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.

marathon year! Eleven months were

enough for Benoit Laval, CEO of the

Raidlight company, to take a decisive

turn for the company he founded in

1999, with the June 2010 takeover of Vertical,

a brand well known by climbing and

mountaineering pros.

A site for expansion

With more employees and confirmed growth,

Raidlight felt cramped in its Saint-Genest-

Malifaux buildings in the heart of the Pilat

nature park, in the Loire region. Benoit Laval

was looking for a site that could allow him to

expand and complete the project near to his

heart. "We needed a plot where we could put

up an eco-friendly building, to remain true to

our company values. We also wanted to find a

natural area to set up our trail station and

partners to manage it with us. Finally, the

living environment was an essential factor, for

the employees and myself. In 2009, we started

looking in the Loire region but without success,

until finding something here".

Eleven months after the start of negotiations

with the village of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse

in Isère, and here you can see the result, in the

centre of this small mountain village in the

Chartreuse nature park. A timber-framed

building, with photovoltaic roof and covering

1000 m², accommodates a workshop for

designing and prototyping products, factory

outlet, mail-order office, a sport and relaxation

room. Since June 2011, the building is also the

meeting place for trail runners - more than

500,000 adepts in France - who come to

discover the ten-or-so routes of 8 to 30 km

leading out from the trail station, designed,

tested and launched by Raidlight and its

partners, the village, the Park and the

Chartreuse association of mountain guides.

Half of the company's employees embarked on

the adventure. The dozen who could not move

were replaced. "The hardest part is behind us.

It was not easy. Now, we have found our

signposts again".

A

Among them, the company's motor long before

the explosion of this way of communication, is

interaction, an inherent characteristic that

marks out the path of Raidlight since its infancy

in the early 2000s. "When I launched the

brand, with a range of ten products sold at the

finishing line, I did it at weekends for the love

of it. I had one goal: improve the equipment of

runners and respond to their needs. Users

reacted to what I proposed and gave me ideas

and suggestions for improvement. I then

decided to organise the customer-relations

aspect by creating an interactive space on our

website and a space for testing products here

at the store".

The "Raidlight team"

Textile engineer and enthusiastic runner since

the age of 9, with some fine victories to his

credit, including the title of vice-champion of

France, Benoit Laval holds all the cards needed

for initiating a community spirit: "rather than

go into sponsoring like most sport brands, we

created a team open to all. This is the

"Raidlight team", which now has 3000

members. All our customers can join,

regardless of their level, create a running blog

on our website, and interact with other

runners. This is ideal for the company because

it allows us to understand and follow the

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,

hiking poles, etc, already winners of numerous

Innovation Awards.

A new look for the Cardis jacket

"By joining Techtera, we seek to develop

innovation and sourcing. It should, for

example, help us to find new materials".

In the coming months, Raidlight will market

sustainable trail shoes, offering the possibility

of replacing worn and "custom-built" parts of

the sole; together with a range of adaptable

accessories. New types of backpacks will come

on the market. The little Isère brand will also

relaunch the legendary jacket of Chamonix

guides, trackers and sailors in the 70s: the

famous Cardis, with a design and materials

updated to modern tastes.

Last but not least, the trail station should

gradually reach its cruising speed and its goal

of receiving from 10,000 to 15,000 runners on

its trails each year. Enough to satisfy the

leader of its adepts, Benoit Laval, who

nevertheless continues to run five times a week

in the mountains. "A nice reward"...

Raidlight Le Bourg - Chemin de Perquelin 38 380 Saint Pierre de Chartreuse

Tel: 04 76 533 555 E-mail: information@raidlight.com More information: www.raidlight.com

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!

aper is not dead, far from it! With

textiles, it is one of the fundamental

materials as old as time, or almost!

Today, it is highly innovative.

Moreover, in our business for a

good ten years, we talk less of

paper and increasingly of cellulose substrate.

This term includes new products and uses for

paper. It is our personal role to open up these

new ways".

Abundant on Earth

Guy Eymin Petot Tourtollet is a director of the

CTP scientific and technical unit in Grenoble.

For him, as for all of these enthusiastic

defenders of paper gathered on the campus of

Saint-Martin-d'Heres, no question, cellulose

has a future. "It is the most abundant polymer

on earth. It is infinitely renewable and

completely recyclable. We are far from having

explored all its possibilities".

Founded in 1957 in the middle of the

traditional papermaking area to support the

industry in its effort to rebuild after the war,

the CTP is the only organisation of this kind for

paper in France. It devotes three quarters of its

energy to R&D, in the service of companies and

groups of all sizes looking for technological

solutions or breakthrough products for the

future. The centre has accompanied the

evolution in production processes. "The paper

industry has made tremendous progress. It

works virtually in a closed circuit. It treats and

recycles its waste and limits its energy

consumption. Today, we continue to play a

leading role in process and product innovation.

Moreover, the product part has expanded

greatly since the year 2000".

Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi signals

Among the most spectacular inventions

recently developed by its teams, and tested on

pilot industries, metapaper is wallpaper with

patented patterns, printed with a conductive

ink, which filters out the Wi-Fi signals. It can

be used as an underliner to be covered. It can

insulate a room or building for increased data

protection, provide easier access to the

network, and protect the health of users. "It is

a major "first", which we have developed with

"

P

our industrial partner Alstrhom. Tests were

carried out successfully in January 2011. The

product is very innovative".

