Lainière Santé™: Our vision

Denis Noharet, President of Lainière Santé™, has shared with us the inception and success of Lainière Santé™. With its fast growth, Lainière Santé™ has thrown out the traditional entrepreneurship rulebook. In only a few days, Chargeurs was able to reorganize its core business activities to meet urgent health needs. This shift marks a new chapter in the Group’s history.

Denis Noharet, President of Lainière Santé™: 

“In the thick of the Covid-19 crisis and under the leadership of Michaël Fribourg, the Chargeurs Fashion Technologies division’s R&D teams specialized in interlining started developing technical particle filtering textile composites. This solution effectively protects mask wearers from getting infected by the virus. Starting with tests at 60-65% filtration (particles larger than 3 µm), we achieved more than 99% filtration. (Tests conducted by the French defense procurement agency’s lab). Our network of manufacturers in Europe have used these fabrics to make masks, producing several million units.

Sourcing teams in Europe and Asia felt the same impetus and stepped up their efforts and commitment. In doing so, they selected, labeled and imported many millions of disposable masks (surgical and FFP2) for our public sector customers as well as large private corporations.

Responding to the global demand for high quality products for sustainable needs, the Group has set up automatic mask machines on-site in our Péronne manufacturing firm in Northern France, home of the historic Lainière de Picardie factory, and in the Sélestat municipality in Northeastern France, where Senfa is located. These production lines can manufacture several million surgical and FFP2 masks per year. Chargeurs will also implement the same production setup in the United States in order to expand its reach in the American market. We decided to set up capacities in Switzerland.

Our industry-wide success is what drives us. This is why our teams are currently working towards creating tailored offers for each segment of the market (B2C, the healthcare sector, the construction sector, sports organizations, etc.). Our offers include a wide range of products (masks, protective gowns, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.) coupled with a complete range of premium services (traceability, stock categorization and management, and much more). For instance, Novacel has developed its Novacel Health product range, including hand sanitizer, antimicrobial film preventing infection from contact with surfaces; sanitary gates mean to disinfect visitors entering public spaces, and lastly, touchless hand sanitizer stations.

These initiatives, which the Group has rolled out seamlessly over the past few weeks, reflect our entrepreneurial DNA. Thanks to our investments and the efforts we’ve made to modernize our production lines, we now stand ready to face a potential second wave of the pandemic. Our partners and customers can count on us

Lainière Santé™: Amazing stories

In this month’s edition of the newsletter, read two stories about the milestones the Group achieved during lockdown that were essential to fighting Covid-19:

  • Lainière Santé™: a successful start!
  • French President Emmanuel Macron commends Chargeurs for its efforts during the health crisis.

The Group’s teams worked night and day to address urgent health needs. Our teams pushed themselves beyond their limits to develop cutting-edge technology products, ensuring the protection of our many stakeholders.

Lainière Santé™: a successful start!

Chargeurs’ masks couldn’t have wished for better ambassador to support their initiative! At its Le Bourget site, Dassault Falcon Service (DFS) temporarily converted one of its legendary Falcon 900B aircrafts to transport protective masks, specifically Lainière Santé™ brand masks. In this time of urgent need, this jet line provides a faster and more adaptable service compared to commercial air and land transportation. This is proven by over 50 flight hours in just 15 days to ship millions of Chargeurs masks.

Through its partnerships with industry giants in France, whether with Bolloré in logistics and transport or Dassault in air transportation, Chargeurs has once again shown the strength of its business model.

French President Emmanuel Macron commends Chargeurs for its efforts during the health crisis

Chargeurs has also received accolades from the French President: In a televised speech on March 31, 2020, Mr. Macron thanked Chargeurs for its unprecedented production efforts in the fight against Covid-19. The Group was one of the first to respond to the urgent health crisis, and rapidly rolled out widescale production.

The Group was praised for its agility and its ability to play a pivotal role in supporting public and health authorities. To safeguard citizens’ health, products were delivered to major public institutions and local authorities. The recognition from the French government is a testament to the tireless work of Chargeurs employees. They are vey proud to have contributed to the nationwide effort.

Lainière Santé™: Our employees committed to the cause

The courage and selflessness of Chargeurs employees allowed the Group to quickly produce protective masks and hand sanitizer, the first line of defense against the coronavirus. Teams from various businesses around the globe pulled together to create effective action plans.

