French Porcelain Manufacturer Transforms Product Development
Bernardaud, a French luxury porcelain manufacturer, is using the “My Product Portfolio” industry solution experience on the cloud from Dassault Systemes to improve its product development process.
The “My Product Portfolio” solution aims to provide Bernardaud with a unified digital environment for product design, engineering and management that is quickly deployed and helps the company to preserve the craftsmanship that has become its hallmark.
Based in Limoges, Bernardaud is a family-owned company with a 150-year tradition of luxury porcelain that merges decorative arts techniques with distinctive designs, partnerships with artists, and contemporary twists to conventional tableware formats. The company manufactures two million pieces annually; each piece requires at least one week to be completed and 50 artisans to produce.
The company wanted to accelerate the creation and launch of new pieces by digitalizing the product development process. “Our customers expect a high level of quality and functionality from each of our pieces and this drives our thinking and our entire approach to business,” said chief executive officer Michel Bernardaud. “Porcelain manufacturing techniques have never been as sophisticated as they are today nor porcelain as elegant as it is today. ‘My Product Portfolio’ allows us to digitally enrich this technical expertise and make it more efficient. We can virtually explore and answer [design] questions without the need for costly physical prototypes.”
Using the industry solution experience, Bernardaud can create 3D virtual models of each piece, virtually experience shapes, colors, decorations, enamel and engraving, and validate the design. This virtual model then serves as a referential for the mold used to make the piece. The company can virtually program and simulate the manufacturing process. Bernardaud can also digitize its existing products to preserve its heritage of thousands of designs introduced by its artisans over the years.