JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015 - 9

cluster

Brittany:

composites boosted by the sea breezes

France's western region, Brittany, has earned a reputation for its
know-how in composites, especially in the field of offshore racing. It now has the experience and structure to gain position in a
number of other user markets.

ast March, France's Brittany region was
represented at the JEC Europe trade
show for the first time, via the Bretagne
Composite grouping of five companies (Europe
Composite & Technologies, FMC, Europ3D,
Cooper Standard, SMM Technologies) and
three public research platforms (ID Composite,
LIMATB / ComposiTIC, LBMS). This gave
the show's many visitors the opportunity to
learn more about a vast network of innovative
companies and research platforms with complementary areas of expertise.

An emblematic sector
Brittany stands out for its exceptional expertise
in composite materials, thanks to its skills
and experience in the offshore racing sector.
More than 110 of the region's companies and
1,500 of its jobs are directly concerned by this

Focus
More than 100 composite organizations
in Brittany:
- 92 companies
- 7 training institutions, including 3 centres
of higher education: Université de Bretagne
Occidentale, Université de Bretagne Sud,
and the Institut National des Sciences
Appliquées (INSA) for nanomaterials
- 7 technological innovation and support
structures
- 1 competitive cluster: iD4CAR
- 8 research teams and 4 research units

The Breton composite ecosystem. More than 100 key players

sector. Brittany represents a unique real-time
test laboratory for the world's best sailors. The
racing boats on which they compete combine
high technology with sports performance,
and are often entirely designed and built by
Breton companies. The record for Breton boats
is exemplary. There isn't a major offshore race
they miss, including the Volvo Ocean Race, the
Jules Verne Trophy and the Route du Rhum.

Sharing experience
The Brittany region and its companies can
rely on a firm base of world-renowned skills to
help them develop and penetrate new markets.
Beyond the specific area of offshore racing,
more than a few industrial sectors are interested
in the composite skills of Breton companies.
These skills include advanced materials,

assembly technology, design, new product
development, modelling, composites development, multi-material assemblies, nanomaterials,
natural fibres, and biocomposites. A number
of companies already work in other sectors:
according to a February 2015 survey of 65
companies in the composite sector, 19 of them
work for shipbuilding, 19 others for aerospace,
13 for defence, 10 for automotive, 5 for seabased renewable energies, 5 for building and
construction, and 4 for industry. The Brittany
region has no lack of advantages, and its peoplefriendly companies are extremely responsive,
enabling it to forge ahead on the strength of its
excellence in boatbuilding. n

No98 July - August 2015 /

More information:
www.bdi.fr

jec composites magazine 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #98 - July/August 2015