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Press pack

         The innovation "success stories"
         They are entrepreneurs, startup designers, researchers, engineers,
          generating or initiating R&D projects, inventors of new products...
                 All are members of Techtera, the innovation cluster
                      for technical textiles and flexible materials.
Portraits of these talents of intuitive, dynamic and confident innovation who, each in
                    their own way, have revolutionised the industry


                                     2011



                               Press contact: Techtera
                            Anne Masson 04 20 30 28 80
                             international@Techtera.org
INTRODUCTION

But what do they have in common? A small phrase that recurs as underlying theme: "a company that
does not innovate cannot survive!" And a belief: "nothing is impossible!". For some, a method:
"everyday, apply the principles of creativity: release the ideas that emerge, do not say no, find ways of
achieving". A way of life, also: "innovation, of course, and partnership". In fact, a network: they are all
members of Techtera, the innovation cluster for textiles and flexible materials, established in 2005 to
support and develop innovation in its sector.

Is there a typical portrait of an innovative entrepreneur? "No", replies Paul Millier, who teaches
innovation management at EM Lyon (business school). "I have observed those who innovate for years.
I have seen quite a number, and no, I cannot draw a typical portrait. They are all different. The only
thing they have in common is their conviction and enthusiasm".

This conviction is the theme of this second series of portraits of companies and research laboratories
conducted by Techtera. The selection is not exhaustive, not in order of importance, taken from among
the 120 members of the cluster:

    -   Raidlight, the race for innovation
    -   Centre Technique du Papier: the paper research centre for metapapers of tomorrow
    -   Schappe Techniques, the stretch-break experts
    -   Bel Maille, a universe of knitting
    -   Diatex, "Made in" Technical Textiles
    -   Denis & Fils, high fashion and high-tech
    -   Enveho, the thermal comfort specialists
    -   Ecole des Mines d'Alès: grey matter for industry
    -   ELyT Lab, the Franco-Japanese creators of smart materials
    -   Sofileta boosts innovation
    -   LGCIE, pioneer in the environmental monitoring of silicones
Raidlight,
                       the race for innovation

                              Turnover 2010-2011: €3.3 million
                              Growth: 25% per year on average for 10 years
                              Workforce: 30
                              Patents: 5
                              Products: backpacks, clothing, jackets for running, hiking,
                              climbing and mountaineering
                              Markets: Sport & outdoor recreation
                              Brand: Raidlight, Vertical, MadeinFrance

                               SMS: nothing stops the race forward of this small company founded in
                               1999 by Benoit Laval. In 12 years, this small specialist of clothing and
                               accessories for trail running has carved out its place, among the major
                               French brands in the world of sport & leisure, with a range of eco-
friendly products, among others. Making a decisive step, Raidlight notched up a fine performance in
2011 with the acquisition of Vertical - manufacturer of bags, suits and accessories for climbing and
mountaineering - a move to the heart of the Chartreuse nature park, the design and launch of the first
European trail station. Targets for 2012, new innovative "products", interactively developed with, and
for, users.




A
         marathon year! Eleven months were             Eleven months after the start of negotiations
         enough for Benoit Laval, CEO of the           with the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse
         Raidlight company, to take a decisive         in Isère, and here you can see the result, in the
         turn for the company he founded in            centre of this small mountain village in the
1999, with the June 2010 takeover of Vertical,         Chartreuse nature park. A timber-framed
a brand well known by climbing and                     building, with photovoltaic roof and covering
mountaineering pros.                                   1000 m², accommodates a workshop for
A site for expansion                                   designing and prototyping products, factory
With more employees and confirmed growth,              outlet, mail-order office, a sport and relaxation
Raidlight felt cramped in its Saint-Genest-            room. Since June 2011, the building is also the
Malifaux buildings in the heart of the Pilat           meeting place for trail runners - more than
nature park, in the Loire region. Benoit Laval         500,000 adepts in France - who come to
was looking for a site that could allow him to         discover the ten-or-so routes of 8 to 30 km
expand and complete the project near to his            leading out from the trail station, designed,
heart. "We needed a plot where we could put            tested and launched by Raidlight and its
up an eco-friendly building, to remain true to         partners, the village, the Park and the
our company values. We also wanted to find a           Chartreuse association of mountain guides.
natural area to set up our trail station and           Half of the company's employees embarked on
partners to manage it with us. Finally, the            the adventure. The dozen who could not move
living environment was an essential factor, for        were replaced. "The hardest part is behind us.
the employees and myself. In 2009, we started          It was not easy. Now, we have found our
looking in the Loire region but without success,       signposts again".
until finding something here".
Among them, the company's motor long before           hiking poles, etc, already winners of numerous
the explosion of this way of communication, is        Innovation Awards.
interaction, an inherent characteristic that          A new look for the Cardis jacket
marks out the path of Raidlight since its infancy     "By joining Techtera, we seek to develop
in the early 2000s. "When I launched the              innovation and sourcing. It should, for
brand, with a range of ten products sold at the       example, help us to find new materials".
finishing line, I did it at weekends for the love     In the coming months, Raidlight will market
of it. I had one goal: improve the equipment of       sustainable trail shoes, offering the possibility
runners and respond to their needs. Users             of replacing worn and "custom-built" parts of
reacted to what I proposed and gave me ideas          the sole; together with a range of adaptable
and suggestions for improvement. I then               accessories. New types of backpacks will come
decided to organise the customer-relations            on the market. The little Isère brand will also
aspect by creating an interactive space on our        relaunch the legendary jacket of Chamonix
website and a space for testing products here         guides, trackers and sailors in the 70s: the
at the store".                                        famous Cardis, with a design and materials
The "Raidlight team"                                  updated to modern tastes.
Textile engineer and enthusiastic runner since        Last but not least, the trail station should
the age of 9, with some fine victories to his         gradually reach its cruising speed and its goal
credit, including the title of vice-champion of       of receiving from 10,000 to 15,000 runners on
France, Benoit Laval holds all the cards needed       its trails each year. Enough to satisfy the
for initiating a community spirit: "rather than       leader of its adepts, Benoit Laval, who
go into sponsoring like most sport brands, we         nevertheless continues to run five times a week
created a team open to all. This is the               in the mountains. "A nice reward"...
"Raidlight team", which now has 3000
members. All our customers can join,                  Raidlight
regardless of their level, create a running blog      Le Bourg - Chemin de Perquelin
on our website, and interact with other               38 380 Saint Pierre de Chartreuse
                                                      Tel: 04 76 533 555
runners. This is ideal for the company because
                                                      E-mail: information@raidlight.com
it allows us to understand and follow the             More information: www.raidlight.com
expectations of our users every day".
Bamboo and recycled polyester
Working      capital:   around    fifty   products,
designed by the four R&D engineers, are tested
throughout the year. One sole condition:
complete the company's questionnaire. New
materials and features voted for by consumers
join the range of products sold. The others are
reworked or simply abandoned. Our key words
are "lightweight and eco-friendly". The clothes
we make are 80 to 90% bamboo and recycled
polyester.     We     have   also     launched    a
MadeinFrance range with a dozen products
made in the region, at little extra cost to the
buyer".
The career of the company does not stop there.
In mind for 2012, is the development of mail
order in Germany and Spain, via dedicated
websites, and launch innovative new products
to complement the range of backpacks, shirts,
Centre Technique du Papier (CTP):
the paper research centre for metapapers
              of tomorrow

Founded: 1957
Turnover in 2010: €11.5 million
Status: nonprofitmaking
Workforce: 135 (researchers and technicians)

SMS: in the heart of Cellulose Valley, in the Grenoble
area, the Centre Technique du Papier (CTP) has
revolutionised the paper industry and nonwovens through
process and product innovations. Among the most
promising successes of recent years is Metapaper, a
wallpaper that insulates buildings from Wi-Fi signals, or a hydrophobic paper obtained through
"chromatogeny", with many possibilities for the packaging industry. The development of biosourced
materials and product diversification are central to research and the study of new applications for
health and hygiene, future packaging, recycling, waste recovery, etc. This paper undoubtedly has a
great future!




    P
            aper is not dead, far from it! With      paper in France. It devotes three quarters of its
"           textiles, it is one of the fundamental   energy to R&D, in the service of companies and
            materials as old as time, or almost!     groups of all sizes looking for technological
            Today, it is highly innovative.          solutions or breakthrough products for the
            Moreover, in our business for a          future. The centre has accompanied the
            good ten years, we talk less of          evolution in production processes. "The paper
paper and increasingly of cellulose substrate.       industry has made tremendous progress. It
This term includes new products and uses for         works virtually in a closed circuit. It treats and
paper. It is our personal role to open up these      recycles its waste and limits its energy
new ways".                                           consumption. Today, we continue to play a
Abundant on Earth                                    leading role in process and product innovation.
Guy Eymin Petot Tourtollet is a director of the      Moreover, the product part has expanded
CTP scientific and technical unit in Grenoble.       greatly since the year 2000".
For him, as for all of these enthusiastic            Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi signals
defenders of paper gathered on the campus of         Among the most spectacular inventions
Saint-Martin-d'Heres, no question, cellulose         recently developed by its teams, and tested on
has a future. "It is the most abundant polymer       pilot industries, metapaper is wallpaper with
on earth. It is infinitely renewable and             patented patterns, printed with a conductive
completely recyclable. We are far from having        ink, which filters out the Wi-Fi signals. It can
explored all its possibilities".                     be used as an underliner to be covered. It can
Founded in 1957 in the middle of the                 insulate a room or building for increased data
traditional papermaking area to support the          protection, provide easier access to the
industry in its effort to rebuild after the war,     network, and protect the health of users. "It is
the CTP is the only organisation of this kind for    a major "first", which we have developed with
our industrial partner Alstrhom. Tests were          major social questions that its industry is faced
carried out successfully in January 2011. The        with: lignocellulose chemistry, biosourced
product is very innovative".                         materials, applications for hygiene and health,
A Gore-Tex paper or cardboard                        packaging of the future, printed electronics and
Other success of the year? A hydrophobic             smart paper, waste recovery and optimisation
paper created through "chromatogeny" (green          of industrial processes, etc. There is no
chemistry), clean technology for molecular           shortage of areas to investigate. "Just like
modification of the surface of ligno-cellulosic      textiles, paper can integrate many functions;
materials, developed by the CNRS. "The               create     new    uses    and     non-traditional
problem of cellulose is that it is hydrophilic. If   opportunities for its industry. Everything
you make a boat out of paper, it sinks. With         remains to be invented, or almost!"
this breakthrough technology, we get a kind of
gore-tex paper or cardboard, which holds great
promise in very many fields: the press and           Centre Technique du Papier
packaging, for example". Tests are under way         Domaine Universitaire
for the food industry. They are carried out on       Rue de la Papeterie
                                                     38 044 Grenoble cdx 09
the pilot line of the TekLiCell technology
                                                     Tel: 04 76 15 40 15
platform,     which    brings     together     26
                                                     contact@webctp.com
manufacturers and Grenoble INP-Pagora, the           More information: www.webctp.com
engineering school for paper science. All that
remains, is to move on to an industrial scale.
Sixty research projects under way                    * PEPS: printed electronics project for future secure
"The biggest challenge in innovation is to           packaging
convince. We need demonstrators and must             THID: tag development project for RFID, chip-free,
prove the feasibility of a product. Among our        low-cost, tamper-proof
projects, 90% lead to improvements in
processes or products, which are then
marketed in France and abroad. Our job is not
only innovation; it is primarily to enhance a
product".
With 60 projects in 2012, including THID and
PEPS*, with the Techtera "approved" label, the
CTP continues exploring the issues, trends and
Schappe Techniques
                    The stretch-break experts

                                         Founded: 1853
                                         Turnover in 2011: €11 million (80% for export)
                                         Workforce: 130
                                         Patents: 12
                                         Products: high performance technical and sewing thread
                                         Markets: personal protective equipment, automotive,
                                         aviation and aerospace, defence, industry (composites)

SMS: a very specialised firm, with technology developed in the 50s: stretch-breaking consists of
stretching the filaments of continuous thread until they break, in order to remove their weak points
and provide new properties, including strength. The target is niche markets in advance-technology
sectors such as equipment with high-level protection, aviation, aerospace and defence. Special
feature: performance. The high-tech threads created by Schappe regularly receive prizes awarded to
their users. One of the latest is a prestigious award presented as part of the European Days of
Composites (JEC) to the Latecoere aerospace equipment supplier. But, for Schappe, this was a modest
victory.




N
      ot easy getting yourself talked about           encircle the planet, and small-to-medium
      when producing long-fibre yarns for             enterprises specialising in technical products.
      technical applications, even when you           The latest, in March 2011, to cite just one
      are a highly innovative leader. And yet...      example, is the composite aircraft door
"If we had to summarise our company values,           developed by Latecoere, the equipment
we would focus on innovation and discretion.          manufacturer, which received one of the
Our goal is not to put ourselves forward. We          prestigious JEC Awards 2011 in Paris. The
are technicians. We develop highly specific           structure, with stitched pre-forms in which
thread on specifications often developed with         high-pressure resin (RTM) is injected, is
our customers to meet the needs they express          revolutionising the architecture and assembly
when they come to us. This is the essence of          of aircraft structures by reducing the time and
our business".                                        tools required for assembly. It uses a carbon
Customers: major international firms                  thread developed by Schappe, one of the
Manager of Schappe Techniques since the               French partners of the project.
takeover of the company in 2007, nearly 160           Traditional, but not only
years after its founding, Serge Piolat divides his    "We definitely have a true culture of
time between its two sites - the Croix-aux-           innovation; in the past, of course, but not only.
Mines factory in the Vosges and the Blyes site        Today, we reinvest more than 5% of our
in the Ain - and his customers. These include         turnover in R&D". Result: an image of quality
major      international      groups,       whose     and increasingly efficient products dotted along
technological performance and innovation              one and a half centuries of activity.
In fact, the Schappe story begins in the 19th         Convinced of these advantages when he
century, already with"originality": the company       arrived at the helm in 2007, Serge Piolat
recycled and recovered scrapped silk. In the          decided to push forward and reinforce the
1950s, with the rise of artificial and synthetic      upmarket position of the company in its core
fibres,    it   developed     the    stretch-break    markets such as personal protection and
technology, intended for the traditional clothing     composites. Thus, the business portfolio
and furnishing sectors. Mastering these skills        profoundly changed with a 2- to 3-figure
makes it possible to have intimate blends of          increase in some key sectors in 2011.
raw materials providing, for example, more            Partner of Textilub
suppleness      and     comfort    for    clothing.   To achieve these results, Schappe Techniques
Downstream of stretch-breaking, the spinning          increased its efforts in R&D. The century-old
involves      various    operations:     assembly,    spinning business initiated projects with the
reaming, cabling, impregnation, scraping, etc,        help of OSEO and became involved in many
giving it a stature and position and opening up       collaborative projects, with "approved" labels
a variety of markets. "Schappe business grew          from the innovation clusters. For example,
significantly in the 60s and 70s. The company         within Techtera, it is a partner in the Textilub
was bought and then sold after the first oil          project, led by SKF Aerospace and launched in
shock in 1973. In the 80s, it took a major            2008 for a period of 3 years. Objective:
turn", relates Serge Piolat.                          develop a new generation of self-lubricating
Focus on technical thread                             textile composite for aircraft articulations, the
Innovation, indeed, again before the 21st             results of which could be known in 2012.
century, with the development of stretch-
breaking and spinning technical fibre yarn.
Over the years, the company completed its             Schappe Techniques
                                                      Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l’Ain
transformation to focus on technical thread,
                                                      Allée des Erables
and take the leading position in line yarn with a     01 150 Blyes
wide range of products.                               04 74 46 31 00
"Stretch-breaking has many advantages: you            sales.rd@schappe.com
can make very fine thread and blend it, in            More information: www.schappe.com
precise     proportions    with   raw     materials
endowed with complementary characteristics.
It produces very long, strong and regular
fibres, even though they are discontinuous. It
can produce thread more swelling and ready
for impregnation".
Bel Maille:
                       a universe of knitting
                                       Founded: 1956
                                       Turnover in 2010: €17 million (45% for export)
                                       Annual production: 4 million metres
                                       Workforce: 100
                                       Products: creation, development and manufacture
                                       of knitted fabrics for clothing, lingerie and technical
                                       mesh in the fields of personal protection, medical,
                                       sport (functions of thermal insulation, moisture
                                       transfer, non-flammable, cut-resistant, automotive,
                                       3D mesh, breathable waterproof membranes).
Markets: clothing, lingerie, personal protective equipment (PPE), administrative and
institutional markets, automotive, medical, industrial, sport & leisure

SMS: the Riorges company, on the outskirts of Roanne, is an endangered species. It is currently one
of the few French companies, and the only one in the Rhône-Alpes, to be 100% specialised in mesh. In
fact, Bel Maille has been knitting for over 50 years: originally for ready-to-wear, today increasingly for
markets consuming high-tech products, which represents 25% of its turnover. Taken over in 2009 by
Stéphane Ziegler, the Roanne SME successfully continues to diversify its activities.




