme Motta, CEO of JBS’s Leather Division, added: “JBS Couros is committed to continually enhancing efficiency of our production lines. The implementation of
Mindhive Global’s technology will allow us to set new standards for leather grading, ensuring that every hide meets the highest criteria for our global customers. This partnership will help us lead the way in modernising leather processing and delivering excellence in every batch.” Mindhive’s system inspects and classifies hides within four seconds, mapping defects across 25-plus defect classes, ensuring consistent, high-quality results, according to the company.
This partnership will optimise JBS
Couros’s wet-blue leather grading process by delivering reliable grading through Mindhive’s advanced artificial intelligence and machine vision technology. JBS Couros processes wet- blue hides for the automotive, furniture, footwear and leather goods industries. By standardising the grading process, the partnership aims to maximise operational efficiency and strengthen JBS Couros’s
position as a global leader in leather production. James Bayly, CEO of Mindhive Global, described the deal as a pivotal moment for the company: “This partnership with JBS Couros is truly game-changing for us. At Mindhive, we pride ourselves on delivering world-class leather grading solutions. By collaborating with JBS Couros, we are demonstrating the global scalability and reliability of our AI-powered system, and we are excited to help standardise and optimise their leather production processes.” JBS Couros will benefit from Mindhive’s precise, data-driven approach. This grading solution allows for verified classification, early-stage decision-making, and standardised grading across large-scale operations, eliminating the need for repetitive sorting and reducing waste. With centralised dashboards, JBS Couros will be able to benchmark performance across sites and optimise yield.
Muirhead debuts seat covers for visually impaired
Muirhead, a maker of high-performance aviation leather, has unveiled its newest people-first design concept, which seeks to improve accessibility for blind and visually impaired travellers.
The latest evolution of Muirhead’s Sensation collection highlights the importance of texture, colour contrast, and tactile signposting in helping passengers navigate their surroundings with greater confidence. Building on last year’s neurodiverse-friendly aircraft seat covers, the Scottish supplier’s 2025 collection seeks to inspire colour, materials, finish (CMF) designers as they envision the future of people-focused aircraft cabins.
Jamie O’Donnell, lead designer at Muirhead, said: “Blind and visually impaired passengers deserve cabin interiors that empower them to travel with confidence and dignity. Thoughtful seat cover design plays a crucial role in making that possible. “By integrating tactile signposting, Braille, and high-contrast colours into their design choices, airlines can create a more intuitive and comfortable experience – one that enhances accessibility without compromising on style or quality.”
The new collection introduces a range of tactile and high-contrast elements, empowering blind and visually impaired passengers to navigate the cabin
independently. The functional colour palette incorporates warm earth tones to evoke a calming atmosphere. Thanks to Muirhead’s embossing and digital print capabilities, the designs feature raised seat numbering and Braille-embossed safety instructions – transcribed for Muirhead by students from the Royal National College for the Blind. To cater to the needs of passengers with low vision, the headrests have also been enhanced with digitally printed seat numbers. These elements are carefully integrated into the seat design to assist passengers while maintaining a sleek, sophisticated finish.
US university to host training courses
The Leather Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati, US, is to host two educational opportunities in 2025. The first is a two-day Leather Orientation Course, which will cover a wide range of leather-related issues such as physical structure, species identification, hide supply, wet-end and finishing operations, regulations, testing, and customer acceptance issues. Attendees will be given an in-depth tour of the Leather Research Laboratory and will have a book
Leather International /
www.leathermag.com
with various leather samples to take home and use as a reference. The cost of this course is $1,100 per person with a discounted price of $1,000 for additional participants from the same company. It takes place on 9-10 April and again on 17-18 September.
The second course is entitled the Raw to
Wet Blue Training Course, where students can learn to create wet blue leather from rawhides. They will spend a week at the Leather Research Laboratory tannery
receiving classroom and hands-on training. This course draws on industry experts to give participants the skills necessary to transform raw hides. The cost for this course is $2,500 per person. It takes place 14-18 July 2025.
For further info or to register for either course, contact Louisa Passano at (513)242- 6300 or email
passanlb@ucmail.uc.edu. More details can be found
www.leatherusa.org under the 2025 ‘Course Schedule’ button.
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