In 2009, Cegelec saw the renewal of the overall maintenance contract it signed in 2005 with SKF Slewing Bearings for the latter’s Avallon site in Burgundy. SKF Slewing Bearings Managing Director Christophe Bonnin explains the reasons that led him to place confidence in Cegelec again and the targets he has set the company.
- What business does SKF conduct at its Avallon plant?
Avallon is the group’s world centre of excellence for slewing bearings. We are in charge of the development, manufacture and marketing of a whole range of parts designed primarily for wind turbines (which account for a third of our market) and tunnel boring machines (another third) and also for Construction and Public Works, marine, health and defence industry equipment. We have experienced major growth in our business on this site these last three years, with a tripling of turnover (75 million euros in 2008), a workforce that has risen from 220 to 320 employees and a major expansion in our production means and skills.
- Why invest in equipment maintenance at a time of economic crisis?
The machine base we have at Avallon is relatively elderly. We have to take advantage of the temporary downturn in business due to the crisis to bring our machines up to standard so as to be able to meet demand when economic recovery sets in – as, I think, it will do as suddenly as it fell into the crisis.At any event, demand for the equipment that we produce at Avallon may be expected to continue to be very high in the future, so good maintenance at a time of crisis should enable us to meet it all the better when the time comes.
- Are you satisfied with Cegelec’s performance to date?
Cegelec had already been handling the site’s maintenance since 2005. I deemed it important to continue with a team that is fully familiar with our machinery base and enjoys the backing of a group as powerful as Cegelec, by which I mean a group that can show great responsiveness and field large supplementary human resources relatively close to the site in the event of sudden problems arising.
- What targets did you set for Cegelec when renewing their maintenance contract?
We jointly identified a number of directions for progress and set Cegelec a number of milestones to be reached over time. The main one, as I see it, concerns the enhancement of our personnel’s know-how. I attach very great importance to this job of training the local workforce and bringing it up to standard. That is why we expect a major skills transfer and training of our operators by Cegelec, whose teams, I stress, are fully integrated into our factory. In addition to that, a number of technical targets have been set: bringing the machines up to standard without exceeding an operating budget, more effective use of the computerised maintenance managing tools (CMMS) and a reconfiguration of the spare parts warehouse.