A
       t Bel Maille, we have several lives and           developed on request or specifications of
       several trades. This company, based in            customers from industry, personal protection,
       Riorges near Roanne, is a fine example.           medical,     motor    racing,   defence,    etc.
       A showcase of its industry, its 11,000 m²         Similarities between the two branches of the
is a condensed history of textiles over the last         business     are   creativity,  response    and
50 years - a story in motion.                            adaptability, but also, and above all, the mesh
Starting from mesh for women's ready-to-wear             and seventy circular knitting machines, which
- including lingerie and swimwear, spearhead             run non-stop. Every day, three new meshes
of the 90s - it changed profoundly and                   are created...
developed a range of technical mesh, first for           A very special trade
sport & leisure and image clothing, then for the         "The knitting trade is very special. There are
automotive, health and increasingly diversified          very few in France 100% specialised, like us.
markets.                                                 Everything is made here on site in the factory.
Seats in the A380 and gyms for the                       This is one of our special features". Former
London Olympics in 2012                                  executive of leading brands of clothing,
In the company today, fashion coexists with              Stéphane Ziegler took over the business from
fire-resistant   materials,    designers     with        the Bel family in 2009. Since then, he has
engineers, creation with R&D, quality-control            increased diversification and modernisation.
lab with the Parisian showroom. Every year,              "This business has changed dramatically during
600 different fabrics leave the factory for the          its existence. When Jacques Bel founded it in
manufacturers of the major brands of ready-to-           1956, it was knitting exclusively for French
wear. While 50 to 100 new meshes are                     women's clothes. With the arrival of his
children, he embarked on creation and               In the factory, the production process must
developed technically into sportswear and           include environmental requirements, notably
protection products, particularly for export. A     associated with recycling and waste recovery.
fire destroyed the old factory in 1989. It was      A lean management programme aimed at
rebuilt on the present site".                       developing best practice was implemented.
After this drama, and in the following years,       Training for the 41 operators employed in
the change of orientation was definite: Bel         production was streamlined.
Maille set up its design department, knitting its   Sustainable derma-textiles
first seats for the Megane and Clio, and            Upstairs, above the workshop, among the
designing fabrics for personal protection. The      designers, marketing and R&D, no letup either.
finishing part was integrated: washing,             The logo and graphics of the company were
bleaching, mechanical and chemical finishes,        given a new look. The marketing policy was to
drying. An industrial waste treatment plant was     become more aggressive. In the offices
installed. Sales of technical textiles doubled in   dedicated to the technical mesh and on the
2006. The small Roanne company launched             machines, we focus on very specific demands
into specialty performance products for shoes,      of     customers,     proposing     increasingly
helmets, gloves and suit linings. It invested in    sophisticated tenders. With the leitmotiv: "Bel
a fleet of high-tech machines, with gauges to       Maille is technology at the service of its
make all sizes of mesh, and 3D knitting             customers' creativity".
machines. New, ecological, fair-trade materials
are used in production, with, most importantly,     Bel Maille
the launch of an "eco-friendly" line in 2008.       32 rue Paul Forge
To survive, we must innovate                        ZI La Villette
                                                    42 153 Riorges
"On arrival, I was impressed by the industrial
                                                    Tel: 04 77 44 09 70
tool, no doubt about that, but also by the mix
                                                    Contact: tissumaille@belmaille.fr
of creativity and technology". Bel Maille had a     More information: www.belmaille.fr
lot of potential; however, it needed to maintain
its place in a highly competitive world. When
he took over control of the small business,
Stéphane Ziegler was well aware of this fact.
To survive, we must constantly innovate and
create at all levels. In short, take up many
challenges.
Diatex
              "Made in" technical textiles

                                              Founded: 1986
                                              Turnover 2010-2011: €12 million (including 40%
                                              export)
                                              Workforce: 25
                                              Products: agro-textiles, filtration ducts and filters
                                              for automotive, pharmaceuticals, water purification,
                                              lightweight aerospace parts, parachute fabric and
                                              air brakes, fabrics for balloons and airships, linings
                                              of bulletproof vests, technical baggage, consumable
                                              films and textiles supplies for vacuum-moulding of
composites, etc.
Markets: agriculture, aviation and aerospace, construction, industry, events, personal
protection, recreational boating and car racing, wind power, etc.
Turnover per sector: composites (50%), technical textiles (30%), agriculture (17%), light
aircraft (3%)

SMS: no silk industry past or weaving ancestor. From start-up in the 80s, the medium-sized firm from
Saint-Genis-Laval, in a suburb south of Lyon, focused 100% on technical textiles. Since then, it is
diversifying, not all categories, but in four key sectors: agriculture, aerospace, technical textiles and
composites, with outstanding achievements. Some examples: filtration for buildings at the Beijing
Olympic Games, the rear fuselage of the A380 and the fuel tank of the Ariane 5, etc. The weaving
factory, taken over in the Vercors around ten years ago, is turning at full speed seven days a week.




T
         he story of Diatex begins with...              fabrics for clothing or decoration. The company
         mosquito netting! Yet, nothing very            aimed at diversification, but only into highly-
         exotic in the career of this small             developed technical markets.
         technical textile firm. "The company           Light aircraft: the only French company
started with agro-textiles, fabrics for crop            Diatex very quickly distinguished itself and
protection, such as anti-insect or windbreak            invested in extremely specialist sectors. Its
netting, different mesh fabrics with an impact          mission? Respond to the specifications of its
on plant pollination". When Philippe Gouthez            customers or prospects, and develop new,
founded Diatex in 1986, he had one idea in              often-complex products with them. At the end
mind: develop a new type of net, more                   of the 80s, it left the Lyon asphalt to settle in
effective, for agricultural protection. The             larger premises in the heart of the industrial
challenge? Adapt the mesh to the requirements           area south of the city. New address, new
of air porosity, durability and ease of                 market: light aircraft. Using a very tough
installation of protection systems. A 100%              polyester fabric, the firm designed fins and the
technical challenge, to which the small                 rear of small aircraft - a niche market in which
debutant team, located in offices in central            it is the only French player. "Our products are
Lyon, provided an innovative answer.                    lighter and stronger, which is of course
Right from the start, Diatex focused totally on         essential. Our customers are airfields, small
technical textiles. No question of producing            manufacturers and many individuals. It does
not represent high volumes, but it is one of the      Rear fuselage of large aircraft
traditional divisions of the company".                "We went for increasingly technical products,
Ducts for the Olympics                                including one of our key products, used in the
Traditional, and almost cultural, we would like       design of the rear fuselage of the A380. To
to add because, after starting on the ground,         work for Airbus, we of course had to obtain the
Diatex rapidly rose into the air. With three key      very-demanding EN 9100 aerospace standard,
markets: filtration, events and aeronautics.          but it has opened doors..." Diatex composite
At the end of the 90s, this Lyon SME developed        consumables are also used in the design of the
its first textile ventilation ducts - again, from     Ariane V fuel tank, and parts for the cars of the
parachute fabric. The products are lightweight,       Paris-Dakar race.
washable,       colourable    and   customisable,     Storage space of 1500 m2
endowed with a whole range of properties:             Today, composites represent more than 50%
antistatic, antibacterial, etc. Result: Diatex        of sales. Yet this is not necessarily the only
ducts, now the French leader in 2008, were            sector in development. Now aged 25, Diatex
fitted in some of the Beijing Olympics reception      continues to diversify and consolidate its
buildings.                                            strengths: strong export presence through a
Four years earlier, in 2004, the company              network of distributors of consumables, large
launched membranes for balloons and airships,         product storage capacity, cutting department,
which also become one of its specialties. The         etc. The adventure continues with, amongst
requirements for these complex textiles:              the latest, a textile covering for casting
resistant to UV, helium, tearing and, finally yet     concrete parts to give them special forms.
importantly, not turning yellow. Goal achieved,       Planned for 2012: even better textiles for
using lamination and coating techniques               personal protective equipment and parachutes,
designed by the Lyon teams of weavers.                followed by the long-awaited entry into service
The climb continues - in 2009, new entry in the       of Airbus A 400 and A 350...
range, with airbrakes for fighter aircraft.
High-tech innovations
Nevertheless, it is well before these successes       Diatex
that the technical textiles expert really took off.   58 chemin des Sources
The year 1994 marked a turning point, with the        ZI La Mouche
                                                      69 230 Saint-Genis-Laval
start of a totally new activity: film and textiles
                                                      Tel: 04 78 86 85 00
consumables used in the vacuum moulding of            Contact: info@diatex.com
composite materials. The process is complex.          More information: www.diatex.com
The company provided high-tech innovations,
designed and tested on site, on small pilot
moulds. Markets concerned: pleasure and
racing boats, wind turbines, motor racing,
electrical boxes, etc, and above all, aviation.
In just over 10 years, from the late 90s and
the purchase of a weaving factory in the
Vercors, Diatex has not stopped developing,
has quadrupled its workforce, and continues to
rack up significant achievements.
Denis & Fils, high fashion and high-tech

                                            Founded: 1956
                                            Turnover in 2010: €5.5 million
                                            Workforce: 38
                                            Products: textiles for clothing, optical-fibre textiles
                                            Markets: clothing, furniture, building, transport,
                                            communication, health
                                            Annual production: 840,000 metres




SMS: what is common between a top-of-the-range sari and a luminous fabric made of optical fibre? At
first glance, not much. Nevertheless, there is indeed. In the Loire region, a small family business
weaves for both the luxury market and for high-tech textiles; it is one of the few - perhaps the only
one - in France to master the technique. At the controls, the second and third generation of the Denis
family perpetuate the family tradition of the business and fight successfully to maintain local industry.
The result: a "gem" to be discovered in the village of Montchal, an SME that is full of treasure.




Y
       ou will probably not believe this, but           broche cut velvet, silk crepe, etc and, of
       Christian Denis could have a place in the        course, natural silk form the "evening" lines,
       magazines of the popular press. Yet, he          lingerie, jacquard, furnishings and tweed,
       is not that sort of chief at this small-to-      which will make the rounds of international
medium textile firm located in the small village        shows and will be proposed to buyers,
of Montchal in the Loire region. No, his motto          particularly for export to the Gulf, but also
was      more    innovation    and     sustainable      India, China and South Korea. If necessary, the
development - no glossy paper. At Denis & Fils,         samples presented are reworked to suit
for example, all stages of textile production are       customers' requirements; or recreated from
integrated - from silk thread to the finished           zero according to specification.
product and verified in the laboratory -and all         High precision
checked locally.                                        "Textiles are creation, of course. Nevertheless,
Fashion models and stars                                above all, it is innovation. I have lived with this
Nevertheless, in the corridors of the company,          since childhood, and it is obvious. If we had
the walls have some beautiful photographs of            tried to make everything, we would not be here
models and celebrities wearing haute couture            now! Our job is very demanding and high-
clothing and lingerie created with the fabrics of       precision", says Christian Denis.
this small family business in the Loire region.         As proof, the other "specialty" developed by
"One of our specialties is natural silk. So we          the company in early 2000: optical-fibre
are very active in the luxury market through            weaving. The Montchal business is one of the
partnerships with major brands, some of which           few French companies - perhaps the only one -
date back more than 20 years", says Christian           to master this technique, which it has
Denis. But hush, no question of giving names            developed in partnership with the leader for
or revealing trade secrets! In the fashion              luminous      textiles   from    Lyon,     Brochier
design studio, we are preparing the 2012-2013           Technologies, also a member of Techtera.
winter collection. "Around fifty new models             A real challenge - optical fibre is fragile! It took
every season", declares Françoise Faure, the            months of trial and adaptation of the jacquard
company's fashion designer. Chiffon, satin,
weaving machines to manage, position and             In the 90s, Denis & Fils bought a small
work it without damage or breaks.                    drawloom firm and acquired a stake in the
A 6-tonne prototype                                  Hugo Soie silk-finishing firm. In 2007, here we
Today, of the 48 looms that the factory has          go again! Anxious to preserve the textile chain,
nestled in a hollow in the village of Montchal,      the company acquired 35% of the shares in
one of the machines - a unique prototype             Moulinages de Riotord specialising in twisting
weighing six tonnes - weaves optical fibre full-     fibre, including silk. From fibre to finished
time, for future applications in transport,          product, the overall industrial process has been
construction, communicating clothing, health,        integrated. The plant has five warping
etc. High-tech is side-by-side with high fashion.    machines for unwinding reels of thread before
The company's past meets its present. In             weaving. Sampling is done on site. The quality
charge since the mid-2000s, the third                control of finished products is performed in the
generation of Denis remains true to the              lab.
philosophy and history of a totally family-          Trademark: family
owned firm.                                          "The future, now, is Bruno and Fabienne!" The
Cycling between looms                                third generation of Denis is a duo: consisting of
A story that begins in 1956: André, Christian's      Christian's nephew and daughter. One is
father and artisan weaver, decided to set up on      responsible for developing new high-tech
his own and took over a workshop weaving for         innovations; the other, for nurturing a range of
the Lyon silk industry. The village of Montchal      scarves, created and made on site, and two
still had nearly a hundred looms in homes. The       annual collections, which are presented in the
Denis firm very quickly expanded. The eldest         factory's showroom. "One of the hallmarks of
son, Jean-Paul joined the team formed by his         our company is the family! Not just the Denis
parents and two employees. The limited               family, but all the employees, who are very
liability company was founded in 1969. The           loyal to us. We are sure this has helped us to
first factory was built in 1984. It was equipped     be successful, even if it was not always easy!"
with the most modern looms. The following
year, Denis & Fils launched its first range of
products.                                            Denis & Fils
"I joined the firm in 2000. We had developed a       Le Bourg
lot. I was supervisor at the public works            42 360 Montchal
department. I spent my free time helping my          Tel: 04 77 28 60 21
brother. But that was not enough!" Christian is      www.denisfils.fr
not a little Denis for nothing. Like his
ancestors, textiles are in his blood. "As a child,
I cycled between looms!" Like them too, he is
determined to fight to keep the industry and
local expertise in their region.
Enveho: the thermal
                       comfort specialists
                        Founded: 2007
                        Turnover in 2010: €196,000
                        Workforce: 3
                        Trade: service provider (laboratory, R&D); expertise, research and
                        development of textiles for personal protection and comfort
                        Markets: clothing, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), sport &
                        leisure, building, furniture, industry

                       SMS: installed right in the Doua campus, in the heart of the science cluster of
                       Villeurbanne (69), Enveho - the clothing environment of people - is a young
                       company providing testing and R&D services. With a specialty all its own:
                       protection and thermal comfort. Founded in 2007 by two women, the small
firm has developed software for measuring thermal comfort, CASETO®, which allows its customers -
mostly small-to-medium businesses - to identify the specifications of their products and adapt them to
their targets.



