Laying of the foundation stone for ASF 4.0, a robotic factory for the production of 100% Made in France shoes, closer to consumers.

Sports footwear goes ‘made in France’ in the Ardèche

To manufacture 300,000 pairs of sports shoes a year, 100% ‘made in France’, by 2024: that’s the challenge facing the Chamatex group, in association with a number of major brands, and its Factory 4.0, work on which began on Thursday in the Ardèche.

The company, which specialises in the production of technical textiles, already had a foothold on sports fields thanks to its Matryx technology, a fabric that ‘simplifies the construction of footwear’, explains its director Gilles Réguillon.

Hence the idea, born two years ago, of ‘simplifying the whole process: reducing the number of operations, automating them and taking back control of the footwear industry’, he adds.

The ultra-modern factory – whose real name is ASF 4.0, for ‘Advanced Shoes Factory’ – whose foundation stone was laid on Thursday in Ardoix, the group’s headquarters, represents an investment of €10 million, with around fifty jobs created.

Chamatex has embarked on the venture with partners including the Siemens group (€1.5 million), the Babolat, Millet and Salomon brands, Lyon-based engineering company Zebra and the Cuir Invest and RL Invest investment funds. The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has contributed €300,000.