A Gore-Tex paper or cardboard

Other success of the year? A hydrophobic

paper created through "chromatogeny" (green

chemistry), clean technology for molecular

modification of the surface of ligno-cellulosic

materials, developed by the CNRS. "The

problem of cellulose is that it is hydrophilic. If

you make a boat out of paper, it sinks. With

this breakthrough technology, we get a kind of

gore-tex paper or cardboard, which holds great

promise in very many fields: the press and

packaging, for example". Tests are under way

for the food industry. They are carried out on

the pilot line of the TekLiCell technology

platform, which brings together 26

manufacturers and Grenoble INP-Pagora, the

engineering school for paper science. All that

remains, is to move on to an industrial scale.

Sixty research projects under way

"The biggest challenge in innovation is to

convince. We need demonstrators and must

prove the feasibility of a product. Among our

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

major social questions that its industry is faced

with: lignocellulose chemistry, biosourced

materials, applications for hygiene and health,

packaging of the future, printed electronics and

smart paper, waste recovery and optimisation

of industrial processes, etc. There is no

shortage of areas to investigate. "Just like

textiles, paper can integrate many functions;

create new uses and non-traditional

opportunities for its industry. Everything

remains to be invented, or almost!"

Centre Technique du Papier

Domaine Universitaire Rue de la Papeterie

38 044 Grenoble cdx 09 Tel: 04 76 15 40 15 contact@webctp.com More information: www.webctp.com

* PEPS: printed electronics project for future secure

packaging

THID: tag development project for RFID, chip-free,

low-cost, tamper-proof

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.

ot easy getting yourself talked about

when producing long-fibre yarns for

technical applications, even when you

are a highly innovative leader. And yet...

"If we had to summarise our company values,

we would focus on innovation and discretion.

Our goal is not to put ourselves forward. We

are technicians. We develop highly specific

thread on specifications often developed with

our customers to meet the needs they express

when they come to us. This is the essence of

our business".

Customers: major international firms

Manager of Schappe Techniques since the

takeover of the company in 2007, nearly 160

years after its founding, Serge Piolat divides his

time between its two sites - the Croix-aux-

Mines factory in the Vosges and the Blyes site

in the Ain - and his customers. These include

major international groups, whose

technological performance and innovation

encircle the planet, and small-to-medium

enterprises specialising in technical products.

The latest, in March 2011, to cite just one

example, is the composite aircraft door

developed by Latecoere, the equipment

manufacturer, which received one of the

prestigious JEC Awards 2011 in Paris. The

structure, with stitched pre-forms in which

high-pressure resin (RTM) is injected, is

revolutionising the architecture and assembly

of aircraft structures by reducing the time and

tools required for assembly. It uses a carbon

thread developed by Schappe, one of the

French partners of the project.

Traditional, but not only

"We definitely have a true culture of

innovation; in the past, of course, but not only.

Today, we reinvest more than 5% of our

turnover in R&D". Result: an image of quality

and increasingly efficient products dotted along

one and a half centuries of activity.

N

In fact, the Schappe story begins in the 19th

century, already with"originality": the company

recycled and recovered scrapped silk. In the

1950s, with the rise of artificial and synthetic

fibres, it developed the stretch-break

technology, intended for the traditional clothing

and furnishing sectors. Mastering these skills

makes it possible to have intimate blends of

raw materials providing, for example, more

suppleness and comfort for clothing.

Downstream of stretch-breaking, the spinning

involves various operations: assembly,

reaming, cabling, impregnation, scraping, etc,

giving it a stature and position and opening up

a variety of markets. "Schappe business grew

significantly in the 60s and 70s. The company

was bought and then sold after the first oil

shock in 1973. In the 80s, it took a major

turn", relates Serge Piolat.

Focus on technical thread

Innovation, indeed, again before the 21st

century, with the development of stretch-

breaking and spinning technical fibre yarn.

Over the years, the company completed its

transformation to focus on technical thread,

and take the leading position in line yarn with a

wide range of products.

"Stretch-breaking has many advantages: you

can make very fine thread and blend it, in

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".

Convinced of these advantages when he

arrived at the helm in 2007, Serge Piolat

decided to push forward and reinforce the

upmarket position of the company in its core

markets such as personal protection and

composites. Thus, the business portfolio

profoundly changed with a 2- to 3-figure

increase in some key sectors in 2011.

Partner of Textilub

To achieve these results, Schappe Techniques

increased its efforts in R&D. The century-old

spinning business initiated projects with the

help of OSEO and became involved in many

collaborative projects, with "approved" labels

from the innovation clusters. For example,

within Techtera, it is a partner in the Textilub

project, led by SKF Aerospace and launched in

2008 for a period of 3 years. Objective:

develop a new generation of self-lubricating

textile composite for aircraft articulations, the

results of which could be known in 2012.

Schappe Techniques Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l’Ain Allée des Erables 01 150 Blyes

04 74 46 31 00

sales.rd@schappe.com More information: www.schappe.com

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.

t Bel Maille, we have several lives and

several trades. This company, based in

Riorges near Roanne, is a fine example.

A showcase of its industry, its 11,000 m²

is a condensed history of textiles over the last

50 years - a story in motion.

Starting from mesh for women's ready-to-wear

- including lingerie and swimwear, spearhead

of the 90s - it changed profoundly and

developed a range of technical mesh, first for

sport & leisure and image clothing, then for the

automotive, health and increasingly diversified

markets.

Seats in the A380 and gyms for the

London Olympics in 2012

In the company today, fashion coexists with

fire-resistant materials, designers with

engineers, creation with R&D, quality-control

lab with the Parisian showroom. Every year,

600 different fabrics leave the factory for the

manufacturers of the major brands of ready-to-

wear. While 50 to 100 new meshes are

developed on request or specifications of

customers from industry, personal protection,

medical, motor racing, defence, etc.