We’re taking a closer look at the stories of our frontline operations staff during this crisis. Their commitment helped Chargeurs to become a corporate citizen: 

Christophe Ricaux, Supply Chain Manager at Chargeurs Fashion Technologies: 

“Lainière Santé™ is the product of highly effective collaboration across the Group’s various subsidiaries. Each and every subsidiary played their part; whether it was receiving masks, quality control, packaging, or preparing orders. 

I manage the daily activities of our dedicated Masks business teams and oversee administrative reporting (inventories, billing, etc.). I am in constant contact with sales and transportation staff, which is essential to meet deadlines for shipping and express delivery across France. My personal commitment to the Chargeurs Group since 1998 has helped me stay fully operational and fully committed to face this extraordinary health crisis.”

Julie Fouilland, Marketing Manager at Senfa and in charge of Lainière Santé™’s social media:

“Initially, we needed to shut down all activity. While in lockdown, but still connected, we drafted weekly newsletters for employees and our customers. Our goal was to keep lines of communication open.

We also needed to be able to react very quickly. Leveraging robust in-house synergies, Lainière Santé™ developed a mask offer that was the first of its kind. Our mission was to support products on the market while factoring in end products, BtoC and e-commerce. From product creation to packaging and managing activity on our social networks, to creating tailored offers for key accounts, our polyvalent team was the key to staying competitive.

Then, we needed to diversify. By harnessing our synergies, we began to produce personal protective equipment, thereby transforming Lainière Santé™ into a supplier of fully-integrated solutions.”

Daphnée Newland, Financial Controller at Lainière de Picardie: 

“To respond to substantial sales flows, the Financial Controlling team had to adapt quickly by redesigning flows within the Group. This involved duplicating systems and reorganizing teams. During that time, the plant had to urgently produce industrial composites. In terms of management control, this meant increased reporting on inventory and our working capital requirements, creating supplier records, etc.

During the first few weeks, our biggest challenge was to collect information to facilitate our operations staff’s daily activities. The goal was for Finance to provide invisible but nonetheless impactful support, to monitor customer contracts and to pay our suppliers on time. It would have been an impossible task without our team’s full commitment!”

Michèle Naulot-Besson, Director of Business Development at Chargeurs Protective Films:

“Our agile methods, which include closely monitoring and anticipating market needs, thinking outside the box and beyond our core business scope, and a streamlined decision-making process, allowed us to create four cutting-edge products in under a month: hand sanitizer, antimicrobial film, sanitary gates and hand sanitizer stations.

At the height of the fight against Covid-19, CPF Business Development implemented effective operating strategies to find new business partners, negotiate and sell health products, which addressed material shortages. It was essential to act fast to avoid widespread infection.”

How did Lainière Santé™ become the partner of choice through innovation?

“Impossible” isn’t part of the French vocabulary? The original expression, “le mot impossible n’est pas français”, attributed to France’s most renowned soldier, Napoleon Bonaparte, strikes a special chord at this moment in time. It is a firmly-rooted value in Chargeurs’ corporate culture: our ambition to push the boundaries of its businesses is the secret to the Group’s success. The creation of Lainière Santé™ is definitive proof of this. To understand the recipe of our success, we will provide you with the necessary ingredients: a dash of audacity, innovation, logistics expertise and dedication. All these qualities have helped Chargeurs to stand out from its competitors.

BOLD ACTION

The recipe for our success story starts with a long-term strategy initially implemented in 2015, which strives to make the Group a world leader in niche markets. Consistent with its strategy, and while facing the widespread scale of the pandemic, the Group reoriented its manufacturing facility towards mass production of protective masks and hand sanitizer. Chargeurs’ agile model was fully operational from the very first hours of the pandemic. Leveraging advanced expertise in technical fabrics and materials chemistry, research labs came rescue for health authorities. In a bold move, the Group created Lainière Santé™ in no time. The brand shaped the core of Chargeurs’ health offer.

INNOVATION

Lainière Santé™’s offer harnesses innovation, our second key ingredient. Technology is the main growth driver for the Group, which relies on the excellence of its 16 research labs around the world. More specifically, protective masks that use nanomembrane filtration technologies with antibacterial and water-repellent treatment are a real innovation driver. These masks meet AFNOR (French association for standardization) specifications, and have been designed for the wearers’ comfort. In this respect, they are OEKO-TEX 1® certified, which guarantees total comfort when worn on the face.