"
    T
         hermal comfort is a subjective               formed with Amandine Souply, textile engineer,
         concept, which takes into account heat       which is behind the project and development of
         transfer between people and their            the firm.
         environment      and    each    person's     Thermal       conductivity      and    radiation
perception, including psychosocial factors.           properties
Research into this is new. It only started in the     Conceived around a very specific theme, the
70s with a precursor, Fanger, a Danish                small firm has several trades: testing and
researcher who was one of the first to                analysis, conducted in the laboratory in Feyzin,
mathematically model the human body. This is          in the southern suburbs of Lyon, the
the reference in our field". Sabine Varieras,         development of new products, together with
aged 40, is a specialist in thermal comfort.          industry, and establishing the specifications of
With a Ph.D. in energy and heat transfer, she         thermal comfort, which is still quite new.
devoted her thesis to heat exchange in                In the lab, the Sabine-Amandine duo evaluates
vehicles, then her early professional life to the     the performance of work clothing or equipment
development of textile products, taking               for firefighters and military personnel, and
protection and comfort into account.                  checks them for compliance with standards.
Tailor-made                                           They also perform tests on the thermal
In industry, where she held a position in the         conductivity and radiation properties of
R&D for 3 years, the young scientist noted a          textiles.
lack; namely small responsive organisations           Rating thermal comfort
offering advice and personal services to              Their technology base, consisting of specially
companies wishing to test and provide                 developed measuring equipment and test
specifications for their products or develop new      benches, enables them to function as an
ones. In 2007, she decided to set off on her          external R&D centre working on innovation
own and start a business: Enveho. The                 with the textile industry and other sectors such
company name is an acronym for the clothing           as construction. To help them in this, they
environment of people; an idea worked out by          partly    rely    on   the    thermal    comfort
both of them. In fact, it was the duo that she
specifications software, which they launched in       In 2009, Enveho expanded its small team and
2009: Caséto®.                                        recruited a young researcher preparing a thesis
"The initial problem was to rate the thermal          on the ergonomics of physical activities and the
comfort. Comfort means not being hot and not          engineering-design of products. Over the
being cold, not feeling uncomfortable drafts.         months, the small firm has invested in new
However, there are no standards similar to            fields of application, including the building
those for protection. We therefore had to             industry through insulation and furniture.
define measurement indicators such as heat,           "People are always at the centre of our
the characteristics of the textile, moisture          concerns. We protect persons, whether this be
management, the person's activity and                 at home, or why not, when travelling",
environment, etc. That's the basis of our             Amandine Souply concludes, before adding,
software" and the starting point of the firm.         "Our role is important because we work on the
Sales pitch based on reliable information             product design. We started six months before
In front of the computer screen, the user             the crisis; to move forward, we had to build
enters the required information: textile              our credibility! Sometimes it's sport, but it's a
characteristics   (water      vapour    resistance,   great adventure". Witness at the entrance of
thermal resistance, recovery rates, etc),             the firm, a quote from Aristotle, posted on the
activity, environment (ambience, wind, etc).          door: "There is no genius without a touch of
Within seconds, the software provides accurate        madness!" Talking about the future, no?
data on thermal sensation and its variations,
depending on environmental parameters and             Enveho
activity (skin temperature, temperature of the        Centre d’Entreprises et d’Innovation
material, radiation, moisture). "This allows our      66 boulevard Niels Bohr
clients to establish their position and product       69 100 Villeurbanne
sales pitch based on reliable, verifiable             Tel: 04 72 70 84 99
scientific and technical information, which is        Contact: amandinesouply@enveho.com
supported     by    full-scale   tests.   This   is   More information: www.enveho.com
increasingly important for the public", says
Amanda Souply. For manufacturers, too, since
it allows them to validate their actions and/or
adapt their products to their targets.
Ergonomics of physical activities
Caséto® has been running at full speed for two
years, with key improvements. Developed from
single-layer clothing models, the software now
includes multilayer clothing. In 2012, it will
include the female variable and propose
calculations designed for each gender. "Each
step takes a fair time to set up. Since start-up,
our firm has evolved a lot. Our project is to
complement this research with aspects of
product ergonomics and diversify into other
sectors".
Ecole des Mines d'Alès:
                 Grey matter for industry
Founded: 1843
Workforce: 376
Number of students: 813
Number of engineering graduates: 181 (2010 figures)
Budget: €31.4 million
Turnover through research partnerships: €2.7 million
Number of research contracts: 127
International publications: 43


SMS: the Ecole des Mines d'Alès, or EMA, is one of the oldest of seven French schools for mining.
Founded in the 19th century to meet the labour needs of a booming mining industry, it has followed the
evolution of history and has succeeded in accompanying industrial change. It now accommodates 800
engineering students, most general, and ranks in the top tier of French engineering schools. At the
forefront of innovation, its three research centres work on advanced materials, environment and risk
management, and new technologies of information and communication. The psychosensory properties
of materials - smell, colour and touch - are screened for industrial applications, particularly in the
textile sector, but not only.




A
         fter the 2011 summer holidays, 260             des Mines d'Alès. It began to change. In over a
         new recruits joined the prestigious Ecole      century and a half, the transformation was
         des Mines d'Alès, in initial or continuous     radical.
         training, 166 years after their elders,        Engineer-entrepreneurs
who made up the ranks of the promotion-                 Today, the Ecole des Mines d'Alès offers its
baptism of the School of Masters-Workers-               students engineer-entrepreneur courses lasting
Miners in 1845.                                         three years, open internationally, with a
The Ecole des Mines d'Alès is one of the oldest         number of options and routes within the five
of seven French mining schools with whom it             departments of the institution allowing them to
also forms a large family: the group of mining          orientate themselves to their choice of
schools, historical, like its little sister in Douai,   profession: civil engineering, mechanical and
which opened in 1878... The royal order to              materials engineering, risk and environmental
create the Cévennes establishment was                   management, production engineering systems,
enacted in 1843 to address the shortage of              and information systems.
personnel in the Languedoc mines. Objectives:           "We could say that our trademark, or oldest
firstly, fulfil the labour needs in a growing           activity, is civil engineering and construction.
industry by training master-miners with                 This is what attracts most students. Our results
theoretical and practical skills; secondly,             are very good: 94% of our graduates have a
enable young experienced workers to climb the           job four months after gaining their diploma;
ladder of social advancement - a promise kept           one third of them in the building sector. This is
right into the 60s. Affected by the decline of          more important to us than our ranking in the
French coal, the school then became technical,          twenty to thirty top schools". Responsible for
changing its name to Ecole Nationale Technique          relations with the innovation clusters, Mireille
Fouletier is a professor in a discipline that is     themes, in a way, our warhorses. As regards
one of the jewels of Alès: mass-market               materials, we work a lot on sustainability, life
materials. "Our students receive a broad             cycle and recycling of polymers. One of our
education that will allow them to evolve             specialties is also the behaviour of fire. Some
throughout their working life and come out           of our work focuses on the mechanical
with a double profile: technology and trade,         properties of textiles: elasticity, strength, etc.
making them operational quickly. Our mission         For example, we have developed a highly
has not changed all that much, despite the           innovative photomechanical device that allows
historical upheavals. Our function is always to      us to monitor the deformation of textiles and
meet the needs of industry; as much in training      establish laws of behaviour. The LGEI has a
students as in research".                            large team investigating smells and volatile
Colour and tactile properties of textiles            organic compounds, and is developing organic
At Alès, Nîmes and Pau, where the school has         filters for the decomposition of smells. We also
its three sites and research centres, the motto      have a big team working on natural and
is indeed unchanging: listen to the needs of         industrial hazards," sums up Mireille Fouletier.
companies, considered as partners. The EMA is        The oldest French technology incubator
member of eight innovation clusters and full         The EMA is partner of the Doseless R&D
participant of the Carnot Institut, which            project, which has the Techtera and Trimatec
includes the seven schools under the name            "approved" labels for developing more efficient
M.I.N.E.S.     It puts applied collaborative         personal radiation protection equipment for
research and economic development at the             those working in the medical and nuclear
heart of its concerns.                               sectors. The EMA is undeniably noted for its
Witness to this, are its three research centres:     close relationship with industry. "The school
the CMGD (centre for mass-market materials),         distinguished itself very early through its
the LGEI (laboratory for the industrial and          teaching oriented towards entrepreneurship.
natural     environment)     and     the    LGI2P    Each year, our students have field missions in
(laboratory      for  computer     science    and    firms established locally, throughout France
production engineering). They started their          and even abroad".
activities in the 80s, around themes related to      Attesting to the strong links between the
new technologies, the industrial environmental       campus and industry, the EMA is the leading
and materials, and including textiles with highly    French business incubator. Founded in 1984, it
specific features.                                   was extended with the creation of the Science
Sustainability, life cycle and recycling             Park business centre on the Alès site, whose
Thus, among others, the CMGD studies the             first stone was laid in late 2010. Objective:
psychosensory properties of materials, the first     accommodate up to thirty new companies,
of which is... colour. "We began by studying         which will benefit from the proximity of the
the colour of mineral powders and then               incubator and laboratory equipment. To be
expanded our research to other properties and        continued...
other materials. We were interested in the
formulation of colours and visual effects in         Ecole des Mines d’Alès
order to develop a predictive model of the           6, avenue de Clavières
visual aspect of materials. It's very innovative".   30 319 Alès cdx
                                                     Tel: 04 66 78 50 00
Also, very strategic for the manufacturers
                                                     More information: www.mines-ales.fr
concerned, ranging from the building industry
to cosmetics, among others. Psychosensory
too, are the tactile properties of textiles, for
example, on which a dozen researchers at the
Centre are working with the University of Pau.
With 127 current contracts, the list of activities
and fields of investigation in the school's three
research centres is long. "We have several
ELyT Lab, the Franco-Japanese
       creators of "smart" materials
Founded: 2008
Workforce: around 150 (students and researchers)
Status: International Associated Laboratory (IAL) of the CNRS
Institutions involved: INSA Lyon, Lyon Ecole Centrale, Tohoku University (Japan)
Research areas: biosciences and engineering, sustainability and reliability in energy and
transport, nano- and micro-materials, fluid dynamics, heat transfer and micro-fluids,
tribology
Application areas: health, industry, transport, electronics, energy, environment, etc

SMS: ELyT Lab - meaning Engineering and Science Lyon Tohoku Laboratory - is a unique example in
France of a public research laboratory associating two countries, France and Japan. Founded in 2008
after over 20 years of varied collaboration between the three schools and universities involved, the
Franco-Japanese laboratory is noted for its many fields of study and the number of researchers and
students participating in this bicultural adventure. Results expected? Progress in basic research on
smart materials and multi-functionality (tribology - the science of friction and wear -, reactivity,
mechanical and thermal properties) giving the possibility of many applications; closer relations
between the two countries. In March 2011, the two Lyon schools mobilised to help their Tohoku
colleagues in Sendai, in the north of the archipelago, the region most affected by the tsunami.