Similarities between the two branches of the

business are creativity, response and

adaptability, but also, and above all, the mesh

and seventy circular knitting machines, which

run non-stop. Every day, three new meshes

are created...

A very special trade

"The knitting trade is very special. There are

very few in France 100% specialised, like us.

Everything is made here on site in the factory.

This is one of our special features". Former

executive of leading brands of clothing,

Stéphane Ziegler took over the business from

the Bel family in 2009. Since then, he has

increased diversification and modernisation.

"This business has changed dramatically during

its existence. When Jacques Bel founded it in

1956, it was knitting exclusively for French

women's clothes. With the arrival of his

A

children, he embarked on creation and

developed technically into sportswear and

protection products, particularly for export. A

fire destroyed the old factory in 1989. It was

rebuilt on the present site".

After this drama, and in the following years,

the change of orientation was definite: Bel

Maille set up its design department, knitting its

first seats for the Megane and Clio, and

designing fabrics for personal protection. The

finishing part was integrated: washing,

bleaching, mechanical and chemical finishes,

drying. An industrial waste treatment plant was

installed. Sales of technical textiles doubled in

2006. The small Roanne company launched

into specialty performance products for shoes,

helmets, gloves and suit linings. It invested in

a fleet of high-tech machines, with gauges to

make all sizes of mesh, and 3D knitting

machines. New, ecological, fair-trade materials

are used in production, with, most importantly,

the launch of an "eco-friendly" line in 2008.

To survive, we must innovate

"On arrival, I was impressed by the industrial

tool, no doubt about that, but also by the mix

of creativity and technology". Bel Maille had a

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.

In the factory, the production process must

include environmental requirements, notably

associated with recycling and waste recovery.

A lean management programme aimed at

developing best practice was implemented.

Training for the 41 operators employed in

production was streamlined.

Sustainable derma-textiles

Upstairs, above the workshop, among the

designers, marketing and R&D, no letup either.

The logo and graphics of the company were

given a new look. The marketing policy was to

become more aggressive. In the offices

dedicated to the technical mesh and on the

machines, we focus on very specific demands

of customers, proposing increasingly

sophisticated tenders. With the leitmotiv: "Bel

Maille is technology at the service of its

customers' creativity".

Bel Maille 32 rue Paul Forge ZI La Villette 42 153 Riorges Tel: 04 77 44 09 70

Contact: tissumaille@belmaille.fr More information: www.belmaille.fr

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.

he story of Diatex begins with...

mosquito netting! Yet, nothing very

exotic in the career of this small

technical textile firm. "The company

started with agro-textiles, fabrics for crop

protection, such as anti-insect or windbreak

netting, different mesh fabrics with an impact

on plant pollination". When Philippe Gouthez

founded Diatex in 1986, he had one idea in

mind: develop a new type of net, more

effective, for agricultural protection. The

challenge? Adapt the mesh to the requirements

of air porosity, durability and ease of

installation of protection systems. A 100%

technical challenge, to which the small

debutant team, located in offices in central

Lyon, provided an innovative answer.

Right from the start, Diatex focused totally on

technical textiles. No question of producing

fabrics for clothing or decoration. The company

aimed at diversification, but only into highly-

developed technical markets.

Light aircraft: the only French company

Diatex very quickly distinguished itself and

invested in extremely specialist sectors. Its

mission? Respond to the specifications of its

customers or prospects, and develop new,

often-complex products with them. At the end

of the 80s, it left the Lyon asphalt to settle in

larger premises in the heart of the industrial

area south of the city. New address, new

market: light aircraft. Using a very tough

polyester fabric, the firm designed fins and the

rear of small aircraft - a niche market in which

it is the only French player. "Our products are

lighter and stronger, which is of course

essential. Our customers are airfields, small

manufacturers and many individuals. It does

T

not represent high volumes, but it is one of the

traditional divisions of the company".

Ducts for the Olympics

Traditional, and almost cultural, we would like

to add because, after starting on the ground,

Diatex rapidly rose into the air. With three key

markets: filtration, events and aeronautics.

At the end of the 90s, this Lyon SME developed

its first textile ventilation ducts - again, from

parachute fabric. The products are lightweight,

washable, colourable and customisable,

endowed with a whole range of properties:

antistatic, antibacterial, etc. Result: Diatex

ducts, now the French leader in 2008, were

fitted in some of the Beijing Olympics reception

buildings.

Four years earlier, in 2004, the company

launched membranes for balloons and airships,

which also become one of its specialties. The

requirements for these complex textiles:

resistant to UV, helium, tearing and, finally yet

importantly, not turning yellow. Goal achieved,

using lamination and coating techniques

designed by the Lyon teams of weavers.

The climb continues - in 2009, new entry in the

range, with airbrakes for fighter aircraft.

High-tech innovations

Nevertheless, it is well before these successes

that the technical textiles expert really took off.

The year 1994 marked a turning point, with the

start of a totally new activity: film and textiles

consumables used in the vacuum moulding of

composite materials. The process is complex.

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.

Rear fuselage of large aircraft

"We went for increasingly technical products,

including one of our key products, used in the

design of the rear fuselage of the A380. To

work for Airbus, we of course had to obtain the

very-demanding EN 9100 aerospace standard,

but it has opened doors..." Diatex composite

consumables are also used in the design of the

Ariane V fuel tank, and parts for the cars of the

Paris-Dakar race.

