25 March 2010
"Without the software investment, we could not exist today." Equipped with TopSolid'Wood since 2003, the company Boursin Pavitub has developed its activity, from fitting out pharmacies to the creation and interior design of varied sales outlets. From a modest workshop to the creation of a large store, a CAD/CAM software helps gain time… and deals.
Based in Vitré, near Rennes in France, the company Boursin Pavitub employs 49 people. It specialises in fitting out sales outlets. Its main clients are pharmacies, which represent half of the company’s business, and turnover (€4.7 million in 2005).
The company also fits out various types of specialist distributors, such as jewellery shops, "which is often more complex, due to the dimensions and volumes that are specific to these types of products", stresses Patricia Boursin, General Manager of the company.
The company also has such customers as chain stores, including opticians, camera shops, chocolate makers and luxury clothing boutiques. Boursin Pavitub has also worked on boutiques for the Saint-Pierre airport in the Reunion, and for various museums, such as the Mémorial de Caen and the Champs Libres museum in Rennes, which opened in March.
Significant productivity gains thanks to TopSolid’Wood
In June 2003, the company decided to purchase a design and manufacturing software package, which of course profoundly changed the working methods at all stages of production. "Nowadays, we could not exist without this equipment", explains Patricia Boursin. "We have made gains in productivity and responsiveness: we can respond very rapidly to specific requests. We have also been able to diversify and extend our business into new sectors. »
Designed based on experience developed in the fields of metal-working and mechanics, Boursin Pavitub chose TopSolid’Wood because it is an integrated CAD/CAM solution. "Its main asset for us is the direct link that it allows between design and manufacturing" explains David Jouault, one of the three professionals of the "process planning department", all former carpenters in the company. "Having previously worked in the workshop is a plus to effectively work with the software", he declares.
Resorting to a CAD/CAM solution has led to gains in productivity, which are accompanied by optimisation of manufacturing conditions. The reorganisation of production that has been carried out is now based on the following units: the design office, which is the first contact with the client, the process planning department, which prepares all the production operations, and the carpentry workshop.
Optimized production
The optimisation that results from the use of TopSolid means time savings on throughputs, through regular enhancement of an "archive" database, and a significant increase in production.
As an example, the development of a standard project, for which certain elements may be in the library, can be dealt with in two hours and submitted to the client. After a planning stage, evaluated at one hour in this case, the manufacturing phase can be launched. Lead times like this give the company real responsiveness, and have opened up new horizons in terms of diversification.
Fifteen years ago, fitting out pharmacies represented 80% of Boursin Pavitub’s business, but now this sector’s share is down to 50%. Today the company has between five and seven workshops on the go, which can range from creating an element of a counter for a boutique, to fitting out an entire shop.
Boursin Pavitub works mainly with composite woods, melamine-laminated wood or MDF, and, on rare occasions, solid wood. In the workshop, where the collections of templates have now disappeared, manufacturing now relies on a numerical control router (Biesse), an "old" Masterwood, and a horizontal panel saw (Giben). The company is looking into purchasing a new, numerically controlled panel saw.
The three specialists in the company required a total of a fortnight’s training to gain sufficient expertise in TopSolid’Wood. "If we need to, we call Missler Software for help and we are quickly put on the right track again" explains David Jouault. Such strong points of TopSolid’Wood have appealed to companies working with Boursin Pavitub: Its main subcontractor has in turn started working with TopSolid'Wood …
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