We are the only European service provider offering the entire 3D ecosystem in its own workshops: materials R&D laboratory, proprietary technology, exclusive materials, technical center, 3D printing, metal 3D printing, vacuum injection and finishing.
Creativity will have no limits
Artist, architect, designer, stylist, artistic director or stage designer: your creativity will have no limits.
Our craftsmen and technicians will support you from the development of your blueprint through to the final stage of your project.
Recognized for our expertise and renowned for our discretion, we implement your ideas with skilled precision: prototypes, molds, and single parts, as well as pre-serial and serial parts.
For 25 years, we have been developing key expertise in additive manufacturing.
25 years of experience
2 materials R&D laboratories
200 people dedicated to your projects
4,000 clients rely on us
1 polymer material production workshop
1 technical expertise center in the Paris region
2 design and control offices, 3D digitization
2 finishing and machining workshops
A combination of high-tech resources and artisanal expertise.
Fulfilling the craziest dreams of creative designers and opening up infinite possibilities.
Initial comprises 200 totally dedicated engineers and technicians: women and men who deal with all the aspects of your request in-house, and only in-house, without any sub-contracting and with the strictest confidentiality.
The story of Initial is first and foremost a story of passion! By deciding to join forces with Prodways Group in 2015, Initial continued an adventure started in 1995, under the exacting eye of its founder, Yvon Gallet. A meticulous craftsman and brilliant technician, insatiably curious and fanatical about beauty, he has been leading the historical workshops located in Annecy for 25 years.
An engineer with an unusual career path who has acquired considerable expertise in industry, luxury goods, design and fashion, relentlessly pursuing excellence while applying the same passion to technological innovation, Catherine Gorgé heads the division dedicated to the fashion, luxury, design, accessories, arts and architecture sectors.
In this division, the objects up for creation take on a special dimension, compared to the more industrial entities of the rest of the group.
We are driven by a common goal: to become the only player in the world to provide a multi-technology offering, all 3D materials and the best 3D printing services to the most demanding clients, naturally based on 100% made-in-France artisanal manufacturing and finishing.
25 years of manufacturing experience make our expertise in France
Doing an inventory is practically impossible! We have had 4,000 clients, including more than 150 clients this year in the luxury and art sectors, 115,000 objects manufactured every year, no archives but only digital memories, and no massive stock of samples (which also makes it possible to better ensure project confidentiality). Technicians collaborate to orchestrate a production enriched by exacting requirements and perfection. This feat is made possible only through the constant pursuit of excellence.
Our expertise involves the same rituals each morning: gently extracting the objects manufactured during the night. Staggering geometries and subtle interplays are then revealed…
The extraction is a very delicate procedure, and failure would mean starting over again – the fragility and complexity of the parts make it a meticulous operation – and we are and will always be just as demanding as you.
Our first workshop is located between Paris and Geneva, the cradle of watchmaking excellence.
A second workshop is located in the Paris region, near the major Parisian fashion houses.
Our designers breathe life into your sketches with their hands. They are responsible for transposing into 3D the design of your project, relying on an analysis that considers the constraints of each material or technology selected. The designer comes to see you, works with you and for you, and advises you on the choice of material, finishes and technology best suited to your project, which is always unique.
Each designer in our team has specific knowledge that makes him or her an expert lead contact: jewelry, eyewear, sculptures, textile weaving, industry, packaging, etc. Each issue has a dedicated and competent expert.
Thanks to our high-precision 3D scanner, we can also capture the geometry of your objects and transform them into a 3D file to keep the “memory” of a shape where necessary, preserve your assets, create a data bank, re-print your parts, replicate to manufacture models at different scales and print them in 3D.
FROM THE FIRST STROKE OF THE PENCIL TO THE 3D-PRINTED OBJECT
3D digitizing or scanning converts objects into 3D files.
To think is to print.
Using or high definition 3D scanner, the geometry of your object is captured.
3D digitizing or scanning converts objects into 3D files. The challenge is to complete this operation quickly and accurately regardless of the size and complexity.
Archive the geometry of a rare and unique object (heritage preservation)
Reproduce a model using additive manufacturing technologies.
Scanning of antique or heritage objects in our 3D scanning workshop. Our scanning system can also be taken to exhibition venues, museums and customer premises.
