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Design Mecaloire
France
Design Mécaloire was an initiative set up in partnership between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Loire – Montbrison and the Design Centre Rhone-Alps which ran from July 2005 until June 2006. It was a sector specific group action to raise awareness and involve SMEs in industrial design in order to facilitate the expansion of their market by bringing companies together in joint projects to create new products. Although the action ended in June 2006, some of the projects generated are still under development or about to be launched (November 2007).
The project brought together a group of SMEs from the mechanics sector located within 50km of Lyon to collaborate on joint projects which integrated design in order to generate new business by combining groups of companies and designers. This action will be used as a model for other group actions offered to other regional clusters and networks.
There were four groups of five companies from all mechanics sectors who worked with four designers to develop projects in the following fields: swimming pool equipment and outdoor furniture, lighting and urban furniture, cutting tools for creative recreation, vehicles for the general public, promotional items to point out mechanical knowledge.
Contact with the companies was coordinated by a manager from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry whilst contact with the designers was the responsibility of the Design Centre Rhone-Alps. All the companies were represented by their Director.
There were several phases to the programme:
• Recruitment of companies and constitution of groups
• Selection of designers with regards to the working theme of each group: one designer per group
• Meeting between each company and the designer and a visit to each company by the group
• Individual design diagnosis and overall recommendations for each group in the form of projects and concepts
• Creative investigation for each group based on the chosen projects
• Support and follow-up for the development of the projects for each group (not integrated in the action)
As a result of the project the companies experienced and understood how integrating design at the very beginning of a project adds value and also the role of the designer as a generator of new impulses in the conception process. In addition, new collaborations have formed between neighbouring companies which had no contact with each other before the action which has enhanced regional dynamics and resulted in new products.
The programme had a budget of 70,000 euros provided by the Rhone-Alps region, the department (Loire Area), the town of Saint Etienne and the regional authority of the Ministry of Industry. This enabled the preparation and launch of the action and the first two phases: constitution of the groups of companies, design diagnosis for each company and creative research of projects for each group of companies.
Constitution of the groups was vital for the development and implementation of the action and it became clear that it was not only necessary to work on design issues but also on the marketing aspects and, with projects still being developed, it has not yet been possible to make a formal measurement of the programmes effectiveness.
For more information contact: Franck Bercegeay
Telephone: + 33 4 72 75 94 94
e-mail: bercegeay@centredudesign.fr