LOGISTICS EXPERTISE

A foolproof supply chain was vital to developing our Lainière Santé™ offer. We had to reshape all of our processes; from procurement to shipping, to ensure product delivery, business continuity and recovery. We have established partnerships with the largest logistics operators and honed agile production methods. These operating methods have allowed us to produce to match demand, and we pride ourselves on processing our orders in time.

DEDICATION

The various ingredients in our recipe wouldn’t have reached their fullest potential without the unwavering commitment of our research team, our managers and their teams, and our sales staff. Our teams have worked day and night. The outcome: Lainière Santé™ has quickly become a key player in the health protection market.

Lainière Santé™: An expert’s point of view

 

Denise Silber, the founder of Doctors 2.0 and VRforHealth.com, is a digital health strategist, author, conference curator and a thought leader on social networks in France and internationally. Her main fields of interest are digital health, patient engagement, virtual reality in medicine, premium healthcare, and social justice. Denise Silber received the Legion of Honor and was named on the list of the “Inspiring Fifty” Women in Tech in France for her groundbreaking work. Denise has an MBA from Harvard and co-edits a podcast series for the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, a global organization. She is also Vice-President of the Harvard Club of France.

 

Covid-19 Changes the Face of Healthcare Innovation

“Digital health is a young and vibrant field. So most people do not realize that it is only the current term for an idea that traces back over fifty years and has always faced resistance to change. In the 1960’s, when computers were huge and rare, a few healthcare professionals realized that structured data was indispensable to the patient care and proposed the Electronic Medical Record; the EMR has remained problematic ever since. Next, progress in telecommunication led to telemedicine but was restricted to exceptional situations. The Dotcom boom saw the birth of eHealth but few successes. Smartphones led to mHealth but few apps were widely used. Multiple new medical sensors have fueled Connected Health over the past ten years, but simple step counters and watches represent the majority of use. Big Data generated by objects and patient records has given Artificial Intelligence a huge sandbox in which to play, but we are still feeling our way forward.  

Every January, the headlines predict that “this” will be the year of digital health, but it never has been. In fact, only healthcare social media has reached scale.  Despite the billions of dollars invested in digital health, fewer of its health start-ups reach unicorn status than in other industries. While some health systems have integrated some of these innovations, none can claim it takes full advantage of digital’s potential. The incentive to disrupt has never been sufficient. 

Fascinatingly, the arrival of a microscopic virus called Covid-19 has created the inflection point that business, government, professionals and citizens could not. With the disruption of life as we know it, several stars have emerged in the digital health universe.  

During the prolonged period in which person-to-person contact brings a risk of infection and in which speed saves lives:

  • Teleconsultation has become the preferred channel of patient-professional interaction. 
  • Chatbots and apps have been deployed to millions to accelerate self-diagnosis of the virus and for mental health support. Virtual Reality has gained in importance, for both mindfulness and relaxation as well as its therapeutic properties.
  • Hospital robots have been adapted to deliver food, to take temperatures, to facilitate communication, and to disinfect, while keeping professionals at a distance from harm.
  • 3D printing in hospitals has produced thousands of visors, handleless door knobs, valves for respirators. 
  • Artificial Intelligence has been unleashed on: 
    • genetic data to better understand who is at risk, 
    • medicinal databases to identify existing molecules to repurpose for Covid, 
    • location data for contact tracing. 

At the same time, while we are used to navigating a global world in which digital innovations evolve and flourish internationally, Covid-19 has led to a regain in the importance of national sovereignty. In a situation of scarcity of life-saving resources, citizens expect their leaders to ensure access to the Covid-19 vaccine, to all medicines, to innovative materials and devices, and to proper healthcare.

In short, in just a few months, many fundamentals of healthcare operations have shifted. And yet the guiding principle remains: the right to healthcare is inalienable. 2020 and beyond represents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for healthcare industries”.

Suggested reading: Bezonomics by Brian Dumaine

In an essay published in the United States in mid-May 2020, Brian Dumaine, an American journalist formerly at Fortune, dissects the business model of Amazon, the ubiquitous e-commerce giant. Dumaine immerses us in the impressive mechanics of Amazon, which has become a logistical powerhouse that continues to integrate new activities, including health, which was added two years ago. What lessons can companies learn? This fascinating investigative account explores exactly that.