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EMC2 - Ensemble Métalliques et Composites Complexes

Situated in western France amidst the Loire Valley, Brittany and Poitou-Charentes regions, national cluster “EMC2” (Ensemble Métalliques et Composites Complexes) specializes in the Aerospace, Automobile and Construction of military ships and pleasure boats.

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The cluster has set 5 key objectives:

  • Develop high-performance composite materials,
  • Master new processes for implementation of materials and structure assembly,
  • Deploy technologies of co-design and simultaneous engineering among all cluster members,
  • Optimize the physical flow and the information flow throughout the production and integration operations,
  • Develop and pool new skills in which local training programs will develop leading expertise.

Strengths

The Loire Valley, the 4th largest French industrial region, has a network of companies and research organizations capable of developing new products and services on the global market.

The Loire Valley region and the Cluster Industries
Companies and Employees     
- 4,000 SMEs/SMIs
- 100,000 employees, including
- 2/3 of military and civil shipping construction employees  and
- 1/3 of aerospace and ship construction employees in France   

National rankings of industrial activities 
- 1st region in nautical and shipping industry
- 2nd in the plastics industry
- 3rd in aerospace and mechanics 
  
Research
- 2,300 researchers
- 4th French region for the number of industrial patents registered

Members:

Almost 120 cluster members

Companies over 80 including 40 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- French companies: ACB, Bénéteau SA, Daher, Direction des Constructions Shippinges (DNCS), Groupe Allio, Hutchinson, Mécachrome, Renault etc.
- International companies: EADS (France/Germany/United Kingdom/Spain) via Airbus, Aker Yards (Norway), Hexcel (United States), Thermal Ceramics (United Kingdom) etc.

Research and Educational Institutions
- 18 centers, including Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, Ecole de Management Audencia Nantes, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (ENSAM), Ecole Supérieure d’Electronique de l’Ouest (ESEO), Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), Centre Technique des Industries Mécaniques (CETIM) etc.

- Almost 10 other organizations are also partners of the cluster, including Fédération des Industries Mécaniques, Plasti Ouest, Union des Industries et Métiers de la Métallurgie Pays de-la-Loire (IUMM), Regional Council of Pays-la-Loire, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Saint Nazaire (CCI), Regional Directorate for Industry, Research and the Environment (DRIRE) etc.

Current R&D Project Partnerships (refer to appendix)

- 33 projects certified and financed since the cluster’s creation in 2006 for a total budget of 90+  million euros
- 40 projects in progress
- 25 million euros contributed by the Single Interministerial Fund  (Fonds Unique Interministériel or FUI)

International Partnerships

Current:
•Participation in the European Technology Platform (ETP) Manufuture via Mécafuture France
•Contacts with the Quebec clusters Aéro Montréal and Chaudière-Appalanches

Future:
•Development of partnerships with the countries of Northern Europe via Aker Yards in the fields of shipping construction and offshore oil and gas.
•Partnerships with Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, via company and research clusters in these countries.

Appendix: Examples of certified R&D Projects

 

Project Name and Subject

 

 

Led by

A3DE

Create a portable drill to be used on composite and/or mixed materials, that can self-adapt to the material encountered upon drilling

 

MPS, EUROPE TECHNOLOGIES group

AERDECO

Aerospace composite recycling by solvolysis

 

MCR

AMETIS

Construct a robust sector that develops and uses advanced nanostructured materials

 

 

Mécachrome

LFW NG

Bring to market a linear friction welding technology in motor applications and the titanium elements of aeroplane structures

 

 

ACB

MP 05

Develop advanced forming processes for deep-drawn components, piping and cavities, stiffened structures

 

 

ACI (Auto Châssis International)

MP 08

Qualifying comparative tests of various fire safety engineering, and developing new materials and new passive and active protection techniques with regard to the fire performance of composites.

 

 

 

DCNS

MP 16 T5

Mastering dynamic 3D welding to assemble  parts or thermoplastic groups

 

 

EADS - CCR

MP32

Applications for industrial structural bonding from design to production, of large-dimension multi-material assemblies

 

 

CETIM

TSCNG

Provide composite technologies and prototype resources necessary to launch the successor of the “Single Aisle” family (A320)

 

 

Airbus

USINAE

Multiplying by five the life expectancy of pins for machines for machining aluminium and composite parts and optimising their operation.  Proposing a new method of piloting of UGV machines.

 

 

ACI, EUROPE TECHNOLOGIES group

CYCLEAUX

Design and develop innovative technological solutions to recycle household wastewater that permit the water cycle to be optimized between its source and usage in the context of micro-populations on land and high-passenger-capacity ships.

 

 

 

Wirquin Plastiques

MDO

Develop industrial design platforms integrating resources simulating the different constraints (structure, performance, costs, etc.) around an identical product to be designed and manufactured, in order to accelerate the development of innovative products and processes

 

 

 

 

Sirehna

PILOTE 2.0

Methods and components to co-ordinate organizational capacities and mobilize participants with regard to strategic progress in extended or complex organizations (groups, councils, networks, etc.)

 

 

MNM Consulting

PTFMECA

Mécafuture Platform

In collaboration with the competitive clusters Arve Industrie, Viameca, Microtechnique and Matériaux Innovants (MIPI). Helping the SMEs of our competitive clusters to access European projects.

 

CETIM

(Centre Technique des Industries Mécaniques)

PF1

Trimming (separating the object from the rest of the material) and deburring (abrasion)

 

Technological platform “Automatismes

et Composites” of Roche-sur-Yon and Vendée

 

 

Contact

Invest in France Agency Paris

Laurent Bergeot Laurent BERGEOT
Director, Territories Development
Send an e-mail
+33 1 40 74 74 11