"
    F
        or me it was a sign, an extraordinary        and this is what makes it a success story - an
        coincidence. In 2007, the Lyon Ecole         original bias: a multidisciplinary approach.
        Centrale     celebrated      its     150th   For three years, ELyT lab has been noted for
        anniversary, Tohoku University its 100th     the number of students and researchers
anniversary     and   INSA     Lyon,     its  50th   involved in its projects, the variety of topics
anniversary. We were then thinking deeply            and vitality. Success was almost immediate.
about the work areas for our future joint            A deeply-rooted history...
laboratory established in 2008. So, we all           "In fact, our history goes back 25 years. It
participated in the festivities, in Lyon and         began with the previous generation. Our
Japan! The Japanese researcher, Prof. Tetsuo         laboratories, whether in France or Japan, have
Shoji, quoted here, is one of the three joint        always been very active in the field of tribology
head scientists of the ELyT Lab, the French-         and smart materials. At the time, four of our
Japanese research laboratory set up under the        internationally renowned professors regularly
auspices of the CNRS, by the Tohoku                  met each other in symposia. They got on well
University, which he represents, INSA Lyon and       with each other scientifically and became
the Lyon Ecole Centrale. He, together with his       friends. Those were the beginnings of ELyT
colleagues Jean-Yves Cavaillé and Philippe           Lab", recalls Jean-Yves Cavaillé. At the time,
Kapsa, designed, built and manage this unique        this researcher, specialising in the science and
laboratory. A laboratory without walls and           engineering of materials, was a member of the
without its own equipment, like all the              team of Professor Gobin, at INSA Lyon, one of
International Associated Laboratories (IAL) of       the original four musketeers. In a few years,
the CNRS, based on joint work teams and the          the quartet set up the first collaborations,
energy of several laboratories recognised in         exchanges of PhD students, and increased the
their fields on both sides of the planet. With -     number of contacts. In 1997, it organised the
first Franco-Japanese Symposium on smart             Five workgroups federated around five themes:
materials, supported by the CNRS. The                bioscience, sustainability and safety in energy
laboratory teams involved were mobilised. The        and transport, micro- and nano-materials, fluid
bicultural adventure really began. From that         dynamics, tribology. In three years, they
moment, the number of participants has               became the fertile ground for 21 joint research
continued increasing.                                projects on various subjects.
Their rallying point? The liaison office is on the   An example? In the medical sector, the
INSA Lyon campus, in Villeurbanne, on the first      development of innovative biomaterials for
floor of the MATEIS laboratory. In these 20 m²,      catheters in the Biocat project, based notably
was born the ''embassy'' in 2004 through a           on the tribology expertise of Lyon researchers,
formal     agreement      between     the    three   or innovative alloys used in hip replacements,
institutions. Within these walls, are received       endowed       with      special    microstructures
students preparing their double degree. It was       developed by metallurgists at INSA Lyon.
opened in 2006 and, since late 2008, receives        The projects, mostly focused on fundamental
Japanese researchers of ELyT Lab on mission          research, generate international publications
to Lyon. 10,000 km away in Sendai, the               signed by ELyT Lab in scientific journals.
configuration is identical: like in France, the      Nevertheless, they arouse the interest of large
liaison office is the place for physical             groups such as Total and EDF on the French
representation of the agreements linking the         side, the lab's first industrial partners, but not
French schools and the Japanese university -         the only ones...
the place where researchers and students meet        A first ELyT School
to work.                                             "In our three establishments, this laboratory is
The beginnings of a joint adventure...               now by far our most important international
However, the first joint research projects did       collaboration," says the trio in chorus. "For its
not wait for dedicated buildings and formal          scientific advances of course, but also because
agreements before starting. Work began long          it demonstrates that we are convinced from the
before the creation of ELyT Lab. In 1990,            start: the meeting of cultures is a source of
students from the Ecole Centrale joined the          innovation. It is necessarily creative".
Tohoku teams working on the durability of            No doubt, beyond the scientific aspects, ELyT
video tapes. In 2003, a larger project was           Lab is a cultural and human adventure. In
launched by the CNRS and its counterpart the         2009, the laboratory held its first summer
TSPS. The markers of the joint laboratory were       school: ELyT School, held each summer for
in place. The idea caught on. In March 2008,         three years. For around thirty participants,
INSA Lyon and the Ecole Centrale submitted a         alternately French side and Japanese side, it
file to the CNRS for an International Associated     allows students and researchers to immerse
Laboratory. In Japan, the administrative             themselves for ten days in the culture of their
procedures were begun at the same time. The          partner country, with a programme of scientific
official agreement for the birth of the IAL was      lectures, visits and exchanges and awareness
signed on December 8, 2008 in Sendai. It was         of the cultural aspects of the host country.
followed by a scientific symposium organised         "It has taken a lot of time, but we see that our
for the first time, with the name ELyT Lab.          ties are becoming stronger". Witness to these
An example: innovative biomaterials                  ties, is the solidarity of INSA and the Ecole
"In fact, we went ahead quickly, despite the         Centrale towards Tohoku, in the first hours of
administrative aspects," recalls Philippe Kapsa,     the earthquake on March 11, 2011. The INSA
from the LTDS (laboratory of tribology and           foundation donated to Haru, the association of
system dynamics) of the Lyon Ecole Centrale.         Japanese     students,     to help     reconstruct
One year of scientific brainstorming was in fact     laboratories damaged or destroyed by the
enough to define the laboratory research             tsunami. The Lyon Ecole Centrale received a
subjects,      with   the    underlying    theme:    small group of students deprived of premises.
multidiscipline, and objective: link up the          With 40,000m² of buildings damaged, the
mutual excellence to start totally new projects.
Japanese University had to work extra hard to
restore its infrastructure and continue its work.
Beyond scientific exchanges...
A major event, the March 11 tsunami is
probably also a turning point for ELyT Lab. An
international scientific programme, bringing
together researchers from the laboratory and a
much wider network of expertise in North
America, Asia and Europe, will be launched in
2012 at Tohoku University. Objective: to
explore new solutions to prevent damage due
to tsunamis, using information gathered after
March 11, working in particular on the
dissipation of sea energy. Students of the
department       of    Science    and     Material
Engineering at INSA Lyon are already working
on    innovation     projects   concerning    the
prevention of tsunamis; the first workshop
devoted to this research is scheduled for late
2012. Techtera will be closely involved.

Elyt Lab – Bureau de liaison
INSA de Lyon
69 221 Villeurbanne cdx
Tel: 04 72 43 81 84
More information: www.insa-lyon.fr
/Laboratoires/GEMPPM/ang_index.html
Sofileta boosts
innovation
Founded: 1911
Workforce: 235
Turnover in 2010: €55 million
Trades: warping, weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing, coating, laminating
Products: jacket textiles for firefighters, racing driver suits, protection against electric arc,
functional textiles for sport, refreshing and energizing textiles, components for aerospace, etc
Markets: sport, lingerie, fashion clothing, bags and luggage, personal protection, aerospace,
automotive and medical

SMS: Sofileta is part of a family Group, which from preparing the thread to the final finishing of mono- or
multi-layer fabrics, masters many textile trades. When the Group began, just 100 years ago, their trade
was the work of dyeing for the Lyon silk industry. Today Sofileta has an industrial organisation with
several production sites in Isère, where the Bourgoin-Jallieu SME prepares the thread, weaves, knits, and
finishes... And, every year, launches a significant number of innovative products in its preferred markets:
sport and personal protection. Growing, despite the crisis, this model company applies its expertise to
new horizons, including aviation.




 U
         nique: this could summarise the profile         the Isère family Group factories do beaming,
         of Sofileta, the family-owned firm.             weaving, knitting and finishing, and have sites
         Situated in Bourgoin-Jallieu, about fifty       in other parts of the region. "We made a
         kilometres east of Lyon, it is based on         choice… We could have relocated at any time.
 an industrial organisation incorporating almost         We have done the opposite and prefer being
 all the textile trades on several Isère sites. Full     successful with French industry. This took, and
 industrial integration in less than 100 years.          still takes, a lot of courage and tenacity".
 What could be better?                                   Seventy percent for export
 An industrial heritage                                  Totally French, the SOFILETA company is
 "In France there are very few textile companies         organised around business units for the
 like us, who combine the two techniques of              markets: Sofileta Advanced Textiles for
 weaving and knitting, with a good balance               personal       protection,    Sofileta     Advanced
 between the two". Chairman of the board since           Materials for industrial applications and Sofileta
 2007, Benoit Bouret is the third generation of          ActiveWear-Bodywear-Fashion            for    sport,
 the family. Today at the helm, along with his           lingerie, ready-to-wear and bags. These are
 father,    Jean-Claude     Bouret,   the    young       separate units, each with their line manager,
 manager, graduated from HEC in 2007, is well            their R&D and sales teams. Objective: simplify
 aware of being at the head of an industrial             and clarify the organisation and activities of the
 heritage. "Sofileta condenses the whole history         company management, particularly as regards
 of textiles. The company has followed textiles,         international customers. In 2010, Sofileta
 and adapted, from the outset. We are                    achieved 70% of its turnover from exports.
 centenarians and have been faithful for many            It is difficult to portray all the products sold in
 years to our strategy of integration and                Europe, particularly the East, Asia and South
 diversification. First and foremost, our Group is       America. Two of the company's specialties have
 a powerful industrial tool."                            become famous: sport and personal protection,
 The Sofileta trade is to design, develop and            areas where Sofileta has contributed major
 market technical and functional textiles. Also,         innovations. One of the latest? Sofileta Cooling
Fabrics®,      a   technology   exploiting   the    subcontractors. The company designed and
refreshing properties of a revolutionary            sold finished products - only to the clothing
polymer: it absorbs moisture from the body          sector at the start. Our flagship product at the
during physical activity and provides freshness     time was acetate lining, of which we were one
in exchange. This product, developed in             of the largest European producers". But, no
partnership with the Belgian company Luxilon,       question of resting on our laurels. In the early
manufacturer of the filament, won an award for      90s, Sofileta added a first knitting unit and
innovation in May 2011 during the prestigious       launched new lines of product, before
Techtextil international trade fair in Frankfurt.   developing textiles increasingly complex in
"What is also very innovative, is the               their properties and functions.
specification work done on textiles using this      A brand new factory
polymer. Comparative tests have been                Next rendezvous: in 2013, 102 years old, the
conducted on a laboratory model simulating          Group will offer itself the luxury of celebrating
the human body with its heat and moisture           its centenary and, above all, writing a new
exchanges. A temperature difference on the          chapter in its history. If administrative
surface of the skin between 1.4°C and 3°C was       obstacles do not excessively delay the project,
measured after 60 minutes of physical effort,       a brand new factory will open in Isère. High-
compared with existing fabrics on the               tech and "clean", it will focus on new more
sportswear market. This is not mere sales           energy-efficient     technologies,     optimised
talk".                                              processes, more environment-friendly, and
Aerospace, automotive and medical                   technologically advanced. Without doubt, this
Other examples of star products: the                will boost the success of the Isère SME. Among
Sofil'Arc® range for the electrical industry,       those coming in 2012: Sofileta Energizing
providing protection from electric arc, the         Fabrics®, a technology that could, if ongoing
Diamond Technology® innovation, which               trials confirm, confer slimming and stimulating
through its special weaving, functions and new      properties to lingerie or clothing worn close to
performances, provides fire and heat resistant      the body. This just shows, concluded the young
textiles, or SofiShield® technology, which is       head of the company, "there is always
about to be marketed in Europe after two years      something to invent". Listening to him, we
research, gives treated textiles outstanding        have no doubt that this is true.
resistance to abrasion without compromising
breathability and flexibility.                      Sofileta
Two years ago, Sofileta added another string to     25, Petite Rue de la Plaine
its bow, with the development of technologies       38 311 Bourgoin Jallieu
                                                    Tel: 04 74 43 55 00
inducing new functional processes in textile
                                                    Contact: contact@sofileta.com
products. The hundred-year-old company
                                                    More information: www.sofileta.com
invests in new markets: aerospace and
medical. "Our culture is diversification. What
marks our history, are the technical challenges
to which we have responded. We are therefore
consistent with our past".
When Grandfather Benoit Bouret joined
Sofileta, shortly after the founding of the
company in 1911, and took over management,
the little firm had only one trade: dyer for the
Lyon silk industry. It mutated in line with the
great transformations in the sector, with the
advent of artificial and then synthetic fibres,
and expanded rapidly in the 60s, until the key
date: 1969, when it bought a major weaving
factory. "From then on, we ceased to be mere
The LGCIE, pioneer
                   in the environmental
                  monitoring of silicones

Founded: 2007
Staff: 88 teachers-researchers and administrative staff, about 50 Ph.D. students
Research domains: civil engineering and urban planning, environmental analysis of
processes and industrial systems, urban hydrology, treatment and recovery of waste, soils,
polluted sediments

SMS: here, in this Villeurbanne laboratory on the INSA Lyon campus, the science of waste treatment
took its first steps in the early 70s, led by visionary chemist professors - Alain Navarro and John
Véron. The initial chemist approach was then enriched by the addition of process systems researchers.
Then, in January 2007, the team collaborated with other separate institutions, INSA and UCBL Lyon1,
to form the LGCIE (laboratory of civil and environmental engineering). Thereafter, research made
significant advances. Today, one of the team's flagship topics focuses on the anaerobic digestion of
organic waste and energy recovery from the biogas produced. Thus, the team conducted the first work
in France on the deterioration of silicones present in countless consumer products.




D
         id you know? Every French person uses        planning and environmental analysis of
         an average of 1 kg of silicon per year,      processes and industrial systems.
         found in cosmetics, health, household        "We started from nothing. Our knowledge was
         products,       shampoos,          paint,    zero! What pushed us into this was a problem
repositionable adhesive, bathroom joints,             encountered in the field by the biogas energy
kitchen moulds, electrical insulation, mobile         recovery sector; the gas (over 50% methane)
phone shells, etc. A recent but exponential           produced by the fermentation of waste.
development: since their post-war discovery,          Unexplained deposits of silica (abrasive) on the
these chemical products derived from silicon          energy-recovery engine pistons were likely to
and silica (sand) continue to procreate. Their        damage them. We analysed these deposits and
applications are endless. No wonder: their            went up the chain to discover that they came
properties, resistance in particular, put them in     from the deterioration of silicones in waste.
the first rank of performance polymers. Current       This is how our work started". Seven years
global growth is 6-7% per year. In short, they        later, Patrick Germain, professor and head of
are everywhere, and their future is assured.          the environmental, industrial and urban science
Starting from scratch...                              degree from 2005 to 2010, gives an
Silicones are central to the work done by the         enthusiastic report. "Here in our laboratory,
LGCIE (laboratory of civil and environmental          around ten researchers are involved in
engineering) of Villeurbanne on the LyonTech          methanisation, biogas and silicone! It must be
campus of Doua.                                       said that since 2004, the general context has
The groundwork began in 2004. The teams               evolved a lot. The interest in these subjects is
from INSA Lyon and the Claude Bernard Lyon I          greater now". The first world thesis on the
University, came together in 2007 under that          relationship between the deterioration of
name to pool their respective fields of               silicones, and the technical and economic
investigation in civil engineering, urban             problems engendered, was continued by the
                                                      LGCIE in 2008; another topic followed in 2011.
A patent was filed on a method for analysing         most common material on the planet. But, we,
biogas. A purification process was developed         the researchers and manufacturers, know what
and field-tested. Today, LGCIE is the only           is needed to get that far".
French laboratory successfully working on the        Hydrology, environmental engineering
deterioration and environmental impact of            Examining environmental issues to improve
silicones.                                           their consideration when preparing building
"We      are     different   because     of    our   plots and provide better control over pollution:
multidisciplinary approach. When we started          such could summarise the overall definition of
talking about the science of waste in the 70s,       the work done by the LGCIE. With a strong
only chemists were interested. Then we               presence on the ground for sewerage,
recruited biologists, geologists, statisticians.     purification or waste treatment plants (from
Our research on silicones combines many skills.      which researchers regularly take samples), the
This gives us another outlook. For us, 1 + 1         lab works on a variety of subjects in
equals 3".                                           partnership with local communities and waste-
Global benchmark in the sector                       treatment and construction companies.
The equation shows the value of adding talent.       Its role? Identify, analyse and study recovery
Manufacturers quickly understood this. Hence,        possibilities. For this, the teams employ all
of course, the global benchmark in the sector -      their expertise: hydrology, environmental and
Bluestar Silicones, one of the leading silicone      civil engineering; the examples abound. Thus,
manufacturers, first-class leaders in markets        in the Lyon area, the LGCIE continuously
such as elastomers for paramedics and the            monitors       the    many     physical-chemical
automotive       industry,    anti-adhesion    for   parameters of wastewater and surface water in
packaging, adhesives and textile coating for         the sewers. It also takes specific samples for
airbags, technical textiles and lingerie. From its   its research into the impact of weather
birth in 2007, and the takeover of the silicone      conditions or human activities. Our teams also
business by the Bluestar Group from the              work on the transformation of household
Rhodia chemist, the new unit formed a closer         rubbish into materials usable for sub-layers of
relationship     with    the   Villeurbanne   lab.   roads or in the building industry.
Objective: measure the impact of its products        The long-term aim is greater recovery and
in the waste treatment sector. European              recycling of waste. "Today, we only reuse 30%
regulations require the silicone industry to         of biogas production. With the explosion of
review its production processes and use new          renewable energy, this percentage will increase
types of catalysts free of tin or mercury            dramatically. We need to work on, study and
compounds. Bluestar Silicones took up this           eliminate the technological blocks in these new
environmental and economic challenge and             waste-recovery sectors".
launched a collaborative research project:
ECOMAT, approved by Techtera in 2009, with           LGCIE – Laboratoire de Génie Civil et
four manufacturers and three research                d’Ingénierie Environnementale
laboratories, including LGCIE, as partners. One      Tel: 04 72 43 82 76
                                                     Contact: patrick.germain@insa-lyon.fr
aim of this project, supported by the French
                                                     lgcie@insa-lyon.fr
government, was to assess the environmental
                                                     More information: http://lgcie.insa-lyon.fr
impact and study the deterioration of silicone
products with this new generation of catalysts.
Conclusion? Too early to tell; the research is
still going on but the outlook is attractive.
"ECOMAT       is    expanding     our   areas   of
investigation, allowing us to better understand
the decomposition of silicones. Possibly even,
to eventually control it with super-bacteria and
move towards biodegradable silicones. If all
goes well, the silicone will finish as sand, the
TECHTERA: FACTS AND FIGURES

Techtera is the innovation cluster for textiles and flexible materials in the Rhône-Alpes
region. A network of manufacturers, researchers and persons in higher education gathered
around one aim: to develop R&D partnership projects (involving at least two firms and one
laboratory). Focused on its mission, innovation, the cluster offers its members a range of
services dedicated to the development of new products, processes and technologies:
Innovation Workshops, "project" workgroups, search for partners and funding, monitoring of
funded R&D projects, international communication and development, etc.


