Marck & Balsan's jewel of craftsmanship: the military trimmings workshop

French industrial leader, the Marck & Balsan Group, formed from the merger of the two eponymous companies in 2021, excels in clothing and equipment for government and private companies, both in France and internationally, notably in Asia, where it has made a name for itself thanks to its ability to produce braided trims based on gold thread. In 2023, the Marck & Balsan Group, with its 6 workshops, will achieve sales of 101 million euros, testifying to its leading position. With a comprehensive offering including protective gear, uniforms, equipment and associated services, the group is a central player in its sector, whose passementerie workshop embodies its commitment to quality and the preservation of French savoir-faire.

A historic company of the Marck & Balsan Group

Laurent Marck, Managing Director of Marck & Balsan Group. Crédit photos : ©Marck & Balsan">

The history of the Marck & Balsan Group goes back to 1850 with the Marck company founded by the Bourdon family, drapers in Elbeuf. Becoming a wholesaler in Paris, the Marck company developed a trimmings and headgear business, working for the Army's master tailors and employing up to 300 people in its workshop on rue du Louvre. At the same time, the Balsan company, a royal manufacturer bought by Monsieur Balsan in 1859, introduced blue horizon cloth to the army during the First World War, founding a garment making workshop to meet the high demand for military production.

Despite the difficulties encountered during the Second World War, the Marck company managed to preserve its savoir-faire, notably in Paris and Noirétable with grenadières. From the 1980s onwards, the company expanded, acquiring various workshops, including one in La Chartre-sur-le-Loir, "called BBA Borrel-Bouvard-Arthaud, a centralization of 3 companies that did weaving, weaving, hand-making, embroidery, warping...", explains Laurent Marck.

"Trimmings is a niche and a very specific savoir-faire, it's 3% of our sales, but it's one of the most precious savoir-faire we have. We supply to export markets, and sometimes competitors come to buy this savoir-faire from us", testifies the director. "We have many hand embroideries in a museum in Noirétable, some dating back over 200 years, including embroideries made for Napoleon III," Laurent Marck points out, demonstrating that this historical heritage is preserved and promoted.

A precious craft know-how to preserve

The workshop stands out for the diversity of its professions: "I've never seen so many savoir-faire in one workshop (.... to go from pom-poms to sequins to embroidery... it's very impressive," says Laurent Marck. He has over 4500 references and uses more than 200 machines. "We manufacture braided trims based on silver thread, gold thread, and also have more modern cellophane or elasticated braided trims. We adapt to every customer request", explains the director.

The La Chartre-sur-le-Loir workshop, through weaving, weaving, fringing, warping, guipage, sequins, embroidery and garment making manufactures a varied range of products including braided trims, cords, braids and bangs. These are made on traditional professions such as the Jacquard loom, commissioned looms or by hand, demonstrating the company's commitment to artisanal techniques. In addition, the company takes care of some of the product assembly, particularly when manufacturing forages, thus distinguishing itself in a specific market.

In this workshop, the transmission of savoir-faire is mainly carried out through tutoring, a crucial method for maintaining quality standards. Under the management of workshop manager Nathalie Richard, operations have evolved towards greater versatility, as she explains: "All the people know how to pilot all the professions and carry out specific tasks". Recruitment remains a major challenge, especially for mechanical specialists. Laurent Marck points out: "We're currently three people short in the workshop, so our challenge is to train mechanical specialists." This quest for skilled manpower is essential to perpetuate an ancestral know-how.

The director insists on the need to formalize procedures to guarantee the longevity of the company and its Savoir-faire: "Today, we're focusing on formalizing all procedures. Before, people worked with everything in their heads or in little notebooks that they passed on to each other. We need to recover this knowledge to perpetuate the institution and its savoir-faire."

A very high standard emblematic of the Group

Crédit photos : ©Marck & Balsan">

Scheduling tasks within the workshop requires mastery of each profession and the overall operation. The workshop manager insists on this necessity: "To schedule here, you need in-depth knowledge of each profession and of the workshop as a whole."

The quality department at Marck & Balsan is rigorous, with regular checks carried out directly on the professions. Nathalie Richard explains: "Everyone is trained in self-control directly on the professions. Every hour, they are inspected to check production conformity". In addition, a centralized quality department at Group level ensures strict monitoring, particularly for logistics management and the guarantee of uniform thread color, a crucial element for product consistency.

Constant organizational efforts are deployed to optimize workshop efficiency, with particular emphasis on loom rotation, essential for profitability, especially given the long preparation times for weaving.

Marck & Balsan continues to modernize its processes, as the manager explains: "The subject is the digitization of punch cards, to transform weaving production." These initiatives are aimed at increasing the efficiency and precision of operations.

Innovation and adaptability

Crédit photos : ©Marck & Balsan">

The company innovates to meet the needs of its customers: "before, certain types of braided trim were only printed, today, we're the only ones who know how to weave them," explains Laurent Marck. At the same time, the company is diversifying its activities by taking part in special projects, such as garment making wedding dresses for international customers in Libya and the Comoros, underlining its versatility and flexibility in the field of passementerie. It also creates new references, such as "after the Notre-Dame fire, the workshop created a fourragère for the Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris (BSPP), decorated in blue, gold and red."

In terms of environmental responsibility, the passementerie workshop stands out for its very low consumption of materials and energy. "We consume very, very little, it's narrow weaving and we mainly use thread fabric suppliers," emphasizes the director.

The La Chartre-sur-le-Loir workshop bears witness to exceptional artisanal savoir-faire, preserved and modernized by the Marck and Balsan Group. Under the leadership of Laurent Marck, the company continues to shine as a global benchmark of French talent, combining tradition and innovation to meet the demands of military uniforms and beyond.

Find out more: https://www.marcketbalsan.fr/

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