Storage space of 1500 m2

Today, composites represent more than 50%

of sales. Yet this is not necessarily the only

sector in development. Now aged 25, Diatex

continues to diversify and consolidate its

strengths: strong export presence through a

network of distributors of consumables, large

product storage capacity, cutting department,

etc. The adventure continues with, amongst

the latest, a textile covering for casting

concrete parts to give them special forms.

Planned for 2012: even better textiles for

personal protective equipment and parachutes,

followed by the long-awaited entry into service

of Airbus A 400 and A 350...

Diatex 58 chemin des Sources ZI La Mouche 69 230 Saint-Genis-Laval Tel: 04 78 86 85 00 Contact: info@diatex.com

More information: www.diatex.com

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.

ou will probably not believe this, but

Christian Denis could have a place in the

magazines of the popular press. Yet, he

is not that sort of chief at this small-to-

medium textile firm located in the small village

of Montchal in the Loire region. No, his motto

was more innovation and sustainable

development - no glossy paper. At Denis & Fils,

for example, all stages of textile production are

integrated - from silk thread to the finished

product and verified in the laboratory -and all

checked locally.

Fashion models and stars

Nevertheless, in the corridors of the company,

the walls have some beautiful photographs of

models and celebrities wearing haute couture

clothing and lingerie created with the fabrics of

this small family business in the Loire region.

"One of our specialties is natural silk. So we

are very active in the luxury market through

partnerships with major brands, some of which

date back more than 20 years", says Christian

Denis. But hush, no question of giving names

or revealing trade secrets! In the fashion

design studio, we are preparing the 2012-2013

winter collection. "Around fifty new models

every season", declares Françoise Faure, the

company's fashion designer. Chiffon, satin,

broche cut velvet, silk crepe, etc and, of

course, natural silk form the "evening" lines,

lingerie, jacquard, furnishings and tweed,

which will make the rounds of international

shows and will be proposed to buyers,

particularly for export to the Gulf, but also

India, China and South Korea. If necessary, the

samples presented are reworked to suit

customers' requirements; or recreated from

zero according to specification.

High precision

"Textiles are creation, of course. Nevertheless,

above all, it is innovation. I have lived with this

since childhood, and it is obvious. If we had

tried to make everything, we would not be here

now! Our job is very demanding and high-

precision", says Christian Denis.

As proof, the other "specialty" developed by

the company in early 2000: optical-fibre

weaving. The Montchal business is one of the

few French companies - perhaps the only one -

to master this technique, which it has

developed in partnership with the leader for

luminous textiles from Lyon, Brochier

Technologies, also a member of Techtera.

A real challenge - optical fibre is fragile! It took

months of trial and adaptation of the jacquard

Y

weaving machines to manage, position and

work it without damage or breaks.

A 6-tonne prototype

Today, of the 48 looms that the factory has

nestled in a hollow in the village of Montchal,

one of the machines - a unique prototype

weighing six tonnes - weaves optical fibre full-

time, for future applications in transport,

construction, communicating clothing, health,

etc. High-tech is side-by-side with high fashion.

The company's past meets its present. In

charge since the mid-2000s, the third

generation of Denis remains true to the

philosophy and history of a totally family-

owned firm.

Cycling between looms

A story that begins in 1956: André, Christian's

father and artisan weaver, decided to set up on

his own and took over a workshop weaving for

the Lyon silk industry. The village of Montchal

still had nearly a hundred looms in homes. The

Denis firm very quickly expanded. The eldest

son, Jean-Paul joined the team formed by his

parents and two employees. The limited

liability company was founded in 1969. The

first factory was built in 1984. It was equipped

with the most modern looms. The following

year, Denis & Fils launched its first range of

products.

"I joined the firm in 2000. We had developed a

lot. I was supervisor at the public works

department. I spent my free time helping my

brother. But that was not enough!" Christian is

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.

In the 90s, Denis & Fils bought a small

drawloom firm and acquired a stake in the

Hugo Soie silk-finishing firm. In 2007, here we

go again! Anxious to preserve the textile chain,

the company acquired 35% of the shares in

Moulinages de Riotord specialising in twisting

fibre, including silk. From fibre to finished

product, the overall industrial process has been

integrated. The plant has five warping

machines for unwinding reels of thread before

weaving. Sampling is done on site. The quality

control of finished products is performed in the

lab.

Trademark: family

"The future, now, is Bruno and Fabienne!" The

third generation of Denis is a duo: consisting of

Christian's nephew and daughter. One is

responsible for developing new high-tech

innovations; the other, for nurturing a range of

scarves, created and made on site, and two

annual collections, which are presented in the

factory's showroom. "One of the hallmarks of

our company is the family! Not just the Denis

family, but all the employees, who are very

loyal to us. We are sure this has helped us to

be successful, even if it was not always easy!"

Denis & Fils

Le Bourg

42 360 Montchal

Tel: 04 77 28 60 21

www.denisfils.fr

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.

hermal comfort is a subjective

concept, which takes into account heat

transfer between people and their

environment and each person's

perception, including psychosocial factors.

Research into this is new. It only started in the

70s with a precursor, Fanger, a Danish

researcher who was one of the first to

mathematically model the human body. This is

the reference in our field". Sabine Varieras,

aged 40, is a specialist in thermal comfort.

With a Ph.D. in energy and heat transfer, she

devoted her thesis to heat exchange in

vehicles, then her early professional life to the

development of textile products, taking

protection and comfort into account.