Founded: July 2005
Number of members: 110, including 80% manufacturers and 70% small-to-medium firms
(2010 figures)
Number of projects supported by the cluster: 204
Number of projects with the cluster's "approved" label: 110
An average of 4.5 partners per project (manufacturers, research laboratories, technical
centres)

R&D budgets for all projects funded since the cluster's creation: €137 million.
Fifty-five percent of the cluster's manufacturing members are partners of one or more
projects.
To do this, they invested more than €11 million in R&D from their own capital in 2009.

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Press Release smart textiles success stories techtera english_120109

  • 1. Press pack The innovation "success stories" They are entrepreneurs, startup designers, researchers, engineers, generating or initiating R&D projects, inventors of new products... All are members of Techtera, the innovation cluster for technical textiles and flexible materials. Portraits of these talents of intuitive, dynamic and confident innovation who, each in their own way, have revolutionised the industry 2011 Press contact: Techtera Anne Masson 04 20 30 28 80 international@Techtera.org
  • 2. INTRODUCTION But what do they have in common? A small phrase that recurs as underlying theme: "a company that does not innovate cannot survive!" And a belief: "nothing is impossible!". For some, a method: "everyday, apply the principles of creativity: release the ideas that emerge, do not say no, find ways of achieving". A way of life, also: "innovation, of course, and partnership". In fact, a network: they are all members of Techtera, the innovation cluster for textiles and flexible materials, established in 2005 to support and develop innovation in its sector. Is there a typical portrait of an innovative entrepreneur? "No", replies Paul Millier, who teaches innovation management at EM Lyon (business school). "I have observed those who innovate for years. I have seen quite a number, and no, I cannot draw a typical portrait. They are all different. The only thing they have in common is their conviction and enthusiasm". This conviction is the theme of this second series of portraits of companies and research laboratories conducted by Techtera. The selection is not exhaustive, not in order of importance, taken from among the 120 members of the cluster: - Raidlight, the race for innovation - Centre Technique du Papier: the paper research centre for metapapers of tomorrow - Schappe Techniques, the stretch-break experts - Bel Maille, a universe of knitting - Diatex, "Made in" Technical Textiles - Denis & Fils, high fashion and high-tech - Enveho, the thermal comfort specialists - Ecole des Mines d'Alès: grey matter for industry - ELyT Lab, the Franco-Japanese creators of smart materials - Sofileta boosts innovation - LGCIE, pioneer in the environmental monitoring of silicones
  • 3. Raidlight, the race for innovation Turnover 2010-2011: €3.3 million Growth: 25% per year on average for 10 years Workforce: 30 Patents: 5 Products: backpacks, clothing, jackets for running, hiking, climbing and mountaineering Markets: Sport & outdoor recreation Brand: Raidlight, Vertical, MadeinFrance SMS: nothing stops the race forward of this small company founded in 1999 by Benoit Laval. In 12 years, this small specialist of clothing and accessories for trail running has carved out its place, among the major French brands in the world of sport & leisure, with a range of eco- friendly products, among others. Making a decisive step, Raidlight notched up a fine performance in 2011 with the acquisition of Vertical - manufacturer of bags, suits and accessories for climbing and mountaineering - a move to the heart of the Chartreuse nature park, the design and launch of the first European trail station. Targets for 2012, new innovative "products", interactively developed with, and for, users. A marathon year! Eleven months were Eleven months after the start of negotiations enough for Benoit Laval, CEO of the with the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse Raidlight company, to take a decisive in Isère, and here you can see the result, in the turn for the company he founded in centre of this small mountain village in the 1999, with the June 2010 takeover of Vertical, Chartreuse nature park. A timber-framed a brand well known by climbing and building, with photovoltaic roof and covering mountaineering pros. 1000 m², accommodates a workshop for A site for expansion designing and prototyping products, factory With more employees and confirmed growth, outlet, mail-order office, a sport and relaxation Raidlight felt cramped in its Saint-Genest- room. Since June 2011, the building is also the Malifaux buildings in the heart of the Pilat meeting place for trail runners - more than nature park, in the Loire region. Benoit Laval 500,000 adepts in France - who come to was looking for a site that could allow him to discover the ten-or-so routes of 8 to 30 km expand and complete the project near to his leading out from the trail station, designed, heart. "We needed a plot where we could put tested and launched by Raidlight and its up an eco-friendly building, to remain true to partners, the village, the Park and the our company values. We also wanted to find a Chartreuse association of mountain guides. natural area to set up our trail station and Half of the company's employees embarked on partners to manage it with us. Finally, the the adventure. The dozen who could not move living environment was an essential factor, for were replaced. "The hardest part is behind us. the employees and myself. In 2009, we started It was not easy. Now, we have found our looking in the Loire region but without success, signposts again". until finding something here".
  • 4. Among them, the company's motor long before hiking poles, etc, already winners of numerous the explosion of this way of communication, is Innovation Awards. interaction, an inherent characteristic that A new look for the Cardis jacket marks out the path of Raidlight since its infancy "By joining Techtera, we seek to develop in the early 2000s. "When I launched the innovation and sourcing. It should, for brand, with a range of ten products sold at the example, help us to find new materials". finishing line, I did it at weekends for the love In the coming months, Raidlight will market of it. I had one goal: improve the equipment of sustainable trail shoes, offering the possibility runners and respond to their needs. Users of replacing worn and "custom-built" parts of reacted to what I proposed and gave me ideas the sole; together with a range of adaptable and suggestions for improvement. I then accessories. New types of backpacks will come decided to organise the customer-relations on the market. The little Isère brand will also aspect by creating an interactive space on our relaunch the legendary jacket of Chamonix website and a space for testing products here guides, trackers and sailors in the 70s: the at the store". famous Cardis, with a design and materials The "Raidlight team" updated to modern tastes. Textile engineer and enthusiastic runner since Last but not least, the trail station should the age of 9, with some fine victories to his gradually reach its cruising speed and its goal credit, including the title of vice-champion of of receiving from 10,000 to 15,000 runners on France, Benoit Laval holds all the cards needed its trails each year. Enough to satisfy the for initiating a community spirit: "rather than leader of its adepts, Benoit Laval, who go into sponsoring like most sport brands, we nevertheless continues to run five times a week created a team open to all. This is the in the mountains. "A nice reward"... "Raidlight team", which now has 3000 members. All our customers can join, Raidlight regardless of their level, create a running blog Le Bourg - Chemin de Perquelin on our website, and interact with other 38 380 Saint Pierre de Chartreuse Tel: 04 76 533 555 runners. This is ideal for the company because E-mail: information@raidlight.com it allows us to understand and follow the More information: www.raidlight.com expectations of our users every day". Bamboo and recycled polyester Working capital: around fifty products, designed by the four R&D engineers, are tested throughout the year. One sole condition: complete the company's questionnaire. New materials and features voted for by consumers join the range of products sold. The others are reworked or simply abandoned. Our key words are "lightweight and eco-friendly". The clothes we make are 80 to 90% bamboo and recycled polyester. We have also launched a MadeinFrance range with a dozen products made in the region, at little extra cost to the buyer". The career of the company does not stop there. In mind for 2012, is the development of mail order in Germany and Spain, via dedicated websites, and launch innovative new products to complement the range of backpacks, shirts,
  • 5. Centre Technique du Papier (CTP): the paper research centre for metapapers of tomorrow Founded: 1957 Turnover in 2010: €11.5 million Status: nonprofitmaking Workforce: 135 (researchers and technicians) SMS: in the heart of Cellulose Valley, in the Grenoble area, the Centre Technique du Papier (CTP) has revolutionised the paper industry and nonwovens through process and product innovations. Among the most promising successes of recent years is Metapaper, a wallpaper that insulates buildings from Wi-Fi signals, or a hydrophobic paper obtained through "chromatogeny", with many possibilities for the packaging industry. The development of biosourced materials and product diversification are central to research and the study of new applications for health and hygiene, future packaging, recycling, waste recovery, etc. This paper undoubtedly has a great future! P aper is not dead, far from it! With paper in France. It devotes three quarters of its " textiles, it is one of the fundamental energy to R&D, in the service of companies and materials as old as time, or almost! groups of all sizes looking for technological Today, it is highly innovative. solutions or breakthrough products for the Moreover, in our business for a future. The centre has accompanied the good ten years, we talk less of evolution in production processes. "The paper paper and increasingly of cellulose substrate. industry has made tremendous progress. It This term includes new products and uses for works virtually in a closed circuit. It treats and paper. It is our personal role to open up these recycles its waste and limits its energy new ways". consumption. Today, we continue to play a Abundant on Earth leading role in process and product innovation. Guy Eymin Petot Tourtollet is a director of the Moreover, the product part has expanded CTP scientific and technical unit in Grenoble. greatly since the year 2000". For him, as for all of these enthusiastic Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi signals defenders of paper gathered on the campus of Among the most spectacular inventions Saint-Martin-d'Heres, no question, cellulose recently developed by its teams, and tested on has a future. "It is the most abundant polymer pilot industries, metapaper is wallpaper with on earth. It is infinitely renewable and patented patterns, printed with a conductive completely recyclable. We are far from having ink, which filters out the Wi-Fi signals. It can explored all its possibilities". be used as an underliner to be covered. It can Founded in 1957 in the middle of the insulate a room or building for increased data traditional papermaking area to support the protection, provide easier access to the industry in its effort to rebuild after the war, network, and protect the health of users. "It is the CTP is the only organisation of this kind for a major "first", which we have developed with
  • 6. our industrial partner Alstrhom. Tests were major social questions that its industry is faced carried out successfully in January 2011. The with: lignocellulose chemistry, biosourced product is very innovative". materials, applications for hygiene and health, A Gore-Tex paper or cardboard packaging of the future, printed electronics and Other success of the year? A hydrophobic smart paper, waste recovery and optimisation paper created through "chromatogeny" (green of industrial processes, etc. There is no chemistry), clean technology for molecular shortage of areas to investigate. "Just like modification of the surface of ligno-cellulosic textiles, paper can integrate many functions; materials, developed by the CNRS. "The create new uses and non-traditional problem of cellulose is that it is hydrophilic. If opportunities for its industry. Everything you make a boat out of paper, it sinks. With remains to be invented, or almost!" this breakthrough technology, we get a kind of gore-tex paper or cardboard, which holds great promise in very many fields: the press and Centre Technique du Papier packaging, for example". Tests are under way Domaine Universitaire for the food industry. They are carried out on Rue de la Papeterie 38 044 Grenoble cdx 09 the pilot line of the TekLiCell technology Tel: 04 76 15 40 15 platform, which brings together 26 contact@webctp.com manufacturers and Grenoble INP-Pagora, the More information: www.webctp.com engineering school for paper science. All that remains, is to move on to an industrial scale. Sixty research projects under way * PEPS: printed electronics project for future secure "The biggest challenge in innovation is to packaging convince. We need demonstrators and must THID: tag development project for RFID, chip-free, prove the feasibility of a product. Among our low-cost, tamper-proof projects, 90% lead to improvements in processes or products, which are then marketed in France and abroad. Our job is not only innovation; it is primarily to enhance a product". With 60 projects in 2012, including THID and PEPS*, with the Techtera "approved" label, the CTP continues exploring the issues, trends and
  • 7. Schappe Techniques The stretch-break experts Founded: 1853 Turnover in 2011: €11 million (80% for export) Workforce: 130 Patents: 12 Products: high performance technical and sewing thread Markets: personal protective equipment, automotive, aviation and aerospace, defence, industry (composites) SMS: a very specialised firm, with technology developed in the 50s: stretch-breaking consists of stretching the filaments of continuous thread until they break, in order to remove their weak points and provide new properties, including strength. The target is niche markets in advance-technology sectors such as equipment with high-level protection, aviation, aerospace and defence. Special feature: performance. The high-tech threads created by Schappe regularly receive prizes awarded to their users. One of the latest is a prestigious award presented as part of the European Days of Composites (JEC) to the Latecoere aerospace equipment supplier. But, for Schappe, this was a modest victory. N ot easy getting yourself talked about encircle the planet, and small-to-medium when producing long-fibre yarns for enterprises specialising in technical products. technical applications, even when you The latest, in March 2011, to cite just one are a highly innovative leader. And yet... example, is the composite aircraft door "If we had to summarise our company values, developed by Latecoere, the equipment we would focus on innovation and discretion. manufacturer, which received one of the Our goal is not to put ourselves forward. We prestigious JEC Awards 2011 in Paris. The are technicians. We develop highly specific structure, with stitched pre-forms in which thread on specifications often developed with high-pressure resin (RTM) is injected, is our customers to meet the needs they express revolutionising the architecture and assembly when they come to us. This is the essence of of aircraft structures by reducing the time and our business". tools required for assembly. It uses a carbon Customers: major international firms thread developed by Schappe, one of the Manager of Schappe Techniques since the French partners of the project. takeover of the company in 2007, nearly 160 Traditional, but not only years after its founding, Serge Piolat divides his "We definitely have a true culture of time between its two sites - the Croix-aux- innovation; in the past, of course, but not only. Mines factory in the Vosges and the Blyes site Today, we reinvest more than 5% of our in the Ain - and his customers. These include turnover in R&D". Result: an image of quality major international groups, whose and increasingly efficient products dotted along technological performance and innovation one and a half centuries of activity.
  • 8. In fact, the Schappe story begins in the 19th Convinced of these advantages when he century, already with"originality": the company arrived at the helm in 2007, Serge Piolat recycled and recovered scrapped silk. In the decided to push forward and reinforce the 1950s, with the rise of artificial and synthetic upmarket position of the company in its core fibres, it developed the stretch-break markets such as personal protection and technology, intended for the traditional clothing composites. Thus, the business portfolio and furnishing sectors. Mastering these skills profoundly changed with a 2- to 3-figure makes it possible to have intimate blends of increase in some key sectors in 2011. raw materials providing, for example, more Partner of Textilub suppleness and comfort for clothing. To achieve these results, Schappe Techniques Downstream of stretch-breaking, the spinning increased its efforts in R&D. The century-old involves various operations: assembly, spinning business initiated projects with the reaming, cabling, impregnation, scraping, etc, help of OSEO and became involved in many giving it a stature and position and opening up collaborative projects, with "approved" labels a variety of markets. "Schappe business grew from the innovation clusters. For example, significantly in the 60s and 70s. The company within Techtera, it is a partner in the Textilub was bought and then sold after the first oil project, led by SKF Aerospace and launched in shock in 1973. In the 80s, it took a major 2008 for a period of 3 years. Objective: turn", relates Serge Piolat. develop a new generation of self-lubricating Focus on technical thread textile composite for aircraft articulations, the Innovation, indeed, again before the 21st results of which could be known in 2012. century, with the development of stretch- breaking and spinning technical fibre yarn. Over the years, the company completed its Schappe Techniques Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l’Ain transformation to focus on technical thread, Allée des Erables and take the leading position in line yarn with a 01 150 Blyes wide range of products. 04 74 46 31 00 "Stretch-breaking has many advantages: you sales.rd@schappe.com can make very fine thread and blend it, in More information: www.schappe.com precise proportions with raw materials endowed with complementary characteristics. It produces very long, strong and regular fibres, even though they are discontinuous. It can produce thread more swelling and ready for impregnation".
