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Screw machining and mechatronics in Haute-Savoie

From screw machining to mechatronics...

Screw machining – a precision, rotational plane part machining process – is intimately bound up with the economic life of Haute-Savoie. This location and this upturn are mainly due to the birth and expansion of the Swiss clock- and watch-making industry. It is therefore in Haute-Savoie, and more particularly in the Arve valley, that the French industrial core of free-cutting is now located. Having suffered the full force of the 1993 crisis, the sector then fluctuated between prosperous times – marked by substantial increases in volumes of production and turnover, and lean periods that led professionals to reconsider their careers. Taking advantage of the commitment of public authorities to re-instate a saving dynamic into the entire hexagonal economy, a competitive centre, Arve Industries Haute-Savoie Mont Blanc, has arisen in the valley to federate the initiatives of the different local participants. The companies, mainly SMEs, most certainly intend to reverse the trend of the 2000s and have made innovation and development their absolute priorities. In this they can count on an internationally recognised expertise, a favourable environment (tooling, materials, machines, logistics, special machinery, consulting firms, available temporary workforce, etc....), on the presence of sub-contracting companies in complementary technologies (cutting, treatment, grinding, plastics), on a highly qualified workforce driven by specialist training infrastructures and on effective partnership structures. The Expansion 2020 project, launched at the beginning of 2011, has set itself some specific objectives: increasing turnover from 2 to 3 thousand million euros, increasing the share of exports (to 50% as against 35% currently), to boost the number of jobs by nearly 20% and to devote 2% of added value to R&D, in other words three times the current amount.

600 is the number of companies in the département of Haute-Savoie in this high-technology business sector (Adept Technologies, Adixen Vacuum Products, Alpen Tech, Altia, Anthogyr, Baud Industries, Bontaz Centre, Bosch Rexroth, Bouverat Pernat, Dextérité, Digilac, Maike, Mecalac Ahlmann, Pernat Emile, Perrotton, NTN-SNR Roulements, Somfy, Staübli, Téfal…).