Tailor-made

In industry, where she held a position in the

R&D for 3 years, the young scientist noted a

lack; namely small responsive organisations

offering advice and personal services to

companies wishing to test and provide

specifications for their products or develop new

ones. In 2007, she decided to set off on her

own and start a business: Enveho. The

company name is an acronym for the clothing

environment of people; an idea worked out by

both of them. In fact, it was the duo that she

formed with Amandine Souply, textile engineer,

which is behind the project and development of

the firm.

Thermal conductivity and radiation

properties

Conceived around a very specific theme, the

small firm has several trades: testing and

analysis, conducted in the laboratory in Feyzin,

in the southern suburbs of Lyon, the

development of new products, together with

industry, and establishing the specifications of

thermal comfort, which is still quite new.

In the lab, the Sabine-Amandine duo evaluates

the performance of work clothing or equipment

for firefighters and military personnel, and

checks them for compliance with standards.

They also perform tests on the thermal

conductivity and radiation properties of

textiles.

Rating thermal comfort

Their technology base, consisting of specially

developed measuring equipment and test

benches, enables them to function as an

external R&D centre working on innovation

with the textile industry and other sectors such

as construction. To help them in this, they

partly rely on the thermal comfort

" T

specifications software, which they launched in

2009: Caséto®.

"The initial problem was to rate the thermal

comfort. Comfort means not being hot and not

being cold, not feeling uncomfortable drafts.

However, there are no standards similar to

those for protection. We therefore had to

define measurement indicators such as heat,

the characteristics of the textile, moisture

management, the person's activity and

environment, etc. That's the basis of our

software" and the starting point of the firm.

Sales pitch based on reliable information

In front of the computer screen, the user

enters the required information: textile

characteristics (water vapour resistance,

thermal resistance, recovery rates, etc),

activity, environment (ambience, wind, etc).

Within seconds, the software provides accurate

data on thermal sensation and its variations,

depending on environmental parameters and

activity (skin temperature, temperature of the

material, radiation, moisture). "This allows our

clients to establish their position and product

sales pitch based on reliable, verifiable

scientific and technical information, which is

supported by full-scale tests. This is

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".

In 2009, Enveho expanded its small team and

recruited a young researcher preparing a thesis

on the ergonomics of physical activities and the

engineering-design of products. Over the

months, the small firm has invested in new

fields of application, including the building

industry through insulation and furniture.

"People are always at the centre of our

concerns. We protect persons, whether this be

at home, or why not, when travelling",

Amandine Souply concludes, before adding,

"Our role is important because we work on the

product design. We started six months before

the crisis; to move forward, we had to build

our credibility! Sometimes it's sport, but it's a

great adventure". Witness at the entrance of

the firm, a quote from Aristotle, posted on the

door: "There is no genius without a touch of

madness!" Talking about the future, no?

Enveho

Centre d’Entreprises et d’Innovation

66 boulevard Niels Bohr

69 100 Villeurbanne

Tel: 04 72 70 84 99

Contact: amandinesouply@enveho.com

More information: www.enveho.com

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.

fter the 2011 summer holidays, 260

new recruits joined the prestigious Ecole

des Mines d'Alès, in initial or continuous

training, 166 years after their elders,

who made up the ranks of the promotion-

baptism of the School of Masters-Workers-

Miners in 1845.

The Ecole des Mines d'Alès is one of the oldest

of seven French mining schools with whom it

also forms a large family: the group of mining

schools, historical, like its little sister in Douai,

which opened in 1878... The royal order to

create the Cévennes establishment was

enacted in 1843 to address the shortage of

personnel in the Languedoc mines. Objectives:

firstly, fulfil the labour needs in a growing

industry by training master-miners with

theoretical and practical skills; secondly,

enable young experienced workers to climb the

ladder of social advancement - a promise kept

right into the 60s. Affected by the decline of

French coal, the school then became technical,

changing its name to Ecole Nationale Technique

des Mines d'Alès. It began to change. In over a

century and a half, the transformation was

radical.

Engineer-entrepreneurs

Today, the Ecole des Mines d'Alès offers its

students engineer-entrepreneur courses lasting

three years, open internationally, with a

number of options and routes within the five

departments of the institution allowing them to

orientate themselves to their choice of

profession: civil engineering, mechanical and

materials engineering, risk and environmental

management, production engineering systems,

and information systems.

"We could say that our trademark, or oldest

activity, is civil engineering and construction.

This is what attracts most students. Our results

are very good: 94% of our graduates have a

job four months after gaining their diploma;

one third of them in the building sector. This is

more important to us than our ranking in the

twenty to thirty top schools". Responsible for

relations with the innovation clusters, Mireille

A

Fouletier is a professor in a discipline that is

one of the jewels of Alès: mass-market

materials. "Our students receive a broad

education that will allow them to evolve

throughout their working life and come out

with a double profile: technology and trade,

making them operational quickly. Our mission

has not changed all that much, despite the

historical upheavals. Our function is always to

meet the needs of industry; as much in training

students as in research".

Colour and tactile properties of textiles

At Alès, Nîmes and Pau, where the school has

its three sites and research centres, the motto

is indeed unchanging: listen to the needs of

companies, considered as partners. The EMA is

member of eight innovation clusters and full

participant of the Carnot Institut, which

includes the seven schools under the name

M.I.N.E.S. It puts applied collaborative

research and economic development at the

heart of its concerns.

Witness to this, are its three research centres:

the CMGD (centre for mass-market materials),

the LGEI (laboratory for the industrial and

natural environment) and the LGI2P

(laboratory for computer science and

production engineering). They started their

activities in the 80s, around themes related to

new technologies, the industrial environmental

and materials, and including textiles with highly

specific features.