  • 9. Bel Maille: a universe of knitting Founded: 1956 Turnover in 2010: €17 million (45% for export) Annual production: 4 million metres Workforce: 100 Products: creation, development and manufacture of knitted fabrics for clothing, lingerie and technical mesh in the fields of personal protection, medical, sport (functions of thermal insulation, moisture transfer, non-flammable, cut-resistant, automotive, 3D mesh, breathable waterproof membranes). Markets: clothing, lingerie, personal protective equipment (PPE), administrative and institutional markets, automotive, medical, industrial, sport & leisure SMS: the Riorges company, on the outskirts of Roanne, is an endangered species. It is currently one of the few French companies, and the only one in the Rhône-Alpes, to be 100% specialised in mesh. In fact, Bel Maille has been knitting for over 50 years: originally for ready-to-wear, today increasingly for markets consuming high-tech products, which represents 25% of its turnover. Taken over in 2009 by Stéphane Ziegler, the Roanne SME successfully continues to diversify its activities. A t Bel Maille, we have several lives and developed on request or specifications of several trades. This company, based in customers from industry, personal protection, Riorges near Roanne, is a fine example. medical, motor racing, defence, etc. A showcase of its industry, its 11,000 m² Similarities between the two branches of the is a condensed history of textiles over the last business are creativity, response and 50 years - a story in motion. adaptability, but also, and above all, the mesh Starting from mesh for women's ready-to-wear and seventy circular knitting machines, which - including lingerie and swimwear, spearhead run non-stop. Every day, three new meshes of the 90s - it changed profoundly and are created... developed a range of technical mesh, first for A very special trade sport & leisure and image clothing, then for the "The knitting trade is very special. There are automotive, health and increasingly diversified very few in France 100% specialised, like us. markets. Everything is made here on site in the factory. Seats in the A380 and gyms for the This is one of our special features". Former London Olympics in 2012 executive of leading brands of clothing, In the company today, fashion coexists with Stéphane Ziegler took over the business from fire-resistant materials, designers with the Bel family in 2009. Since then, he has engineers, creation with R&D, quality-control increased diversification and modernisation. lab with the Parisian showroom. Every year, "This business has changed dramatically during 600 different fabrics leave the factory for the its existence. When Jacques Bel founded it in manufacturers of the major brands of ready-to- 1956, it was knitting exclusively for French wear. While 50 to 100 new meshes are women's clothes. With the arrival of his
  • 10. children, he embarked on creation and In the factory, the production process must developed technically into sportswear and include environmental requirements, notably protection products, particularly for export. A associated with recycling and waste recovery. fire destroyed the old factory in 1989. It was A lean management programme aimed at rebuilt on the present site". developing best practice was implemented. After this drama, and in the following years, Training for the 41 operators employed in the change of orientation was definite: Bel production was streamlined. Maille set up its design department, knitting its Sustainable derma-textiles first seats for the Megane and Clio, and Upstairs, above the workshop, among the designing fabrics for personal protection. The designers, marketing and R&D, no letup either. finishing part was integrated: washing, The logo and graphics of the company were bleaching, mechanical and chemical finishes, given a new look. The marketing policy was to drying. An industrial waste treatment plant was become more aggressive. In the offices installed. Sales of technical textiles doubled in dedicated to the technical mesh and on the 2006. The small Roanne company launched machines, we focus on very specific demands into specialty performance products for shoes, of customers, proposing increasingly helmets, gloves and suit linings. It invested in sophisticated tenders. With the leitmotiv: "Bel a fleet of high-tech machines, with gauges to Maille is technology at the service of its make all sizes of mesh, and 3D knitting customers' creativity". machines. New, ecological, fair-trade materials are used in production, with, most importantly, Bel Maille the launch of an "eco-friendly" line in 2008. 32 rue Paul Forge To survive, we must innovate ZI La Villette 42 153 Riorges "On arrival, I was impressed by the industrial Tel: 04 77 44 09 70 tool, no doubt about that, but also by the mix Contact: tissumaille@belmaille.fr of creativity and technology". Bel Maille had a More information: www.belmaille.fr lot of potential; however, it needed to maintain its place in a highly competitive world. When he took over control of the small business, Stéphane Ziegler was well aware of this fact. To survive, we must constantly innovate and create at all levels. In short, take up many challenges.
  • 11. Diatex "Made in" technical textiles Founded: 1986 Turnover 2010-2011: €12 million (including 40% export) Workforce: 25 Products: agro-textiles, filtration ducts and filters for automotive, pharmaceuticals, water purification, lightweight aerospace parts, parachute fabric and air brakes, fabrics for balloons and airships, linings of bulletproof vests, technical baggage, consumable films and textiles supplies for vacuum-moulding of composites, etc. Markets: agriculture, aviation and aerospace, construction, industry, events, personal protection, recreational boating and car racing, wind power, etc. Turnover per sector: composites (50%), technical textiles (30%), agriculture (17%), light aircraft (3%) SMS: no silk industry past or weaving ancestor. From start-up in the 80s, the medium-sized firm from Saint-Genis-Laval, in a suburb south of Lyon, focused 100% on technical textiles. Since then, it is diversifying, not all categories, but in four key sectors: agriculture, aerospace, technical textiles and composites, with outstanding achievements. Some examples: filtration for buildings at the Beijing Olympic Games, the rear fuselage of the A380 and the fuel tank of the Ariane 5, etc. The weaving factory, taken over in the Vercors around ten years ago, is turning at full speed seven days a week. T he story of Diatex begins with... fabrics for clothing or decoration. The company mosquito netting! Yet, nothing very aimed at diversification, but only into highly- exotic in the career of this small developed technical markets. technical textile firm. "The company Light aircraft: the only French company started with agro-textiles, fabrics for crop Diatex very quickly distinguished itself and protection, such as anti-insect or windbreak invested in extremely specialist sectors. Its netting, different mesh fabrics with an impact mission? Respond to the specifications of its on plant pollination". When Philippe Gouthez customers or prospects, and develop new, founded Diatex in 1986, he had one idea in often-complex products with them. At the end mind: develop a new type of net, more of the 80s, it left the Lyon asphalt to settle in effective, for agricultural protection. The larger premises in the heart of the industrial challenge? Adapt the mesh to the requirements area south of the city. New address, new of air porosity, durability and ease of market: light aircraft. Using a very tough installation of protection systems. A 100% polyester fabric, the firm designed fins and the technical challenge, to which the small rear of small aircraft - a niche market in which debutant team, located in offices in central it is the only French player. "Our products are Lyon, provided an innovative answer. lighter and stronger, which is of course Right from the start, Diatex focused totally on essential. Our customers are airfields, small technical textiles. No question of producing manufacturers and many individuals. It does
  • 12. not represent high volumes, but it is one of the Rear fuselage of large aircraft traditional divisions of the company". "We went for increasingly technical products, Ducts for the Olympics including one of our key products, used in the Traditional, and almost cultural, we would like design of the rear fuselage of the A380. To to add because, after starting on the ground, work for Airbus, we of course had to obtain the Diatex rapidly rose into the air. With three key very-demanding EN 9100 aerospace standard, markets: filtration, events and aeronautics. but it has opened doors..." Diatex composite At the end of the 90s, this Lyon SME developed consumables are also used in the design of the its first textile ventilation ducts - again, from Ariane V fuel tank, and parts for the cars of the parachute fabric. The products are lightweight, Paris-Dakar race. washable, colourable and customisable, Storage space of 1500 m2 endowed with a whole range of properties: Today, composites represent more than 50% antistatic, antibacterial, etc. Result: Diatex of sales. Yet this is not necessarily the only ducts, now the French leader in 2008, were sector in development. Now aged 25, Diatex fitted in some of the Beijing Olympics reception continues to diversify and consolidate its buildings. strengths: strong export presence through a Four years earlier, in 2004, the company network of distributors of consumables, large launched membranes for balloons and airships, product storage capacity, cutting department, which also become one of its specialties. The etc. The adventure continues with, amongst requirements for these complex textiles: the latest, a textile covering for casting resistant to UV, helium, tearing and, finally yet concrete parts to give them special forms. importantly, not turning yellow. Goal achieved, Planned for 2012: even better textiles for using lamination and coating techniques personal protective equipment and parachutes, designed by the Lyon teams of weavers. followed by the long-awaited entry into service The climb continues - in 2009, new entry in the of Airbus A 400 and A 350... range, with airbrakes for fighter aircraft. High-tech innovations Nevertheless, it is well before these successes Diatex that the technical textiles expert really took off. 58 chemin des Sources The year 1994 marked a turning point, with the ZI La Mouche 69 230 Saint-Genis-Laval start of a totally new activity: film and textiles Tel: 04 78 86 85 00 consumables used in the vacuum moulding of Contact: info@diatex.com composite materials. The process is complex. More information: www.diatex.com The company provided high-tech innovations, designed and tested on site, on small pilot moulds. Markets concerned: pleasure and racing boats, wind turbines, motor racing, electrical boxes, etc, and above all, aviation. In just over 10 years, from the late 90s and the purchase of a weaving factory in the Vercors, Diatex has not stopped developing, has quadrupled its workforce, and continues to rack up significant achievements.
  • 13. Denis & Fils, high fashion and high-tech Founded: 1956 Turnover in 2010: €5.5 million Workforce: 38 Products: textiles for clothing, optical-fibre textiles Markets: clothing, furniture, building, transport, communication, health Annual production: 840,000 metres SMS: what is common between a top-of-the-range sari and a luminous fabric made of optical fibre? At first glance, not much. Nevertheless, there is indeed. In the Loire region, a small family business weaves for both the luxury market and for high-tech textiles; it is one of the few - perhaps the only one - in France to master the technique. At the controls, the second and third generation of the Denis family perpetuate the family tradition of the business and fight successfully to maintain local industry. The result: a "gem" to be discovered in the village of Montchal, an SME that is full of treasure. Y ou will probably not believe this, but broche cut velvet, silk crepe, etc and, of Christian Denis could have a place in the course, natural silk form the "evening" lines, magazines of the popular press. Yet, he lingerie, jacquard, furnishings and tweed, is not that sort of chief at this small-to- which will make the rounds of international medium textile firm located in the small village shows and will be proposed to buyers, of Montchal in the Loire region. No, his motto particularly for export to the Gulf, but also was more innovation and sustainable India, China and South Korea. If necessary, the development - no glossy paper. At Denis & Fils, samples presented are reworked to suit for example, all stages of textile production are customers' requirements; or recreated from integrated - from silk thread to the finished zero according to specification. product and verified in the laboratory -and all High precision checked locally. "Textiles are creation, of course. Nevertheless, Fashion models and stars above all, it is innovation. I have lived with this Nevertheless, in the corridors of the company, since childhood, and it is obvious. If we had the walls have some beautiful photographs of tried to make everything, we would not be here models and celebrities wearing haute couture now! Our job is very demanding and high- clothing and lingerie created with the fabrics of precision", says Christian Denis. this small family business in the Loire region. As proof, the other "specialty" developed by "One of our specialties is natural silk. So we the company in early 2000: optical-fibre are very active in the luxury market through weaving. The Montchal business is one of the partnerships with major brands, some of which few French companies - perhaps the only one - date back more than 20 years", says Christian to master this technique, which it has Denis. But hush, no question of giving names developed in partnership with the leader for or revealing trade secrets! In the fashion luminous textiles from Lyon, Brochier design studio, we are preparing the 2012-2013 Technologies, also a member of Techtera. winter collection. "Around fifty new models A real challenge - optical fibre is fragile! It took every season", declares Françoise Faure, the months of trial and adaptation of the jacquard company's fashion designer. Chiffon, satin,
  • 14. weaving machines to manage, position and In the 90s, Denis & Fils bought a small work it without damage or breaks. drawloom firm and acquired a stake in the A 6-tonne prototype Hugo Soie silk-finishing firm. In 2007, here we Today, of the 48 looms that the factory has go again! Anxious to preserve the textile chain, nestled in a hollow in the village of Montchal, the company acquired 35% of the shares in one of the machines - a unique prototype Moulinages de Riotord specialising in twisting weighing six tonnes - weaves optical fibre full- fibre, including silk. From fibre to finished time, for future applications in transport, product, the overall industrial process has been construction, communicating clothing, health, integrated. The plant has five warping etc. High-tech is side-by-side with high fashion. machines for unwinding reels of thread before The company's past meets its present. In weaving. Sampling is done on site. The quality charge since the mid-2000s, the third control of finished products is performed in the generation of Denis remains true to the lab. philosophy and history of a totally family- Trademark: family owned firm. "The future, now, is Bruno and Fabienne!" The Cycling between looms third generation of Denis is a duo: consisting of A story that begins in 1956: André, Christian's Christian's nephew and daughter. One is father and artisan weaver, decided to set up on responsible for developing new high-tech his own and took over a workshop weaving for innovations; the other, for nurturing a range of the Lyon silk industry. The village of Montchal scarves, created and made on site, and two still had nearly a hundred looms in homes. The annual collections, which are presented in the Denis firm very quickly expanded. The eldest factory's showroom. "One of the hallmarks of son, Jean-Paul joined the team formed by his our company is the family! Not just the Denis parents and two employees. The limited family, but all the employees, who are very liability company was founded in 1969. The loyal to us. We are sure this has helped us to first factory was built in 1984. It was equipped be successful, even if it was not always easy!" with the most modern looms. The following year, Denis & Fils launched its first range of products. Denis & Fils "I joined the firm in 2000. We had developed a Le Bourg lot. I was supervisor at the public works 42 360 Montchal department. I spent my free time helping my Tel: 04 77 28 60 21 brother. But that was not enough!" Christian is www.denisfils.fr not a little Denis for nothing. Like his ancestors, textiles are in his blood. "As a child, I cycled between looms!" Like them too, he is determined to fight to keep the industry and local expertise in their region.
