The Foundation.
Founded by a master craftsman, Ateliertoy was built on passion, wood, and manual precision. For decades, the focus was entirely on the product. Operations were simple, local, and manageable by walking the shop floor.
Scaling Without Systems.
As global demand grew, the factory expanded. We added more machines and more people, but our management systems remained analog. We were scaling complexity, but relying on notebooks, Excel sheets, and the intuition of senior managers to run the plant. The cracks began to show.
Margin Crisis & The Succession.
We hit a wall. Despite growing revenue, our EBITDA crashed to 5%. We faced brutal price competition from Asia and skyrocketing material costs. The 2nd generation handed over the reins to the 3rd. The mandate was clear: transform the operating model, or the company will not survive the decade.
The Awakening & Digital Diagnosis.
Our first instinct was to "buy robots." But we didn't know where to put them. Instead of guessing, we deployed Consultinity and ran a comprehensive Digital Readiness Diagnosis (DRD). The results were sobering. The DRD mapped exactly where value was leaking and forced us to align our board on strategic priorities before spending a single euro on hardware.
Killing the Fear of Automation.
A new strategy means nothing if the team rejects it. Rumors of automation created immense fear on the shop floor. To protect our culture, we enrolled our key management and operational leaders in the DBR77 Masterclass. It shifted their mindset—they realized automation was a tool they would control to secure their jobs, not a replacement. We turned resistors into transformation ambassadors.
Measuring the Truth (IoT).
Before we could improve, we needed to establish a baseline. We bypassed massive, multi-year IT projects and installed pragmatic DBR77 IoT sensors on our critical legacy machines. The data revealed our true OEE was just 37%. For the first time, we had objective data instead of emotional debates.
Unblocking the Heritage Plant.
The data showed our Heritage Plant was choking on internal logistics, not machine speed. Forklifts and WIP buffers were causing chaos. Instead of physically rearranging the factory, we built a Digital Twin. Simulating an AMR flow in the virtual world proved we could reduce transport time by 42% without disrupting ongoing production.
The Central Nervous System (IRIS).
As we automated, we created "data islands." To unify operations, we implemented IRIS (Industrial Reporting & Integration System). IRIS connected our machines, IoT sensors, and operators into a single, real-time control tower. Our Plant Manager moved from reacting to yesterday's reports to managing today's reality.
Governing Capital for the New Campus.
We reached maximum capacity. We needed a second facility—the Innovation Campus. Building an 18,500 sqm plant is a massive financial risk. Our CFO utilized Consultinity to build a rigid financial governance framework. Every piece of equipment proposed had its ROI calculated, tracked, and approved within the platform.
Designing in Virtual Reality.
Before pouring a single cubic meter of concrete, the entire Innovation Campus was built and simulated in our Digital Twin. We tested layout variations, robot reach, and material flow. This virtual validation allowed us to remove oversized buffer zones and unnecessary machines, reducing our initial CAPEX by 18%.
Risk-Free Sourcing.
Equipping a new factory usually involves agonizing RFQs and scope creep. Because our requirements were already perfectly defined in the Digital Twin, we uploaded them to the DBR77 Marketplace. We received standardized, comparable bids from vetted System Integrators. We cut sourcing time in half and eliminated execution risk.
The Digital Revenue Shift.
Our Consultinity roadmap revealed a new opportunity: our hardware needed a software ecosystem. We shifted our Sales and Marketing strategy from selling one-off physical kits to selling the Ateliertoy App as a SaaS subscription. We transformed from a traditional manufacturer into an EdTech platform, creating highly profitable, recurring revenue streams.
Stability at Scale.
Both facilities now operate in harmony. With IRIS monitoring our unified architecture, our OEE consistently exceeds 80%. We are resilient against market shocks because our decision-making, manufacturing, and supply chain are fully integrated into one transparent system.
Monetizing the Knowledge.
Our transformation was so profound that it became a product itself. Ateliertoy officially joined the DBR77 Partner Program. We now host reference visits, consult other manufacturers embarking on their digital journeys, and generate a new stream of revenue by sharing the exact frameworks that saved our company.
Built for the Unknown.
We don't know what the market will demand next. But we know we have the architecture to simulate it, the governance to fund it, and the marketplace to build it. We are no longer just a manufacturer. We are an agile industrial ecosystem.