The Up-Tex competitive cluster

A national competitive cluster

Six strategic objective

1. Enhance the status of innovation, research and development
2. Ensure the transfer of expertise
3. Develop the links between markets and innovation in business
4. Become a network leader, unifier and consensus builder
5. Act as an interface with other industries and regional, national and international centres of excellence
6. Satisfy an international demand in the fields of innovation,  research and development via the European positioning of the cluster

Key participants in the cluster

• U.I.T Nord (Textile Industries Union of the Nord region) ;
• Association Textil'Aisne

  

   - the cluster's liaison organisation for Picardy
• Union régionale des industries de la confection (U.R.I.C.) [Regional Union of Clothing Industries]
• UNIMAILLE (Professional Organisation for the Clothing and Knitwear Industries) ;
• Union professionnelle dentelle broderie (U.P.D.B.) [Professional Lace and Embroidery Union]
• CLUBTEX (Association  for the promotion of technical textiles companies)

  

• Association  France et broderie (France and Embroidery Association)

  

• Groupe Calais dentelle (Calais Lace Group) ;
• Calais Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  

• Greater Lille Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  

• Cambrésis Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  

• The Aisne Chamber of Commerce and Industry

  

Topics

• Innovative, high-performance materials
• Textiles as materials suitable for numerous applications  
• The customisation of separate phases of mass production to give  consumers the products of their choice without delay and at no extra  cost, while providing a new way of redistributing added value throughout  the entire chain.

What the UP TEX cluster can offer businesses

• A collective momentum
• Skills sourcing and strategic, economic and technological monitoring
• Plus the Centre Européen des Textiles Innovants (CETI) [European Centre for Innovative Textiles].

Criteria for the official certification of projects

• Projects must focus on the cluster's areas of expertise
• They must involve at least two companies and one centre of expertise
• At least 50% of the costs related to the projects must be covered  by partners within the geographical region covered by the cluster.

The geographical regions covered by the cluster are primarily the Nord -  Pas-de-Calais and the Saint-Quentin areas; however, all companies  involved in the development of the textile industry may take part and  benefit from the services offered by the cluster, wherever they are  located.