Sustainability, life cycle and recycling

Thus, among others, the CMGD studies the

psychosensory properties of materials, the first

of which is... colour. "We began by studying

the colour of mineral powders and then

expanded our research to other properties and

other materials. We were interested in the

formulation of colours and visual effects in

order to develop a predictive model of the

visual aspect of materials. It's very innovative".

Also, very strategic for the manufacturers

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

themes, in a way, our warhorses. As regards

materials, we work a lot on sustainability, life

cycle and recycling of polymers. One of our

specialties is also the behaviour of fire. Some

of our work focuses on the mechanical

properties of textiles: elasticity, strength, etc.

For example, we have developed a highly

innovative photomechanical device that allows

us to monitor the deformation of textiles and

establish laws of behaviour. The LGEI has a

large team investigating smells and volatile

organic compounds, and is developing organic

filters for the decomposition of smells. We also

have a big team working on natural and

industrial hazards," sums up Mireille Fouletier.

The oldest French technology incubator

The EMA is partner of the Doseless R&D

project, which has the Techtera and Trimatec

"approved" labels for developing more efficient

personal radiation protection equipment for

those working in the medical and nuclear

sectors. The EMA is undeniably noted for its

close relationship with industry. "The school

distinguished itself very early through its

teaching oriented towards entrepreneurship.

Each year, our students have field missions in

firms established locally, throughout France

and even abroad".

Attesting to the strong links between the

campus and industry, the EMA is the leading

French business incubator. Founded in 1984, it

was extended with the creation of the Science

Park business centre on the Alès site, whose

first stone was laid in late 2010. Objective:

accommodate up to thirty new companies,

which will benefit from the proximity of the

incubator and laboratory equipment. To be

continued...

Ecole des Mines d’Alès

6, avenue de Clavières 30 319 Alès cdx Tel: 04 66 78 50 00 More information: www.mines-ales.fr

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.

or me it was a sign, an extraordinary

coincidence. In 2007, the Lyon Ecole

Centrale celebrated its 150th

anniversary, Tohoku University its 100th

anniversary and INSA Lyon, its 50th

anniversary. We were then thinking deeply

about the work areas for our future joint

laboratory established in 2008. So, we all

participated in the festivities, in Lyon and

Japan! The Japanese researcher, Prof. Tetsuo

Shoji, quoted here, is one of the three joint

head scientists of the ELyT Lab, the French-

Japanese research laboratory set up under the

auspices of the CNRS, by the Tohoku

University, which he represents, INSA Lyon and

the Lyon Ecole Centrale. He, together with his

colleagues Jean-Yves Cavaillé and Philippe

Kapsa, designed, built and manage this unique

laboratory. A laboratory without walls and

without its own equipment, like all the

International Associated Laboratories (IAL) of

the CNRS, based on joint work teams and the

energy of several laboratories recognised in

their fields on both sides of the planet. With -

and this is what makes it a success story - an

original bias: a multidisciplinary approach.

For three years, ELyT lab has been noted for

the number of students and researchers

involved in its projects, the variety of topics

and vitality. Success was almost immediate.

A deeply-rooted history...

"In fact, our history goes back 25 years. It

began with the previous generation. Our

laboratories, whether in France or Japan, have

always been very active in the field of tribology

and smart materials. At the time, four of our

internationally renowned professors regularly

met each other in symposia. They got on well

with each other scientifically and became

friends. Those were the beginnings of ELyT

Lab", recalls Jean-Yves Cavaillé. At the time,

this researcher, specialising in the science and

engineering of materials, was a member of the

team of Professor Gobin, at INSA Lyon, one of

the original four musketeers. In a few years,

the quartet set up the first collaborations,

exchanges of PhD students, and increased the

number of contacts. In 1997, it organised the

"

F

first Franco-Japanese Symposium on smart

materials, supported by the CNRS. The

laboratory teams involved were mobilised. The

bicultural adventure really began. From that

moment, the number of participants has

continued increasing.

Their rallying point? The liaison office is on the

INSA Lyon campus, in Villeurbanne, on the first

floor of the MATEIS laboratory. In these 20 m²,

was born the ''embassy'' in 2004 through a

formal agreement between the three

institutions. Within these walls, are received

students preparing their double degree. It was

opened in 2006 and, since late 2008, receives

Japanese researchers of ELyT Lab on mission

to Lyon. 10,000 km away in Sendai, the

configuration is identical: like in France, the

liaison office is the place for physical

representation of the agreements linking the

French schools and the Japanese university -

the place where researchers and students meet

to work.

The beginnings of a joint adventure...

However, the first joint research projects did

not wait for dedicated buildings and formal

agreements before starting. Work began long

before the creation of ELyT Lab. In 1990,

students from the Ecole Centrale joined the

Tohoku teams working on the durability of

video tapes. In 2003, a larger project was

launched by the CNRS and its counterpart the

TSPS. The markers of the joint laboratory were

in place. The idea caught on. In March 2008,

INSA Lyon and the Ecole Centrale submitted a

file to the CNRS for an International Associated

Laboratory. In Japan, the administrative

procedures were begun at the same time. The

official agreement for the birth of the IAL was

signed on December 8, 2008 in Sendai. It was

followed by a scientific symposium organised

for the first time, with the name ELyT Lab.

An example: innovative biomaterials

"In fact, we went ahead quickly, despite the

administrative aspects," recalls Philippe Kapsa,

from the LTDS (laboratory of tribology and

system dynamics) of the Lyon Ecole Centrale.

