Ixarys' growth goes through Le Bourget

Starting from field experience to build a tool for professionals, whether they are winegrowers or aircraft maintenance workshops, is the method used by Ixarys, the Lorgues-based SME specializing in the design of digital traceability software.

While cooperative winery clients still generate 70% of the turnover of the company co-founded in 2008 by Véronique Maurel – also president of the UPV – and her husband Patrick Hyppolite, fleet management, particularly helicopters, has been a focus of development for almost ten years. "We will be at the Paris Air Show [from June 16 to 20, editor's note]," the duo specifies, rather proud of having gained the trust of major players like Airbus Helicopters. "It's a lot of work, audits within the company, which allow the client to understand how we work."

Today, the SME, with around twenty employees, half of whom are developers, monitors a thousand aircraft by providing a real dashboard, with color codes allowing, for example, to know if all the parts necessary for a repair are in stock, or even if the space essential to accommodate an aircraft is free.

The objective: to ensure maximum availability of aircraft by anticipating maintenance needs. "We have developed a module for integrating data from all types of aircraft," the president emphasizes, which allows fleet managers to register a new aircraft themselves in their dashboard.

And Ixarys intends to continue developing this segment, particularly internationally. A subsidiary has already been created in Canada, and contracts have been signed with clients in Tunisia, Germany, and Ivory Coast. "Others are currently being explored."

106 customer cellars

This would require recruiting salespeople or signing partnerships. While continuing the expansion that has been ongoing for almost twenty years in the world of viticulture. "Our clients include 106 wineries for some 250 winegrowers and 13,500 members. There are 500 wineries in France; that leaves room for growth," adds the duo. In this fairly competitive world, they have managed to get ahead by offering a whole range of tools, from inventory management to the use of treatments and customs procedures. "The model is a subscription sold to the customer who can take different modules depending on their needs."

Here too, the dashboard, built from the processing of data from each winery or estate, allows for anticipating needs. "Our strength is that we have already integrated certain changes in standards. For example, wine cash register software publishers can no longer self-certify. This comes into effect this year, and we are ready." Ixarys has also developed a platform to streamline communication between wineries and their members and signed a charter with neighboring SME Eukles to offer a document authentication component. Here too, growth is coming internationally, with a Swiss winery already in the portfolio.