  • 15. Enveho: the thermal comfort specialists Founded: 2007 Turnover in 2010: €196,000 Workforce: 3 Trade: service provider (laboratory, R&D); expertise, research and development of textiles for personal protection and comfort Markets: clothing, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), sport & leisure, building, furniture, industry SMS: installed right in the Doua campus, in the heart of the science cluster of Villeurbanne (69), Enveho - the clothing environment of people - is a young company providing testing and R&D services. With a specialty all its own: protection and thermal comfort. Founded in 2007 by two women, the small firm has developed software for measuring thermal comfort, CASETO®, which allows its customers - mostly small-to-medium businesses - to identify the specifications of their products and adapt them to their targets. " T hermal comfort is a subjective formed with Amandine Souply, textile engineer, concept, which takes into account heat which is behind the project and development of transfer between people and their the firm. environment and each person's Thermal conductivity and radiation perception, including psychosocial factors. properties Research into this is new. It only started in the Conceived around a very specific theme, the 70s with a precursor, Fanger, a Danish small firm has several trades: testing and researcher who was one of the first to analysis, conducted in the laboratory in Feyzin, mathematically model the human body. This is in the southern suburbs of Lyon, the the reference in our field". Sabine Varieras, development of new products, together with aged 40, is a specialist in thermal comfort. industry, and establishing the specifications of With a Ph.D. in energy and heat transfer, she thermal comfort, which is still quite new. devoted her thesis to heat exchange in In the lab, the Sabine-Amandine duo evaluates vehicles, then her early professional life to the the performance of work clothing or equipment development of textile products, taking for firefighters and military personnel, and protection and comfort into account. checks them for compliance with standards. Tailor-made They also perform tests on the thermal In industry, where she held a position in the conductivity and radiation properties of R&D for 3 years, the young scientist noted a textiles. lack; namely small responsive organisations Rating thermal comfort offering advice and personal services to Their technology base, consisting of specially companies wishing to test and provide developed measuring equipment and test specifications for their products or develop new benches, enables them to function as an ones. In 2007, she decided to set off on her external R&D centre working on innovation own and start a business: Enveho. The with the textile industry and other sectors such company name is an acronym for the clothing as construction. To help them in this, they environment of people; an idea worked out by partly rely on the thermal comfort both of them. In fact, it was the duo that she
  • 16. specifications software, which they launched in In 2009, Enveho expanded its small team and 2009: Caséto®. recruited a young researcher preparing a thesis "The initial problem was to rate the thermal on the ergonomics of physical activities and the comfort. Comfort means not being hot and not engineering-design of products. Over the being cold, not feeling uncomfortable drafts. months, the small firm has invested in new However, there are no standards similar to fields of application, including the building those for protection. We therefore had to industry through insulation and furniture. define measurement indicators such as heat, "People are always at the centre of our the characteristics of the textile, moisture concerns. We protect persons, whether this be management, the person's activity and at home, or why not, when travelling", environment, etc. That's the basis of our Amandine Souply concludes, before adding, software" and the starting point of the firm. "Our role is important because we work on the Sales pitch based on reliable information product design. We started six months before In front of the computer screen, the user the crisis; to move forward, we had to build enters the required information: textile our credibility! Sometimes it's sport, but it's a characteristics (water vapour resistance, great adventure". Witness at the entrance of thermal resistance, recovery rates, etc), the firm, a quote from Aristotle, posted on the activity, environment (ambience, wind, etc). door: "There is no genius without a touch of Within seconds, the software provides accurate madness!" Talking about the future, no? data on thermal sensation and its variations, depending on environmental parameters and Enveho activity (skin temperature, temperature of the Centre d’Entreprises et d’Innovation material, radiation, moisture). "This allows our 66 boulevard Niels Bohr clients to establish their position and product 69 100 Villeurbanne sales pitch based on reliable, verifiable Tel: 04 72 70 84 99 scientific and technical information, which is Contact: amandinesouply@enveho.com supported by full-scale tests. This is More information: www.enveho.com increasingly important for the public", says Amanda Souply. For manufacturers, too, since it allows them to validate their actions and/or adapt their products to their targets. Ergonomics of physical activities Caséto® has been running at full speed for two years, with key improvements. Developed from single-layer clothing models, the software now includes multilayer clothing. In 2012, it will include the female variable and propose calculations designed for each gender. "Each step takes a fair time to set up. Since start-up, our firm has evolved a lot. Our project is to complement this research with aspects of product ergonomics and diversify into other sectors".
  • 17. Ecole des Mines d'Alès: Grey matter for industry Founded: 1843 Workforce: 376 Number of students: 813 Number of engineering graduates: 181 (2010 figures) Budget: €31.4 million Turnover through research partnerships: €2.7 million Number of research contracts: 127 International publications: 43 SMS: the Ecole des Mines d'Alès, or EMA, is one of the oldest of seven French schools for mining. Founded in the 19th century to meet the labour needs of a booming mining industry, it has followed the evolution of history and has succeeded in accompanying industrial change. It now accommodates 800 engineering students, most general, and ranks in the top tier of French engineering schools. At the forefront of innovation, its three research centres work on advanced materials, environment and risk management, and new technologies of information and communication. The psychosensory properties of materials - smell, colour and touch - are screened for industrial applications, particularly in the textile sector, but not only. A fter the 2011 summer holidays, 260 des Mines d'Alès. It began to change. In over a new recruits joined the prestigious Ecole century and a half, the transformation was des Mines d'Alès, in initial or continuous radical. training, 166 years after their elders, Engineer-entrepreneurs who made up the ranks of the promotion- Today, the Ecole des Mines d'Alès offers its baptism of the School of Masters-Workers- students engineer-entrepreneur courses lasting Miners in 1845. three years, open internationally, with a The Ecole des Mines d'Alès is one of the oldest number of options and routes within the five of seven French mining schools with whom it departments of the institution allowing them to also forms a large family: the group of mining orientate themselves to their choice of schools, historical, like its little sister in Douai, profession: civil engineering, mechanical and which opened in 1878... The royal order to materials engineering, risk and environmental create the Cévennes establishment was management, production engineering systems, enacted in 1843 to address the shortage of and information systems. personnel in the Languedoc mines. Objectives: "We could say that our trademark, or oldest firstly, fulfil the labour needs in a growing activity, is civil engineering and construction. industry by training master-miners with This is what attracts most students. Our results theoretical and practical skills; secondly, are very good: 94% of our graduates have a enable young experienced workers to climb the job four months after gaining their diploma; ladder of social advancement - a promise kept one third of them in the building sector. This is right into the 60s. Affected by the decline of more important to us than our ranking in the French coal, the school then became technical, twenty to thirty top schools". Responsible for changing its name to Ecole Nationale Technique relations with the innovation clusters, Mireille
  • 18. Fouletier is a professor in a discipline that is themes, in a way, our warhorses. As regards one of the jewels of Alès: mass-market materials, we work a lot on sustainability, life materials. "Our students receive a broad cycle and recycling of polymers. One of our education that will allow them to evolve specialties is also the behaviour of fire. Some throughout their working life and come out of our work focuses on the mechanical with a double profile: technology and trade, properties of textiles: elasticity, strength, etc. making them operational quickly. Our mission For example, we have developed a highly has not changed all that much, despite the innovative photomechanical device that allows historical upheavals. Our function is always to us to monitor the deformation of textiles and meet the needs of industry; as much in training establish laws of behaviour. The LGEI has a students as in research". large team investigating smells and volatile Colour and tactile properties of textiles organic compounds, and is developing organic At Alès, Nîmes and Pau, where the school has filters for the decomposition of smells. We also its three sites and research centres, the motto have a big team working on natural and is indeed unchanging: listen to the needs of industrial hazards," sums up Mireille Fouletier. companies, considered as partners. The EMA is The oldest French technology incubator member of eight innovation clusters and full The EMA is partner of the Doseless R&D participant of the Carnot Institut, which project, which has the Techtera and Trimatec includes the seven schools under the name "approved" labels for developing more efficient M.I.N.E.S. It puts applied collaborative personal radiation protection equipment for research and economic development at the those working in the medical and nuclear heart of its concerns. sectors. The EMA is undeniably noted for its Witness to this, are its three research centres: close relationship with industry. "The school the CMGD (centre for mass-market materials), distinguished itself very early through its the LGEI (laboratory for the industrial and teaching oriented towards entrepreneurship. natural environment) and the LGI2P Each year, our students have field missions in (laboratory for computer science and firms established locally, throughout France production engineering). They started their and even abroad". activities in the 80s, around themes related to Attesting to the strong links between the new technologies, the industrial environmental campus and industry, the EMA is the leading and materials, and including textiles with highly French business incubator. Founded in 1984, it specific features. was extended with the creation of the Science Sustainability, life cycle and recycling Park business centre on the Alès site, whose Thus, among others, the CMGD studies the first stone was laid in late 2010. Objective: psychosensory properties of materials, the first accommodate up to thirty new companies, of which is... colour. "We began by studying which will benefit from the proximity of the the colour of mineral powders and then incubator and laboratory equipment. To be expanded our research to other properties and continued... other materials. We were interested in the formulation of colours and visual effects in Ecole des Mines d’Alès order to develop a predictive model of the 6, avenue de Clavières visual aspect of materials. It's very innovative". 30 319 Alès cdx Tel: 04 66 78 50 00 Also, very strategic for the manufacturers More information: www.mines-ales.fr concerned, ranging from the building industry to cosmetics, among others. Psychosensory too, are the tactile properties of textiles, for example, on which a dozen researchers at the Centre are working with the University of Pau. With 127 current contracts, the list of activities and fields of investigation in the school's three research centres is long. "We have several
  • 19. ELyT Lab, the Franco-Japanese creators of "smart" materials Founded: 2008 Workforce: around 150 (students and researchers) Status: International Associated Laboratory (IAL) of the CNRS Institutions involved: INSA Lyon, Lyon Ecole Centrale, Tohoku University (Japan) Research areas: biosciences and engineering, sustainability and reliability in energy and transport, nano- and micro-materials, fluid dynamics, heat transfer and micro-fluids, tribology Application areas: health, industry, transport, electronics, energy, environment, etc SMS: ELyT Lab - meaning Engineering and Science Lyon Tohoku Laboratory - is a unique example in France of a public research laboratory associating two countries, France and Japan. Founded in 2008 after over 20 years of varied collaboration between the three schools and universities involved, the Franco-Japanese laboratory is noted for its many fields of study and the number of researchers and students participating in this bicultural adventure. Results expected? Progress in basic research on smart materials and multi-functionality (tribology - the science of friction and wear -, reactivity, mechanical and thermal properties) giving the possibility of many applications; closer relations between the two countries. In March 2011, the two Lyon schools mobilised to help their Tohoku colleagues in Sendai, in the north of the archipelago, the region most affected by the tsunami. " F or me it was a sign, an extraordinary and this is what makes it a success story - an coincidence. In 2007, the Lyon Ecole original bias: a multidisciplinary approach. Centrale celebrated its 150th For three years, ELyT lab has been noted for anniversary, Tohoku University its 100th the number of students and researchers anniversary and INSA Lyon, its 50th involved in its projects, the variety of topics anniversary. We were then thinking deeply and vitality. Success was almost immediate. about the work areas for our future joint A deeply-rooted history... laboratory established in 2008. So, we all "In fact, our history goes back 25 years. It participated in the festivities, in Lyon and began with the previous generation. Our Japan! The Japanese researcher, Prof. Tetsuo laboratories, whether in France or Japan, have Shoji, quoted here, is one of the three joint always been very active in the field of tribology head scientists of the ELyT Lab, the French- and smart materials. At the time, four of our Japanese research laboratory set up under the internationally renowned professors regularly auspices of the CNRS, by the Tohoku met each other in symposia. They got on well University, which he represents, INSA Lyon and with each other scientifically and became the Lyon Ecole Centrale. He, together with his friends. Those were the beginnings of ELyT colleagues Jean-Yves Cavaillé and Philippe Lab", recalls Jean-Yves Cavaillé. At the time, Kapsa, designed, built and manage this unique this researcher, specialising in the science and laboratory. A laboratory without walls and engineering of materials, was a member of the without its own equipment, like all the team of Professor Gobin, at INSA Lyon, one of International Associated Laboratories (IAL) of the original four musketeers. In a few years, the CNRS, based on joint work teams and the the quartet set up the first collaborations, energy of several laboratories recognised in exchanges of PhD students, and increased the their fields on both sides of the planet. With - number of contacts. In 1997, it organised the
  • 20. first Franco-Japanese Symposium on smart Five workgroups federated around five themes: materials, supported by the CNRS. The bioscience, sustainability and safety in energy laboratory teams involved were mobilised. The and transport, micro- and nano-materials, fluid bicultural adventure really began. From that dynamics, tribology. In three years, they moment, the number of participants has became the fertile ground for 21 joint research continued increasing. projects on various subjects. Their rallying point? The liaison office is on the An example? In the medical sector, the INSA Lyon campus, in Villeurbanne, on the first development of innovative biomaterials for floor of the MATEIS laboratory. In these 20 m², catheters in the Biocat project, based notably was born the ''embassy'' in 2004 through a on the tribology expertise of Lyon researchers, formal agreement between the three or innovative alloys used in hip replacements, institutions. Within these walls, are received endowed with special microstructures students preparing their double degree. It was developed by metallurgists at INSA Lyon. opened in 2006 and, since late 2008, receives The projects, mostly focused on fundamental Japanese researchers of ELyT Lab on mission research, generate international publications to Lyon. 10,000 km away in Sendai, the signed by ELyT Lab in scientific journals. configuration is identical: like in France, the Nevertheless, they arouse the interest of large liaison office is the place for physical groups such as Total and EDF on the French representation of the agreements linking the side, the lab's first industrial partners, but not French schools and the Japanese university - the only ones... the place where researchers and students meet A first ELyT School to work. "In our three establishments, this laboratory is The beginnings of a joint adventure... now by far our most important international However, the first joint research projects did collaboration," says the trio in chorus. "For its not wait for dedicated buildings and formal scientific advances of course, but also because agreements before starting. Work began long it demonstrates that we are convinced from the before the creation of ELyT Lab. In 1990, start: the meeting of cultures is a source of students from the Ecole Centrale joined the innovation. It is necessarily creative". Tohoku teams working on the durability of No doubt, beyond the scientific aspects, ELyT video tapes. In 2003, a larger project was Lab is a cultural and human adventure. In launched by the CNRS and its counterpart the 2009, the laboratory held its first summer TSPS. The markers of the joint laboratory were school: ELyT School, held each summer for in place. The idea caught on. In March 2008, three years. For around thirty participants, INSA Lyon and the Ecole Centrale submitted a alternately French side and Japanese side, it file to the CNRS for an International Associated allows students and researchers to immerse Laboratory. In Japan, the administrative themselves for ten days in the culture of their procedures were begun at the same time. The partner country, with a programme of scientific official agreement for the birth of the IAL was lectures, visits and exchanges and awareness signed on December 8, 2008 in Sendai. It was of the cultural aspects of the host country. followed by a scientific symposium organised "It has taken a lot of time, but we see that our for the first time, with the name ELyT Lab. ties are becoming stronger". Witness to these An example: innovative biomaterials ties, is the solidarity of INSA and the Ecole "In fact, we went ahead quickly, despite the Centrale towards Tohoku, in the first hours of administrative aspects," recalls Philippe Kapsa, the earthquake on March 11, 2011. The INSA from the LTDS (laboratory of tribology and foundation donated to Haru, the association of system dynamics) of the Lyon Ecole Centrale. Japanese students, to help reconstruct One year of scientific brainstorming was in fact laboratories damaged or destroyed by the enough to define the laboratory research tsunami. The Lyon Ecole Centrale received a subjects, with the underlying theme: small group of students deprived of premises. multidiscipline, and objective: link up the With 40,000m² of buildings damaged, the mutual excellence to start totally new projects.
