Noël, CEO
The name Design Duval was given in 2012, but the company exists since 1947. Technological progress and major innovations have marked this long history, as well as a corporate culture built on immutable values and a constant ambition: to create qualitative, complete and fully bespoke solutions.
An industrial and human adventure
Design Duval is the fruit of a unique human and industrial adventure, which saw the metamorphosis of a small leather sewing workshop into a family-run SME with international trade. Founded in Redon in 1947 under the name Plastiques Duval, the company has now 50 employees working daily to serve its customers.
From the leather sewing workshop to high-frequency welding
In the early 1960s, Mr. Duval, a visionary businessman, began working in high-frequency welding. A major innovation in France at the time. The company continued to produce small leather goods (cases, briefcases, folders…), but reinvented itself in terms of materials, switching from leather to PVC.
Discover our field of expertise “Welded and sewn leather articles”
The 80’s: a new path
One day, a loyal customer in the publishing industry, for whom we used to make PVC book covers, asked us to make a case to hold a book and an audio cassette. Pioneer in France of high frequency welding, we took up the challenge and equipped ourselves with thermoforming machines. The mission was a success. Better still, it was the first step towards one of our great specialities: combining materials and techniques!
By combining high-frequency welding and thermoforming, we offered a unique expertise. This was in 1980. We then broadened our offer and very quickly widened our target, to reach new sectors, and gave birth to a brand new line of business which we have constantly improved since.
The 1990s: Growth and Innovation
In 1992, the company was taken over by the Mélois family. This was an opportunity for Plastiques Duval to create its own design office, in order to provide increasingly creative and relevant solutions to its customers.
The growing demand for the production of samples to complete our displays led in 1999 to the creation of a department exclusively dedicated to this activity. Saint-Jacut Conditionnement was created and developed a high quality know-how in the manufacture, cutting, shaping, and production of samples and models for the building industry.
Complete service then became our spearhead. Today, it has made us famous throughout Europe.
Discover our field of expertise “Manufacturing and displaying samples”
The 2000s: first steps abroad
On account of our expertise on French territory, we started to export our displays as a complete service to Spain in 2000 and to the Nordic countries in 2004.
At the same time, Northern Europe was already fond of natural materials and began to favour cardboard creations, rather than PVC.
That didn’t stop us! We understood our customers wishes, and decided to diversify once more. We are aware that our ability to constantly renew our approach carries us forward and reinforces our customer relationships, as well as our know-how.
2005: Back to the roots
At the same time, the automotive industry (one of our main markets) was gradually replacing welded information wallets by sewn wallets supplied by Asian countries. This was a major blow to the whole industry.
But we didn’t give up. We didn’t want to lose our customers and wanted to remain competitive, so in 2005, we decided to have our sewn leather articles manufactured in Asia, while still designing the products in our design office and offering the associated services (storage, manufacturing…) in our premises in Brittany…
This difficult choice couldn’t be made under any condition! Sewing is something we know, it’s our origins. We had to make a strict selection, and find the perfect solution for our customers! We looked then for the absolute gem, the ideal partner: ethically irreproachable and quality oriented! A delegate is in charge of quality control and production follow-up, on a permanent basis. Being present on site is a real asset.
In 2011, we created our subsidiary Duval Trading in Hong Kong. Naturally, we extended our range of custom-made and supple sewn articles to other fields:
- promotional kits and bags for cosmetics, mass retail and oil companies,
- Top quality sewn folders, organizers, and welcome packs for the training sector, the hotel industry, banks, etc.
Discover our field of expertise ” Promotional packaging “.
2012: A new name, innovations, but unchanged DNA
Over the years, Plastiques Duval diversified its activities, mainly by offering a rare, if not unique, choice of materials and combinable techniques. But we never made concessions regarding our essential values: customization, full service and quality. Our new identity “Design Duval” made the promise of greater creativity, technicality and customer focus obvious.
2014: Digital revolution
Our milestone for this new era came two years later with the purchase of the latest digital printer in our premises.
For several years now, we have gone beyond the status of a pure manufacturer, providing – in addition to consulting and creation – complementary services to our initial trade. To be able to offer customized product lines on request, we invested in a large-format digital printer.
Printing small series, on thick materials, prototyping… this little technological wonder soon made a fourth area of expertise possible: digital printing for your POS projects, exhibitions, printed panels, etc, as a complete service.
Discover our “Digital printing” field of expertise
2017: continuity is ensured
After 25 years of good and loyal service, Mrs Mélois, then sole shareholder of Design Duval, decided to retire. In order to preserve the human aspect and family spirit of the company, she decided to sell the shares in December 2017 to Noël Colineaux (Managing Director) and Ivan Lefeuvre (Technical Sales Representative for major accounts in France): two longstanding employees, who were closely linked to Design Duval‘s DNA and supported by the entire team.
2019: Moving on!
To optimize processes, communication and versatility between teams, Design Duval and Saint-Jacut Conditionnement reunited in May 2019 on the same site in Sainte-Marie (35).
As Saint-Jacut Conditionnement was no longer located in Saint-Jacut, the company was renamed Duval Nuanciers.
This union was also an opportunity
- to give a new look to the company’s image with a redesigned website and a new logo,
- to state our values and our DNA,
- to be even more attentive to your desires and be proactive about your needs,
- to help you achieve your wildest projects!
To be continued…
