Interview: Frédéric Ducruet, Millet Group Millet Manager
Pionnier : qui défriche des terres, qui s’engage le premier dans une voie, dans une entreprise (Déf : Académie Française).
Incontournables de l’univers Montagne & Outdoor, les marques Millet, Eider et Lafuma du Millet Mountain Group, équipent depuis plus de 60 ans une communauté de plus en plus élargie de passionnés.Since their creation, each brand is thus characterized by its pioneering spirit.Lafuma launched in 1936 the first backpacks for leisure, accompanying the first paid holidays.In 1950, Millet equipped the first expedition to reach the Annapurna summit at 8.000 meters.In 1962, Eider created the first ski clothes.
Integrated into the Swiss group Calida, the Millet Mountain Group is installed in Annecy, in the heart in the French Alps, with for exploratory playground and open -air laboratory The majestic Mount White.At the head of the Millet Mountain Group, Frédéric Ducruet directs his teams with the same pioneering spirit, always looking for innovation, technicality, sustainability, comfort and respect for the environment.A global and structuring strategy, a permanent challenge towards excellence, carried by a community of experts turned to the future.
"Only we go faster, together we go further" could be the leitmotif of this leader passionate about his profession, who agreed to present us some major lines of development of the.
Millet Mountain Group is specialist in very technical and rather high -end outdoor clothing and accessories, in direct competition with major brands like The North Face or Columbia for example.To make the difference is an obligation, that is what encourages you to be always more innovative, to be pioneers?How does it translate concretely into the group?
Millet is a pioneer of the mountain bag, eider pioneer of the ski clothing, and the pioneer of the hiking bag.Being a pioneer is a state of mind shared by all collaborators within the Millet Moutain Group.Each year, around 6% of our budget is devoted to research and development, and we work regularly with external partners to permanently stimulate innovation.
Recall that innovation does not only concern the product, quite the contrary!This state of mind is found, for example, in the product distribution circuit.We develop in particular a lot what we call "space management", that is to say a co-management of sales areas, but also franchises, "shops-in-shops", of retail saleand basically directly online ("Wholesale Online"), among others.
But it is above all the acceleration of the digitalization of Moutain Group millet that has been marked in recent years.This is reflected in particular by significant investments in certain software, such as a new PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software from Lectra which should be operational in a few weeks in factories, after almost a year and a half of preparation andimplementation.PIM (Product Information Management) software in B2B will also be integrated.
If it has often been accused of the marks of functionalized outdoor products for having an impact on the environment, awareness in terms of social and environmental responsibility is a major strategic axis of the group's development, for more than tenyears.Your last CSR report is also extremely rich in concrete actions of each of the brands in this sense.Could you detail your main strategic axes in this area?
Plus que des axes stratégiques, il s’agit véritablement d’un contrat moral qui me lie personnellement au Millet Moutain Group, mais qui lie également le Groupe à la communauté Montagne & Outdoor.We must be sincere, honest, transparent.Sustainability and quality are essential in our universe, it is a question of not renewing its equipment too often and unnecessarily in order to limit its impact on the environment.We thus undertake to avoid the superfluous, by implementing an eco-design strategy, to use certified materials, to master the supply and production sectors, and precisely privileges a European production.
We are particularly attentive to the sourcing of our feathers and duvets, which are certified RDS (Responsible Down Standard), and do not use natural animal fur.Regarding the use of chemicals, we respect the international rules in force.
Finally, we offer after-sales service to reuse the products instead of throwing them.This service guaranteeing a repair and a return within ten days is particularly appreciated by our customers.
What are the main difficulties you still encounter today on this CSR theme?
In this area we are accompanied by the Air agency, which helps us to establish an updated strategic plan each year, with quantified, quantifiable, and therefore measurable objectives.We have updated this plan for the year 2019, taking into account the biggest difficulty we have encountered to date, and which concerns the development of “FCP-free” products, that is to saynot with fluorocarbon products.The problem remains complex, and the alternative treatments that we have been able to test to date are not lasting enough compared to our own our performance requirements.
If we cannot claim a 100% production without PFC today, except for Lafuma product ranges, we are obviously continuing and tirelessly looking for an adequate solution, which is environmentally efficient, but which is also economically acceptable for theconsumer.Indeed, a higher cost of alternative materials can prove to be a real obstacle to the purchase of eco-designed products.This is part of the current limits of the model.
Integrating the customer at the heart of your product creation process is part of your DNA.This involves collaboration with high mountain guides, the involvement of your employees, your presence on networks, blogs and digital communities ... Is it vital today for brands, even more thanYesterday, to create a link with the consumer?
The consumer today is constantly connected and requested.Creating a link has therefore become essential, we must respond to the new aspirations of the customer.Without a customer, without community, no possible business!
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The universe of a brand is extremely demanding, it must be protected and in no case popularize it.Give value to what we do, and to what we sell, determines what will allow tomorrow to create the desire, the desire, the need.This involves several actions: protect your brands, protect your products, enhance the skills of all group employees ... Even if the aspirations are different depending on the brands, value creation for the end customer is the common denominatorWithin the Moutain Group Millet.
Pioneer of "smart" with a photovoltaic backpack, where are you today the development of so-called "intelligent" products?
We are very committed to the use of ultra-performance textiles, at
Advanced features, with for example the integration of Dyneema ® fibers for the most ultimate backpacks, our Matryx® technology based on Kevlar® used for certain ranges of shoes, or our synthesis weaving process that allows you to manufacture theSynth'x ™ fabric without.We also offer micro -encapsulation of phase change materials on certain clothes to improve thermoregulation and thermal comfort of the carrier.
At Lafuma, we also recently integrated the RE: Down technology in the new winter 2018-19 collections.It is a recycled down which makes it possible to reuse existing materials, to revalue them, and to stabilize the sometimes very fluctuating price of these raw materials.The results in terms of performance are quite stunning!
Regarding so -called "intelligent" and connected textiles, we have to date no current project around products incorporating on -board electronics, as we could do a few years ago.We are simply not specialists in mobile technologies;Smartphones manufacturers do their job very well! The gadget effect is not our universe, we must respect our brands and our customers.In terms of on -board technologies, we could however cite the efficiency of RECCO (geographic location) and Alpride (Airbag) systems which are integrated into our most technical and functional bags, and which really raise the level of sports of sportsmen.
Your products are regularly winners of the ISPO Awards among others.This was again the case in the latest edition with your Elevation Airloft Hoodie and its POLARTEC® Power Fill ™ lining.Beyond a real recognition of your peers, is it also a real sales argument on the market?
The ideal would be that it is indeed an argument of sale!
Real innovation must be profitable and sustainable.We had the chance to have a real success with Power Fill ™, it boosted sales and the product is one of the Best Sellers of Millet.
What fundamental trends could you deeply mark your sector of activity in the coming years?
Rarefaction and added value will be essential tomorrow.Our challenge will be to bring a rarer, more exclusive product, vector of emotions, certainly more personal.The community of consumers is, and will remain in the years to come, the most precious good of a brand.
This is the season, what is your ideal outfit to go skiing?
For the top, necessarily a thermal underwear with rapid humidity transfer, then a second stretch layer in order to bring a little more heat.Depending on the climatic conditions, I add either a down if it is very cold, or a fleece, a synthetic layer of the Power Fill ™ type.And I systematically end with tricher protection.And for the lower body, at least two layers playing on the thickness of the tights under the pants, with either a fine hydride wool/polyester mesh, or a much thicker stretch.
Or an ultra versatile hold for skiing comfortably!
Interview by N.Right - January 2019
Photos: Millet Moutain Group - All rights reserved
