LET'S DISCOVER A SINGULAR JOB AT COTTING!
Within the Cotting group, some little-known but indispensable work goes on to enable us to showcase our products via the creation of a wide variety of swatches, moodboards, and other display aids, to appeal to and serve you in accordance with your needs. All these material sales aids are created by Sylvie at the Atelier des Collections, who tells us here about her work:
How long have you been working at the
Atelier des Collections?
I have been at the Atelier des Collections for eight years and before that was working as a controller at Grifffine, checking the quality of the materials that were sent out to clients.
What are your main activities?
It’s essentially a manual job: I cut, punch and stick, and
I handle deliveries to clients. I create the different types of sales material : samples, swatches and the like, for trade shows.
What qualities are needed
for this work?
The work requires vigilance to correctly identify colours, not to label one blue as a different one, for example, and special care needs to be taken in cutting in relation to the direction of the product, as for the Abaka, for example. The keywords are ‘cleanliness, vigilance and thoroughness’.
How many samples do you cut
each month?
It works out as about a hundred batches of samples per month and several thousand swatches in different formats: in a ‘fish’ shape for the production of goodies, via A5 format samples to drapes of 150 cm square for a trade show, and many others. We have more than a hundred different punches, which allow us to meet most of the requests.
What are the pressures in your job?
Repetitive movements and lifting rolls of fabric are the most difficult practical aspects of the job. For example, creating a Ginkgo sample bundle, a range of 41 colours, involves carrying 41 rolls to cut out the necessary swatches.
Can you describe your role in a few words?
My main role is to respond to specific customer requests. Some want to produce swatch bundles using their own selection of colours; others prefer a particular format of samples to stick on their cards.
In addition, I send out binders and cards daily in accordance with each client’s urgent requests.
My main role is to work for the client in close collaboration with the sales department.
What are the positive aspects?
The positive thing is that I can change activity regularly as the job is very diversified. Although I work closely with the Marketing team, I am nevertheless independent. I would hate to have a job that involved sitting on a chair for eight hours a day.
How would you explain your job to a child?
I make rainbows because I work with lots of colours.
