FTH Thirard, located in Fressenneville in the North of France, is a leading manufacturer of padlocks. The company has evolved from manufacturing padlocks to bolts and all general purpose locks. Today the company employs 300 people and is one of the leading French manufacturers in the field. The company’s products are not only distributed through normal retail distribution channels but also through luxury items such as Louis Vuitton bags.

FTH Thirard has always been an innovative company, which accounts for a large part of its success in today’s fiercely competitive market where increasing numbers of manufacturers are relocating their production facilities to countries with cheaper labour costs. Unlike such companies FTH Thirard has managed to differentiate itself and thus develop a competitive advantage over other companies. In 1962 FTH Thirard started to make its own machines, in 1976 it started using electroerosion for the first time and as early as 1980 the company was using its first CAM system. Today FTH Thirard designs and manufacturers all its own tools, the result being a huge wealth of company know-how staying alive within the organisation, and customer needs being responded to swiftly.

The decision to purchase TopSolid showed somewhat of a technological leap of faith on the part of FTH Thirard. Today the company has 6 TopSolid stations: TopSolid, TopSolid’Cam and TopSolid’Wire allowing the benefits of the fully integrated TopSolid CAD/CAM system to be generated from design to production.

The company designs mainly in 3D and maintains close relations between the Research & Engineering and the Manufacturing departments. All products and tools are designed and manufactured with TopSolid and TopSolid’Cam. Today more than 5000 product references are maintained thanks to TopSolid and approximately 50 new references per year are generated.