One year of scientific brainstorming was in fact

enough to define the laboratory research

subjects, with the underlying theme:

multidiscipline, and objective: link up the

mutual excellence to start totally new projects.

Five workgroups federated around five themes:

bioscience, sustainability and safety in energy

and transport, micro- and nano-materials, fluid

dynamics, tribology. In three years, they

became the fertile ground for 21 joint research

projects on various subjects.

An example? In the medical sector, the

development of innovative biomaterials for

catheters in the Biocat project, based notably

on the tribology expertise of Lyon researchers,

or innovative alloys used in hip replacements,

endowed with special microstructures

developed by metallurgists at INSA Lyon.

The projects, mostly focused on fundamental

research, generate international publications

signed by ELyT Lab in scientific journals.

Nevertheless, they arouse the interest of large

groups such as Total and EDF on the French

side, the lab's first industrial partners, but not

the only ones...

A first ELyT School

"In our three establishments, this laboratory is

now by far our most important international

collaboration," says the trio in chorus. "For its

scientific advances of course, but also because

it demonstrates that we are convinced from the

start: the meeting of cultures is a source of

innovation. It is necessarily creative".

No doubt, beyond the scientific aspects, ELyT

Lab is a cultural and human adventure. In

2009, the laboratory held its first summer

school: ELyT School, held each summer for

three years. For around thirty participants,

alternately French side and Japanese side, it

allows students and researchers to immerse

themselves for ten days in the culture of their

partner country, with a programme of scientific

lectures, visits and exchanges and awareness

of the cultural aspects of the host country.

"It has taken a lot of time, but we see that our

ties are becoming stronger". Witness to these

ties, is the solidarity of INSA and the Ecole

Centrale towards Tohoku, in the first hours of

the earthquake on March 11, 2011. The INSA

foundation donated to Haru, the association of

Japanese students, to help reconstruct

laboratories damaged or destroyed by the

tsunami. The Lyon Ecole Centrale received a

small group of students deprived of premises.

With 40,000m² of buildings damaged, the

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.

nique: this could summarise the profile

of Sofileta, the family-owned firm.

Situated in Bourgoin-Jallieu, about fifty

kilometres east of Lyon, it is based on

an industrial organisation incorporating almost

all the textile trades on several Isère sites. Full

industrial integration in less than 100 years.

What could be better?

An industrial heritage

"In France there are very few textile companies

like us, who combine the two techniques of

weaving and knitting, with a good balance

between the two". Chairman of the board since

2007, Benoit Bouret is the third generation of

the family. Today at the helm, along with his

father, Jean-Claude Bouret, the young

manager, graduated from HEC in 2007, is well

aware of being at the head of an industrial

heritage. "Sofileta condenses the whole history

of textiles. The company has followed textiles,

and adapted, from the outset. We are

centenarians and have been faithful for many

years to our strategy of integration and

diversification. First and foremost, our Group is

a powerful industrial tool."

The Sofileta trade is to design, develop and

market technical and functional textiles. Also,

the Isère family Group factories do beaming,

weaving, knitting and finishing, and have sites

in other parts of the region. "We made a

choice… We could have relocated at any time.

We have done the opposite and prefer being

successful with French industry. This took, and

still takes, a lot of courage and tenacity".

Seventy percent for export

Totally French, the SOFILETA company is

organised around business units for the

markets: Sofileta Advanced Textiles for

personal protection, Sofileta Advanced

Materials for industrial applications and Sofileta

ActiveWear-Bodywear-Fashion for sport,

lingerie, ready-to-wear and bags. These are

separate units, each with their line manager,

their R&D and sales teams. Objective: simplify

and clarify the organisation and activities of the

company management, particularly as regards

international customers. In 2010, Sofileta

achieved 70% of its turnover from exports.

It is difficult to portray all the products sold in

Europe, particularly the East, Asia and South

America. Two of the company's specialties have

become famous: sport and personal protection,

areas where Sofileta has contributed major

innovations. One of the latest? Sofileta Cooling

U

Fabrics®, a technology exploiting the

refreshing properties of a revolutionary

polymer: it absorbs moisture from the body

during physical activity and provides freshness

in exchange. This product, developed in

partnership with the Belgian company Luxilon,

manufacturer of the filament, won an award for

innovation in May 2011 during the prestigious

Techtextil international trade fair in Frankfurt.

"What is also very innovative, is the

specification work done on textiles using this

polymer. Comparative tests have been

conducted on a laboratory model simulating

the human body with its heat and moisture

exchanges. A temperature difference on the

surface of the skin between 1.4°C and 3°C was

measured after 60 minutes of physical effort,

compared with existing fabrics on the

sportswear market. This is not mere sales

talk".

Aerospace, automotive and medical

Other examples of star products: the

Sofil'Arc® range for the electrical industry,

providing protection from electric arc, the

Diamond Technology® innovation, which

through its special weaving, functions and new

performances, provides fire and heat resistant

textiles, or SofiShield® technology, which is

about to be marketed in Europe after two years

research, gives treated textiles outstanding

resistance to abrasion without compromising

breathability and flexibility.

Two years ago, Sofileta added another string to

its bow, with the development of technologies

inducing new functional processes in textile

products. The hundred-year-old company

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

subcontractors. The company designed and

sold finished products - only to the clothing

sector at the start. Our flagship product at the

time was acetate lining, of which we were one

of the largest European producers". But, no

question of resting on our laurels. In the early

90s, Sofileta added a first knitting unit and

launched new lines of product, before

developing textiles increasingly complex in

their properties and functions.

