Within its subsidiary, Hamelin Digital, the European leader in stationery is imagining and developing tomorrow’s products. Its latest invention, Papershow, could well replace the traditional flipchart in many a meeting room.

Millions of Euros for R&D

Millions of Euros for R&D
Boxed article Groupe Hamelin is the leading European notebook (Oxford, Super Conquerant) and filing accessories (Modling, Elba) manufacturer, employing over 4,000 salaried workers across the globe, 500 of whom are located in Caen. The company produces some 200 million articles each year, for a total sales figure of 800 million Euros (in 2008) and invests several millions of Euros each year in R&D.

An age-old company can be a visionary too. Here’s proof. With Hamelin Digital, a subsidiary of the company’s “Books and Pads” (Oxford) division, the historical Groupe Hamelin, established in 1964, is devoted to the development of a new wave of products for the stationery sector: digital and interactive media. A new strategy that the company could not fail to adopt for the future. “Even if paper will never be replaced, a large share of the market could, ultimately, be transferred onto digital media,” explains Lalia Lesage, director of Hamelin Digital. “We are still very much attached to our traditional notepads, but the product needs to develop new options, up to date with 21st century developments: computers, internet, webconferences…” Created in 2004, Hamelin Digital relies on a team of 7 (including two R&D engineers), to invent notebooks, pads and diaries - from design to production - using technology developed by Anoto, the Swedish pioneering leader of digital pen and paper. “Hamelin Digital is like a mini laboratory, where we design, for the general public, products that have no current equivalent on the market”, highlights Lalia Lesage. “Every idea is a challenge that needs to be seen through to fruition, whilst developing a worthwhile product, from both a technical and a marketing point of view.”

R&D “improves on the product’s original idea”

After the digital diary in 2004, then the digital notebook – offering easy retrieval of notes on a computer - in 2005, the group is pursuing its innovation today with Papershow, the product of several years of R&D. “Late 2006, we were looking to how we could exploit these new technologies, via Bluetooth and streaming,” notes the director of Hamelin Digital. Hence, the idea behind Papershow, to directly project notes onto a screen, was born. The first prototype was developed the following year and tested on several user groups in France and Germany. “The R&D process should not be written on tablets of stone but should, on the contrary, improve the product’s original idea,” notes Lalia Lesage. “We are constantly surprised by our capacity to surpass an original design and concept.” And, in the end, the user should never be truly aware of the product’s complexity. The result: the Papershow kit includes a digital pen, equipped with a micro-camera, a USB key with integrated software (Bluetooth) and an interactive paper pad. The pen transmits its position to the computer 75 times per second, via the key. All of the information is then projected directly onto the screen. A product with which Oxford is looking to replace traditional flipcharts and to revitalise meetings. Marketed throughout Europe and Australia since late 2008 (125 Euros excl. VAT) and more recently in the United States, Papershow sales are enjoying an encouraging upward trend Hamelin Digital is already working on a Mac-compatible version, due to be launched during the first half of 2010.

Lalia Lesage
Director of Hamelin
Tél. : 02 31 46 37 22
Site : Groupe Hamelin

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