CENIT-KEONYS, an expert in digital transformation in industry, and Samaya®, a French start-up, held a discussion at the “Assises de l’Industrie française” on 4 November 2021. The main objective was to highlight the role played by new digital technologies in the industry to help a start-up to develop quickly and sustainably. Interview between Axelle MAZE from CENIT-KEONYS, Victoire DAVID-POINSIER and Ghislain PIPERS from Samaya.
How does the digitalisation of industrial processes fit the product development of a French start-up into a development and sustainability strategy?
Start-ups face two major challenges: project financing and the implementation of their growth strategy. Designing and simulating tents via the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform in the cloud has allowed Samaya to considerably shorten development times, test a large number of concepts in a limited amount of time, reduce the number of physical prototypes and thus limit their environmental impact.
Samaya reinvents the mountaineering tent with the 3DEXPERIENCE® platform on the cloud.
“This software allows us to reach our R&D goals faster, right through to prototyping, thanks to CAD-based pattern-making. We are able to accelerate product development to offer a full range of products in the first years of the brand’s licenses” explains Ghislain Pipers, CEO and co-founder of Samaya.
Samaya has chosen to digitalize its industrial processes on the cloud from the start of its activity. During the conference, Axelle Mazé, CFO of CENIT-KEONYS, highlighted the many benefits of digital technologies with a particular focus on the cloud.
“The story of Samaya is based on an ambitious industrial project and illustrates the audacity of a small team using cloud technologies. Engineers are already seeing great flexibility in the evolution of information systems and support through real-time software updates. In addition, the cloud frees them from the often high costs of IT infrastructure” says Axelle Mazé.
Victoire David-Poinsier, Deputy CEO of Samaya, explains the choice of OPEX financing for the digital transformation and R&D part.
“We used a SaaS model to move our sales model to a rental model and thus enable our end customers to have access to very high-end equipment without necessarily buying it”.
Thinking about ‘digitalization of industrial processes’ right from the idea and conceptualisation of a project guarantees rapid development and greater confidence from investors. The sustainability aspect and the agility of the cloud were the majors topics of the discussions. Samaya plans to relocate its clothing know-how to France and thus revitalise the textile industry. The start-up has also recently evolved its business model to fit in with a circular economy approach in line with new user habits.
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Transcript of the video
Axelle Maze: Hello everyone, I’m delighted to welcome Victoire and Ghislain from Samaya to the Assises de l’Industrie. Ghislain, can you tell us a bit about what Samaya does?
Ghislain Pipers: Samaya was set up by a mountain-loving high-level athlete and student, and their teacher. It all started with a student project in 2017. Back then, I wanted to create my ideal tent, the kind of ultra-lightweight, high-tech, comfy tent I could take on expeditions, which didn’t exist on the market at the time. High-tech mountaineering tents were really lagging in terms of innovation in this pretty ‘hardcore’ market. Our aim now at Samaya is to bring people incredible bivouac camping experiences. The high-tech tent and outdoor market has emerged as highly promising over the past few years, and so we’re expanding our R&D teams and fleshing out the means needed to accelerate our growth fairly quickly. We embraced technical and digital resources right from the very start. We couldn’t really do otherwise if we wanted to push innovation further: providing innovation and ensuring our products are built to last in order to push boundaries, thanks to digital design and development, simulation, and the tests we run in-house at our Annecy workshop. That’s why we turned to KEONYS for our digital solution.
Axelle Maze: The CENIT-KEONYS group is an international integrator and distributor of digital solutions. The information systems and tools are forever changing, and are increasingly being adapted to small businesses like your own, and to new consumer behaviours. We’re seeing this more and more frequently when working with our clients. They’re aiming to pair their development strategy with much wider-reaching social aspects, and particularly a sustainability angle. You opted for cloud-based technology. Why? Two key reasons. Firstly, versatility in how it could be adapted. Cloud solutions let you remain in lockstep with your company as it grows and make things easier with automatic online software updates. Victoire, how did you finance this digitalisation process, and start relocating your expertise?
Victoire David-Poinsier: In early 2021, Samaya raised funds from private investors – people who were passionate industry experts, and in the outdoor industry specifically. We chose to focus our OpEx on IT with the 3DEXPERIENCE®. Cloud technology was a choice we made to give us operational agility, and specifically agility in terms of team size, which can vary in this growth phase. We also wanted to be able to delegate our IT management tasks and focus on our core business, while always having up-to-date versions, which will be a major advantage in the long term. Just as we used 3DEXPERIENCE® for R&D, we drew on a SaaS model to support development in our sales model and incorporate a rental service. This gives end customers access to premium equipment without having to buy it, and includes a usage-based environmental aspect: no more products being under-used, gathering dust on a shelf, depending on how actively they are needed, and customers can try them out before they buy.
Ghislain Pipers: As well as having the platform for simulation/design and R&D, we now want to start using it in downstream processes, on the production and manufacturing side. Samaya’s goal is now to relocate part of its production, bringing it in house, as well as managing all supply chain flows down to billing. The idea is to connect the design and development with the ERP and the entire rest of the supply chain, all the way through to sales, stock management, and the end product. I think my dream has remained unchanged since the start: I want to bring bivouac camping to the masses, giving people access to what was once considered an ‘elitist’ pastime thanks to a high-tech angle in products that make this unique practice more accessible, unlocking the door to a way of camping that allows you to reconnect with yourself and nature, which is a hot topic considering the past few years. We’re proud to announce we’ve signed a partnership with the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix. This winter they will be launching a winter bivouac camping experience for the very first time. We’ll be working with them as partners to promote this activity, gradually putting bivouac camping within everyone’s reach.