A brand new factory

Next rendezvous: in 2013, 102 years old, the

Group will offer itself the luxury of celebrating

its centenary and, above all, writing a new

chapter in its history. If administrative

obstacles do not excessively delay the project,

a brand new factory will open in Isère. High-

tech and "clean", it will focus on new more

energy-efficient technologies, optimised

processes, more environment-friendly, and

technologically advanced. Without doubt, this

will boost the success of the Isère SME. Among

those coming in 2012: Sofileta Energizing

Fabrics®, a technology that could, if ongoing

trials confirm, confer slimming and stimulating

properties to lingerie or clothing worn close to

the body. This just shows, concluded the young

head of the company, "there is always

something to invent". Listening to him, we

have no doubt that this is true.

Sofileta 25, Petite Rue de la Plaine 38 311 Bourgoin Jallieu Tel: 04 74 43 55 00 Contact: contact@sofileta.com

More information: www.sofileta.com

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.

id you know? Every French person uses

an average of 1 kg of silicon per year,

found in cosmetics, health, household

products, shampoos, paint,

repositionable adhesive, bathroom joints,

kitchen moulds, electrical insulation, mobile

phone shells, etc. A recent but exponential

development: since their post-war discovery,

these chemical products derived from silicon

and silica (sand) continue to procreate. Their

applications are endless. No wonder: their

properties, resistance in particular, put them in

the first rank of performance polymers. Current

global growth is 6-7% per year. In short, they

are everywhere, and their future is assured.

Starting from scratch...

Silicones are central to the work done by the

LGCIE (laboratory of civil and environmental

engineering) of Villeurbanne on the LyonTech

campus of Doua.

The groundwork began in 2004. The teams

from INSA Lyon and the Claude Bernard Lyon I

University, came together in 2007 under that

name to pool their respective fields of

investigation in civil engineering, urban

planning and environmental analysis of

processes and industrial systems.

"We started from nothing. Our knowledge was

zero! What pushed us into this was a problem

encountered in the field by the biogas energy

recovery sector; the gas (over 50% methane)

produced by the fermentation of waste.

Unexplained deposits of silica (abrasive) on the

energy-recovery engine pistons were likely to

damage them. We analysed these deposits and

went up the chain to discover that they came

from the deterioration of silicones in waste.

This is how our work started". Seven years

later, Patrick Germain, professor and head of

the environmental, industrial and urban science

degree from 2005 to 2010, gives an

enthusiastic report. "Here in our laboratory,

around ten researchers are involved in

methanisation, biogas and silicone! It must be

said that since 2004, the general context has

evolved a lot. The interest in these subjects is

greater now". The first world thesis on the

relationship between the deterioration of

silicones, and the technical and economic

problems engendered, was continued by the

LGCIE in 2008; another topic followed in 2011.

D

A patent was filed on a method for analysing

biogas. A purification process was developed

and field-tested. Today, LGCIE is the only

French laboratory successfully working on the

deterioration and environmental impact of

silicones.

"We are different because of our

multidisciplinary approach. When we started

talking about the science of waste in the 70s,

only chemists were interested. Then we

recruited biologists, geologists, statisticians.

Our research on silicones combines many skills.

This gives us another outlook. For us, 1 + 1

equals 3".

Global benchmark in the sector

The equation shows the value of adding talent.

Manufacturers quickly understood this. Hence,

of course, the global benchmark in the sector -

Bluestar Silicones, one of the leading silicone

manufacturers, first-class leaders in markets

such as elastomers for paramedics and the

automotive industry, anti-adhesion for

packaging, adhesives and textile coating for

airbags, technical textiles and lingerie. From its

birth in 2007, and the takeover of the silicone

business by the Bluestar Group from the

Rhodia chemist, the new unit formed a closer

relationship with the Villeurbanne lab.

Objective: measure the impact of its products

in the waste treatment sector. European

regulations require the silicone industry to

review its production processes and use new

types of catalysts free of tin or mercury

compounds. Bluestar Silicones took up this

environmental and economic challenge and

launched a collaborative research project:

ECOMAT, approved by Techtera in 2009, with

four manufacturers and three research

laboratories, including LGCIE, as partners. One

aim of this project, supported by the French

government, was to assess the environmental

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

most common material on the planet. But, we,

the researchers and manufacturers, know what

is needed to get that far".

Hydrology, environmental engineering

Examining environmental issues to improve

their consideration when preparing building

plots and provide better control over pollution:

such could summarise the overall definition of

the work done by the LGCIE. With a strong

presence on the ground for sewerage,

purification or waste treatment plants (from

which researchers regularly take samples), the

lab works on a variety of subjects in

partnership with local communities and waste-

treatment and construction companies.

Its role? Identify, analyse and study recovery

possibilities. For this, the teams employ all

their expertise: hydrology, environmental and

civil engineering; the examples abound. Thus,

in the Lyon area, the LGCIE continuously

monitors the many physical-chemical

parameters of wastewater and surface water in

the sewers. It also takes specific samples for

its research into the impact of weather

conditions or human activities. Our teams also

work on the transformation of household

rubbish into materials usable for sub-layers of

roads or in the building industry.

The long-term aim is greater recovery and

recycling of waste. "Today, we only reuse 30%

of biogas production. With the explosion of

renewable energy, this percentage will increase

dramatically. We need to work on, study and

eliminate the technological blocks in these new

waste-recovery sectors".

LGCIE – Laboratoire de Génie Civil et d’Ingénierie Environnementale Tel: 04 72 43 82 76 Contact: patrick.germain@insa-lyon.fr

lgcie@insa-lyon.fr

More information: http://lgcie.insa-lyon.fr

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.