3D scanning makes it possible to resize an object, deform it, give it a second life and re-print collection pieces. It is now possible to reproduce a model in a few hours. This includes sculptures, unique/rare/precious items, biological (animal/plant) forms, mockups and prototypes. For further information on our scanning system.
Preserving heritage by safeguarding the memory of a shape, archiving modifications, or repairing damaged parts. For very fragile or unique items, we work on site. We are able to respond rapidly and deal with emergencies.
Multiple additive technologies, FDM®, SLS®, SLS® HD, DMSL®, SLA® – R&D Laboratory – machining – finishing – c
We have the most extensive assemblage of machinery in France, and one of the most comprehensive in Europe. All technologies are available here: stereolithography (SLA®), selective laser sintering (SLS® and SLS® HD), direct metal laser sintering (DMLS®) fused deposition monitoring (FDM®), and castable resin on Prodways’ proprietary MovingLight® technology.
To find out more about the technologies and materials, visit our technical website:
Drawing on more than 10 years of experience in Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS®), we can create your metallic parts or casting patterns. The layers can reach a thickness of down to 20 microns, thereby offering excellent detail resolution. Our production capacity is one of the strongest in Europe, complemented by the benefit of our high responsiveness.
Over 10 years’ experience, and over 100,000 pieces produced annually. The objects have excellent mechanical properties. They may be painted or used without any finish. Ideal for models, works of art and customized products.
The best-known technology to produce your items using photosensitive resins. White resins, transparent resins, flexible white resins or ceramic-loaded resins.
Over 10 years’ experience in Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS®) to produce your metal parts with excellent detail resolution. Eight 3D printers and a machining workshop.
The ideal technology for multi-material items which cannot be produced rapidly and accurately using other processes. Items with both flexible and rigid materials on the same object, heat-resistant up to 90°C (194°F).
Unlimited possibilities for developing materials.
We support companies and individuals in realizing their ideas for materials.
From the formulation of the basic concept, to feasibility analyses, to development and finalization of the product. We have always considered development services to be an integral component of our work.
Our specialists oversee each product idea from its first formulation to market entry. This process includes the following critical steps.
Production of pieces using plastic material of natural, bio-compatible origin, commonly called Nylon. Excellent elongation capacity to print ultra-flexible items that have excellent precision and resolution levels and are easy to color. This material is perfectly suited to ready-to-wear clothing, haute couture and all design items which require flexibility.
The PlastCure Cast200 castable resin is perfectly suited to the production of parts using lost wax casting. Your parts are produced on our ProMaker series L printers, a technology developed by MOVINGLight® (Prodways Group). Jewelry and all cast items.
Production of parts made of steel, aluminum, StainlessSteel 316L, maraging steel, cobalt-chrome, Inconel 718 & 625, titanium, nickel alloys, or high-performance alloys with layers ranging between 20 and 40 microns. Also, a dedicated internal machining workshop. Discover our metal expertise.
Production of high-density ceramic items. The Promaker V6000 machine, developed by MOVINGLight® (Prodways Group), is one of the world’s very few high-precision, high-resolution printing machines for ceramic items (32 microns). The medium used is loaded with ceramic, metal, fiber or nanoparticles. Discover our ceramics expertise.
THE ART OF COLOR AND FINISHING
A true experimental laboratory in the research and completion phase, it incorporates new technologies into manual expertise to push the limits of creativity to new lengths and meet the requirements of fashion and luxury prêt-à-porter houses.
For us, white is a color: it has to be mastered. But parts can also be colored from their very creation or in the post-production phase.
At the heart of a genuine “laboratory of color manipulations”, our colorists can interpret your color to provide perfect rendering. Our team can also develop a range of colors for you and you alone. The colorant will then migrate into the material, settling there forever, or else the part can be mass-tinted. If a finishing primer is used, the house will keep this strictly confidential.
Our workers are craftsmen; they will finish your exceptional objects with all the necessary care: polishing, smoothing, machining, transparent or shiny varnish, impregnation for water tightness, coating of paint, and careful priming.
Formulaire de contact
Initial, Prodways Group
4, chemin de Branchy
74 600 Seynod - France
00 33 4 50 69 33 73
Prodways Technologies
1-3, rue Chappe
Z.I Les Garennes
78130 Les Mureaux - France
00 33 1 30 90 44 12
19, rue du 4 Septembre
75 002 PARIS - France
00 33 1 44 77 94 77
© 2016 Initial, Prodways Group