- Anti-Covid airlock, gel distributor ... Overnight, SMEs have created various devices related to the health crisis but sometimes very far from their specialties.
- A way for many of them to try to bounce back and restart their activity.
It is a kind of anti-Covid airlock which "reassures and meets expectations". While the coronavirus epidemic has disrupted daily life and imposed new hygiene rules, a Nantes-based company has just invented WelcomeGate, a device aimed at fighting the spread of the virus. Installed for a week at the three accesses of the Océane shopping mall in Rezé near Nantes, customers can wash their hands there with hydroalcoholic gel dispensers but also clean their shopping cart before shopping. Under this large wooden portico, which can be positioned at the entrance to supermarkets or businesses, it is also possible to add a thermal camera or a mask distribution point, depending on demand.
Behind this invention, the Nantes start-up MProd is not a specialist in sanitary equipment. “We had to find an idea quickly. We wanted to do something useful, but also pretty and welcoming, says Aymeric Dargnies, head of this event and stand-making agency. With the Covid, habits will change so there is a real need. And for us too: to save our year by adding a string to our bow. With containment, our entire order book has evaporated. It must be said that organizing fairs or seminars for 2,000 people in this context ... ”
"We had to get started"
In the Nantes region and everywhere in France, the health crisis forced SMEs that could do it to reinvent themselves. In Campbon, the company of 12 IFM employees stopped manufacturing shop signs overnight to equip them with custom-made plexiglass protections. “The day before the confinement, one of our suppliers told us about this solution, it seemed obvious to us that we had to get started, to protect customers and employees, remembers Lydie Le Mercier, the saleswoman. A few days later, we equipped a supermarket not far from our home and since then, we have been doing just that. We have already installed 700 protections, which has saved the whole team from partial unemployment. "
In Saint-Herblain, the family boilermaking company MISM also succeeded in "putting the whole workshop back to work". On site, for the past two weeks, the thirty employees have been manufacturing hydroalcoholic gel distribution terminals with pedals, to fulfill the first 600 orders. There, solidarity mingled with the emergency. "The boss of this company is a friend who helped me get started a few years ago," says Jean-Michel Dias, director of a cleaning company, partner. His activity stopped dead, so I suggested that we sit around a table to think. I knew there were frost breaks and dispensers everywhere. The next day, the prototype was ready. "
"Serenity has returned"
While the state has promised aid to companies hit hard by the crisis, these SMEs wanted to put all the odds on their side to try to limit the damage. MProd hopes to spread its airlock throughout France, with the gradual return of employees to offices and public places. IFM Enseignes aims to reopen restaurants and hotels in the near future, which will also need to be fitted with plexiglass walls. At MISM, we also hope to attract new customers in the Pays-de-la-Loire.
"Already, we have been able to raise cash and secure jobs for two months," says Jean-Michel Dias. Serenity has returned, removing the prospect of having to think about a social plan. "
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In Le Mans, Breen's cardboard handles
The start-up Breen, based in Le Mans, usually designs cardboard furniture. During the crisis, it launched the Safy handle, which looks like a piece of pre-folded recycled cardboard that can be wrapped around the handle of a shopping cart or a basket. "It clips with a very simple tongue system, explains Hugo Duval, the founder of. Safy could be available in distributors, near the place where you pick up your cart. The double layer of cardboard constitutes a good barrier between the hand and the handle. "
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