  • 21. Japanese University had to work extra hard to restore its infrastructure and continue its work. Beyond scientific exchanges... A major event, the March 11 tsunami is probably also a turning point for ELyT Lab. An international scientific programme, bringing together researchers from the laboratory and a much wider network of expertise in North America, Asia and Europe, will be launched in 2012 at Tohoku University. Objective: to explore new solutions to prevent damage due to tsunamis, using information gathered after March 11, working in particular on the dissipation of sea energy. Students of the department of Science and Material Engineering at INSA Lyon are already working on innovation projects concerning the prevention of tsunamis; the first workshop devoted to this research is scheduled for late 2012. Techtera will be closely involved. Elyt Lab – Bureau de liaison INSA de Lyon 69 221 Villeurbanne cdx Tel: 04 72 43 81 84 More information: www.insa-lyon.fr /Laboratoires/GEMPPM/ang_index.html
  • 22. Sofileta boosts innovation Founded: 1911 Workforce: 235 Turnover in 2010: €55 million Trades: warping, weaving, knitting, dyeing, finishing, coating, laminating Products: jacket textiles for firefighters, racing driver suits, protection against electric arc, functional textiles for sport, refreshing and energizing textiles, components for aerospace, etc Markets: sport, lingerie, fashion clothing, bags and luggage, personal protection, aerospace, automotive and medical SMS: Sofileta is part of a family Group, which from preparing the thread to the final finishing of mono- or multi-layer fabrics, masters many textile trades. When the Group began, just 100 years ago, their trade was the work of dyeing for the Lyon silk industry. Today Sofileta has an industrial organisation with several production sites in Isère, where the Bourgoin-Jallieu SME prepares the thread, weaves, knits, and finishes... And, every year, launches a significant number of innovative products in its preferred markets: sport and personal protection. Growing, despite the crisis, this model company applies its expertise to new horizons, including aviation. U nique: this could summarise the profile the Isère family Group factories do beaming, of Sofileta, the family-owned firm. weaving, knitting and finishing, and have sites Situated in Bourgoin-Jallieu, about fifty in other parts of the region. "We made a kilometres east of Lyon, it is based on choice… We could have relocated at any time. an industrial organisation incorporating almost We have done the opposite and prefer being all the textile trades on several Isère sites. Full successful with French industry. This took, and industrial integration in less than 100 years. still takes, a lot of courage and tenacity". What could be better? Seventy percent for export An industrial heritage Totally French, the SOFILETA company is "In France there are very few textile companies organised around business units for the like us, who combine the two techniques of markets: Sofileta Advanced Textiles for weaving and knitting, with a good balance personal protection, Sofileta Advanced between the two". Chairman of the board since Materials for industrial applications and Sofileta 2007, Benoit Bouret is the third generation of ActiveWear-Bodywear-Fashion for sport, the family. Today at the helm, along with his lingerie, ready-to-wear and bags. These are father, Jean-Claude Bouret, the young separate units, each with their line manager, manager, graduated from HEC in 2007, is well their R&D and sales teams. Objective: simplify aware of being at the head of an industrial and clarify the organisation and activities of the heritage. "Sofileta condenses the whole history company management, particularly as regards of textiles. The company has followed textiles, international customers. In 2010, Sofileta and adapted, from the outset. We are achieved 70% of its turnover from exports. centenarians and have been faithful for many It is difficult to portray all the products sold in years to our strategy of integration and Europe, particularly the East, Asia and South diversification. First and foremost, our Group is America. Two of the company's specialties have a powerful industrial tool." become famous: sport and personal protection, The Sofileta trade is to design, develop and areas where Sofileta has contributed major market technical and functional textiles. Also, innovations. One of the latest? Sofileta Cooling
  • 23. Fabrics®, a technology exploiting the subcontractors. The company designed and refreshing properties of a revolutionary sold finished products - only to the clothing polymer: it absorbs moisture from the body sector at the start. Our flagship product at the during physical activity and provides freshness time was acetate lining, of which we were one in exchange. This product, developed in of the largest European producers". But, no partnership with the Belgian company Luxilon, question of resting on our laurels. In the early manufacturer of the filament, won an award for 90s, Sofileta added a first knitting unit and innovation in May 2011 during the prestigious launched new lines of product, before Techtextil international trade fair in Frankfurt. developing textiles increasingly complex in "What is also very innovative, is the their properties and functions. specification work done on textiles using this A brand new factory polymer. Comparative tests have been Next rendezvous: in 2013, 102 years old, the conducted on a laboratory model simulating Group will offer itself the luxury of celebrating the human body with its heat and moisture its centenary and, above all, writing a new exchanges. A temperature difference on the chapter in its history. If administrative surface of the skin between 1.4°C and 3°C was obstacles do not excessively delay the project, measured after 60 minutes of physical effort, a brand new factory will open in Isère. High- compared with existing fabrics on the tech and "clean", it will focus on new more sportswear market. This is not mere sales energy-efficient technologies, optimised talk". processes, more environment-friendly, and Aerospace, automotive and medical technologically advanced. Without doubt, this Other examples of star products: the will boost the success of the Isère SME. Among Sofil'Arc® range for the electrical industry, those coming in 2012: Sofileta Energizing providing protection from electric arc, the Fabrics®, a technology that could, if ongoing Diamond Technology® innovation, which trials confirm, confer slimming and stimulating through its special weaving, functions and new properties to lingerie or clothing worn close to performances, provides fire and heat resistant the body. This just shows, concluded the young textiles, or SofiShield® technology, which is head of the company, "there is always about to be marketed in Europe after two years something to invent". Listening to him, we research, gives treated textiles outstanding have no doubt that this is true. resistance to abrasion without compromising breathability and flexibility. Sofileta Two years ago, Sofileta added another string to 25, Petite Rue de la Plaine its bow, with the development of technologies 38 311 Bourgoin Jallieu Tel: 04 74 43 55 00 inducing new functional processes in textile Contact: contact@sofileta.com products. The hundred-year-old company More information: www.sofileta.com invests in new markets: aerospace and medical. "Our culture is diversification. What marks our history, are the technical challenges to which we have responded. We are therefore consistent with our past". When Grandfather Benoit Bouret joined Sofileta, shortly after the founding of the company in 1911, and took over management, the little firm had only one trade: dyer for the Lyon silk industry. It mutated in line with the great transformations in the sector, with the advent of artificial and then synthetic fibres, and expanded rapidly in the 60s, until the key date: 1969, when it bought a major weaving factory. "From then on, we ceased to be mere
  • 24. The LGCIE, pioneer in the environmental monitoring of silicones Founded: 2007 Staff: 88 teachers-researchers and administrative staff, about 50 Ph.D. students Research domains: civil engineering and urban planning, environmental analysis of processes and industrial systems, urban hydrology, treatment and recovery of waste, soils, polluted sediments SMS: here, in this Villeurbanne laboratory on the INSA Lyon campus, the science of waste treatment took its first steps in the early 70s, led by visionary chemist professors - Alain Navarro and John Véron. The initial chemist approach was then enriched by the addition of process systems researchers. Then, in January 2007, the team collaborated with other separate institutions, INSA and UCBL Lyon1, to form the LGCIE (laboratory of civil and environmental engineering). Thereafter, research made significant advances. Today, one of the team's flagship topics focuses on the anaerobic digestion of organic waste and energy recovery from the biogas produced. Thus, the team conducted the first work in France on the deterioration of silicones present in countless consumer products. D id you know? Every French person uses planning and environmental analysis of an average of 1 kg of silicon per year, processes and industrial systems. found in cosmetics, health, household "We started from nothing. Our knowledge was products, shampoos, paint, zero! What pushed us into this was a problem repositionable adhesive, bathroom joints, encountered in the field by the biogas energy kitchen moulds, electrical insulation, mobile recovery sector; the gas (over 50% methane) phone shells, etc. A recent but exponential produced by the fermentation of waste. development: since their post-war discovery, Unexplained deposits of silica (abrasive) on the these chemical products derived from silicon energy-recovery engine pistons were likely to and silica (sand) continue to procreate. Their damage them. We analysed these deposits and applications are endless. No wonder: their went up the chain to discover that they came properties, resistance in particular, put them in from the deterioration of silicones in waste. the first rank of performance polymers. Current This is how our work started". Seven years global growth is 6-7% per year. In short, they later, Patrick Germain, professor and head of are everywhere, and their future is assured. the environmental, industrial and urban science Starting from scratch... degree from 2005 to 2010, gives an Silicones are central to the work done by the enthusiastic report. "Here in our laboratory, LGCIE (laboratory of civil and environmental around ten researchers are involved in engineering) of Villeurbanne on the LyonTech methanisation, biogas and silicone! It must be campus of Doua. said that since 2004, the general context has The groundwork began in 2004. The teams evolved a lot. The interest in these subjects is from INSA Lyon and the Claude Bernard Lyon I greater now". The first world thesis on the University, came together in 2007 under that relationship between the deterioration of name to pool their respective fields of silicones, and the technical and economic investigation in civil engineering, urban problems engendered, was continued by the LGCIE in 2008; another topic followed in 2011.
  • 25. A patent was filed on a method for analysing most common material on the planet. But, we, biogas. A purification process was developed the researchers and manufacturers, know what and field-tested. Today, LGCIE is the only is needed to get that far". French laboratory successfully working on the Hydrology, environmental engineering deterioration and environmental impact of Examining environmental issues to improve silicones. their consideration when preparing building "We are different because of our plots and provide better control over pollution: multidisciplinary approach. When we started such could summarise the overall definition of talking about the science of waste in the 70s, the work done by the LGCIE. With a strong only chemists were interested. Then we presence on the ground for sewerage, recruited biologists, geologists, statisticians. purification or waste treatment plants (from Our research on silicones combines many skills. which researchers regularly take samples), the This gives us another outlook. For us, 1 + 1 lab works on a variety of subjects in equals 3". partnership with local communities and waste- Global benchmark in the sector treatment and construction companies. The equation shows the value of adding talent. Its role? Identify, analyse and study recovery Manufacturers quickly understood this. Hence, possibilities. For this, the teams employ all of course, the global benchmark in the sector - their expertise: hydrology, environmental and Bluestar Silicones, one of the leading silicone civil engineering; the examples abound. Thus, manufacturers, first-class leaders in markets in the Lyon area, the LGCIE continuously such as elastomers for paramedics and the monitors the many physical-chemical automotive industry, anti-adhesion for parameters of wastewater and surface water in packaging, adhesives and textile coating for the sewers. It also takes specific samples for airbags, technical textiles and lingerie. From its its research into the impact of weather birth in 2007, and the takeover of the silicone conditions or human activities. Our teams also business by the Bluestar Group from the work on the transformation of household Rhodia chemist, the new unit formed a closer rubbish into materials usable for sub-layers of relationship with the Villeurbanne lab. roads or in the building industry. Objective: measure the impact of its products The long-term aim is greater recovery and in the waste treatment sector. European recycling of waste. "Today, we only reuse 30% regulations require the silicone industry to of biogas production. With the explosion of review its production processes and use new renewable energy, this percentage will increase types of catalysts free of tin or mercury dramatically. We need to work on, study and compounds. Bluestar Silicones took up this eliminate the technological blocks in these new environmental and economic challenge and waste-recovery sectors". launched a collaborative research project: ECOMAT, approved by Techtera in 2009, with LGCIE – Laboratoire de Génie Civil et four manufacturers and three research d’Ingénierie Environnementale laboratories, including LGCIE, as partners. One Tel: 04 72 43 82 76 Contact: patrick.germain@insa-lyon.fr aim of this project, supported by the French lgcie@insa-lyon.fr government, was to assess the environmental More information: http://lgcie.insa-lyon.fr impact and study the deterioration of silicone products with this new generation of catalysts. Conclusion? Too early to tell; the research is still going on but the outlook is attractive. "ECOMAT is expanding our areas of investigation, allowing us to better understand the decomposition of silicones. Possibly even, to eventually control it with super-bacteria and move towards biodegradable silicones. If all goes well, the silicone will finish as sand, the
  • 26. TECHTERA: FACTS AND FIGURES Techtera is the innovation cluster for textiles and flexible materials in the Rhône-Alpes region. A network of manufacturers, researchers and persons in higher education gathered around one aim: to develop R&D partnership projects (involving at least two firms and one laboratory). Focused on its mission, innovation, the cluster offers its members a range of services dedicated to the development of new products, processes and technologies: Innovation Workshops, "project" workgroups, search for partners and funding, monitoring of funded R&D projects, international communication and development, etc. Founded: July 2005 Number of members: 110, including 80% manufacturers and 70% small-to-medium firms (2010 figures) Number of projects supported by the cluster: 204 Number of projects with the cluster's "approved" label: 110 An average of 4.5 partners per project (manufacturers, research laboratories, technical centres) R&D budgets for all projects funded since the cluster's creation: €137 million. Fifty-five percent of the cluster's manufacturing members are partners of one or more projects. To do this, they invested more than €11 million in R&D from their own capital in 2009.