In business jets, galleys drawers sometimes contain real treasures. There is thus a kind of wedge, difficult to describe, often made of Plexiglas or ultra-light technical foams. This object, innocuous but indispensable, has the role of maintaining in a perfect order the cutlery, glasses, and other luxurious housewives that are stored there.
By the essential function that it fills a hidden element can become an exceptional technical piece. This is the case of this insert (it is the name of this wedge) whose realization requires a great know-how. It is in this art, on the sidelines of the industry, that the company Insert Solutions excels. Be careful, reading the following may surprise you.
The devil is hiding in the details.
Pierre-Henri Huclier, the founder of Insert Solutions, has no doubt meditated on the Nietzsche adage before creating his company specialized in the development of inserts for decorative elements and objects related to the arts of Table, that we find in business jets.
With an engineering background and after a training period at Airbus, Pierre-Henri Huclier integrates Airbus Corporate Jet Center, the former subsidiary VIP facilities of the manufacturer. During this period, as program manager, Pierre-Henri manages the complete development of three cabins. It is on this occasion that he confronts the problem of the rigging of the dishes on board. This somewhat neglected subject naturally leads him to develop a strong expertise and to create his own structure a few years later. He explains that his competence “helps the decision-making of the owner or the completion center, often short of solutions adapted to this problem“.
Small actions, big consequences.
While it seems trivial at first, the subject does not require less much thought and technicality, which is not displeasing to the young entrepreneur.
The support insert integrated into the drawers and furniture of luxury aircraft cabins is, despite its small size, a complex element to develop, as Pierre-Henri Huclier points out: “Storing dishes on board an airplane is a real challenge. This is like “getting an elephant into a fridge“.
This piece of Plexiglas, covered or not with tannery, sums alone the butterfly effect. Because of its design depends in part the good integrity of the aircraft and the flight safety. “The insert is not only intended to protect and enhance the dishes. It is also there to optimize the storage space and secondarily to help the distribution of weights because each piece of furniture is indeed certified with a maximum specific weight to maintain the integrity of the aircraft“says Pierre-Henri Huclier. It is therefore a question of creating a customized piece, adapted to the dishes and the glassware chosen by the user, while respecting the technical recommendations of the aircraft manufacturer. This challenge is permanent even though plastic fiber parts are not subject to regulation.
Robotics at the service of art craftmanship
The purchase order of the inserts generally come shortly before the end of the completion works and their manufacturing is often, according to the head of the company, “a real race against the clock because it is necessary to respect both the deadlines and the requirements of the selected dishes models“. Because, as little visible as it is, this very particular element is undoubtedly the last to be installed on board.
In 2015, Pierre-Henri Huclier had slow down his business for some time, but since October 2018, it is running again at full speed to meet a need he himself had created a few years earlier.
Thus, by investing in a latest-generation robotic machine tool, this “es-insert” expert has gone from outsourcing his product to in-situ manufacturing. However, the finishing phase continues to be outsourced to SDA in Mérignac, his specialist partner in aircraft upholstery.
For Pierre-Henri Huclier, customer satisfaction matters more than anything, so every order is followed personally and, if necessary, modified within hours of the request. According to him, this flexibility is the signature of a high quality product.
The numerous orders received have enabled Insert Solutions to acquire recognized expertise. It remains for Pierre-Henri Huclier to make this expertise more widely known by communicating on a difficult subject because it belongs to a niche market. “With Insert Solutions, my goal is to grow this business segment and develop my network. Go through giants like Airbus is a magnificent springboard to reach all market professionals. But the road is still long to make known and recognized the relevance of my activity».
However, thanks to its know-how and its references, Insert Solutions has already entered the world of yachting, a sector as felted and selective as that of the business aviation.
