WHAT IS CARATS?
CARATS are 3 French Carnot Institutes : M.I.N.E.S, Ingénierie@Lyon et MICA as well as a network of over 70 public research laboratories located throughout the country, whose goal is to support the “France” brand and its know-how in response to the challenges in the Fashion & Luxury sector, such as digital tools for industry, new materials, sustainable development, knowledge management and transmission, etc.
HOW CAN CARATS HELP YOU?
Through a wide range of support services such as access to test facilities, technical expertise and training programs, the people at CARATS work with industries to develop solutions for tomorrow. From sourcing to distribution, not to mention design, production and logistics, our skills cover the entire value chain.
WHAT SKILLS CAN CARATS PROVIDE?
Here are a few examples of our members’ areas of expertise:
- Developing new materials with better performances and their implementation;
- Providing support for sustainable development and the circular economy: LCA, impact, eco-design, recycling;
- Elaborating the products of the future: connected objects, smart textiles;
- Improving production tools: smart factories, optimization for processes & complex logistics chains;
- Preserving know-how and ensuring its transmission through artificial intelligence and virtual or augmented reality;
- Developing new models of organization and innovation.
EXAMPLES OF OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
Our laboratories put their know-how to work to find solutions for tomorrow:
- Making use of connected objects and nanotechnologies to develop the key products of tomorrow;
- Imagining and implementing a high level of reuse for your production scraps;
Melting crystal powder by microwave heating (© Mathieu Charvet / RCP)
- Capturing and transmitting unique gestures and know-how;
- Deploying additive manufacturing processes at your factory;
- Developing a line of anodized titanium with controlled visual effects;
Colored titanium rings (© Mathieu Charvet / RCP)
- Applying thermal spraying technologies for use on fragile supports such as wood or silk;
- Producing a bio-sourced foam with versatile properties, a “marine” polystyrene;
- Modelling professional actions, analyzing their ergonomics and detecting points that need to be corrected during the learning process;
- Creating a production plant that is highly automated and very flexible for infinite diversification;
- Developing manufacturing techniques for stretchable batteries used in a wearable integration application;
- Developing an acquisition platform for immersive exploration of a dynamic scene.
WHAT IS THE CONNECTION WITH TRANSVALOR?
Like the CARATS network, Transvalor’s activities are strongly attached to the French manufacturing industry. Our action contributes to promoting research work that is the product of the applied research carried out at MINES ParisTech with the CEMEF laboratory and the Centre des Matériaux.
In the Fashion and Luxury field, excellent synergy can notably be found with Fine Watchmaking, a sector in which Transvalor has developed solid expertise in recent years for the simulation of stamped components (case parts, strap parts, casebands, crowns, etc.). Areas concerned with materials (titanium, leather, etc.), optics, eyewear or artificial intelligence are all fields with clear potential for collaboration to the greatest benefit of our industrial partners.