By Redaction Le Bessin
Published on 23 Feb 21 at 17:10
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–The company factor, situated at Bayeux (Calvados), is a good example of diversification. The company, leader in audio accessories, working closely with Airbus, has rebounded in the face of the health crisis which should have condemned a large part of its activities. In just a few months, the company created from scratch a microphone that amplifies the voices of people wearing masks. An innovation that could win over many players in society.
Specialized in acoustics
In 2018, the Factem company was chosen to equip the entire Airbus fleet. “One of Factem’s business sectors is acoustics. Our core business is the transmission of speech in difficult and demanding environments, in particular aeronautics for which we manufacture pilot and co-pilot helmets. We also deliver to the airlines as the helmets need to be changed, ”explains Alain Dulac, CEO of the company.
On March 17, 2020, the announcement of the first confinement is a massive blow to the company which sees its activities paralyze. “It stopped very suddenly since the planes remained nailed to the ground. The whole aeronautical part has stopped, ”recalls the director. This period, during which the helmet market is on hold, forces Alain Dulac to find solutions.
After the first moment of amazement, we had to be imaginative and question ourselves and try to imagine how we were going to be able, not to replace aeronautics because I remain convinced that planes will take off. We thought about it, we said to ourselves that our area of expertise is acoustics, on the other hand, there is the Covid with wearing a mask. What can we do with all this.
The idea did not take long to wait.
To be understood, we have to speak louder and louder
After a few months of reflection, Alain Dulac establishes a first observation. “You have experienced it like everyone else, when you speak in a mask, especially in certain professions, and I think of teachers, who speak in a mask all day. It is the same for traders. Finally, there are a lot of professions where you wear the mask all the time. We realize, whether it is surgical or fabric masks, that we are forced to make an effort, to force the voice to be understood and heard. Especially since our interlocutors cannot read our lips. In communication, there is a part that is heard and another part that is read on the lips unconsciously, we no longer have that part. To be understood, we have to speak louder and louder, ”explains the CEO. Thanks to Factem’s know-how and to respond to these drawbacks, the company is launching the production of a special microphone for masks.
A product that amplifies the voice
Last May, Factem took action launched the creation of its brand new project. “We have developed a product which amplifies the voice and which is worn on the mask”. This microphone is a real innovation that Alain Dulac decides to patent.
When you have a microphone and a speaker, if you put them together, you have a feedback effect and it causes a hissing sound. If you use this in a kindergarten class with 4 or 5 year olds and it starts ringing in their ears, it’s a bit of a hassle. We have applied for a patent that prevents this feedback effect.
Create and manufacture in the premises of Bayeux, the first copies are already available. “In fact, we have developed two types of microphones: A microphone that is installed using a magnetization system on the mask. These are two parts that come together and pinch around the mask so that it doesn’t move or fall. And then, because we hope that one day, we will no longer wear masks, a system with a headband helmet, very light which will allow the continued use of the device beyond the fact that we will no longer wear The mask “.
This new microphone is intended to address a whole set of professionals concerned with wearing a mask and the obligation to speak all day. “We are entering the marketing phase aimed at the world of National Education, but not only. We see that there are many professions that are likely to use this device. It is used in swimming pools. Today a lifeguard who wears a mask to be able to address his students, he is pushing a little. It is used in sports clubs. We had guides try the product. Today, the museums are closed, but we realize that if there was a gauge, we could very well reopen by limiting the number of people, the guides could use this system ”, announces Alain Dulac.
One of the only companies in France to offer this type of microphone
Factem has largely been able to bounce back in the face of the health crisis and the possible consequences it implies on the business world. Factem turned disastrous news into real opportunity.
What we are asked as a company is to be both inventive, to react, to look at opportunities and to be able to reconfigure ourselves. It was impossible for Factem to wait for aeronautics to restart, the difficulty being that we do not know when. For us, this is a real opportunity for diversification, it allows us to address markets that we had not previously addressed. We see it more as a bonus rather than a constraint. At the employee level, it is the people who were in the aeronautics sector who came on the project. Above all, it allowed us to limit breakage and continue our activity.
The marketing of the product is only at these premises, but there is no doubt that this innovation should cause a lot of noise in the coming months. “If tomorrow, we are able to show that we are relevant in the world of sport, National Education, in aeronautics, we will have succeeded in our diversification bet”, exclaims Alain Dulac. In the meantime, Factem is “to my knowledge, one of the only companies in France has offered this type of patented microphone”.
JC
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