Allimand

NEW NON-WOVEN PILOT MACHINE IN THE USA

ALLIMAND INSTALLS A NEW PILOT MACHINE FOR NONWOVEN PAPERS aimed at accompanying its international customers in the optimization or development of new products

New York state: The company ALLIMAND, whose ambition it is to position itself on the new non-woven market, has just installed a new pilot machine in the United States, the world’s leading paper producing country. This new tool, intended for carrying out tests for non-woven paper, shows the company’s dynamic strategy in the perpetual research of growth drivers.

« Our objectives » explains Fabrice GILET, ALLIMAND’s Sales Director, « are on the one hand, to offer our customers the opportunity to carry out tests in industrial conditions with our own equipment; and on the other hand, to be closer to demand through this new pilot and the exceptional marketing innovation it creates.”

An innovative pilot; extremely adaptable and low cost

This new pilot is capable of carrying out tests on a machine with a realistic operational width and speed for a very wide range of non-woven papers.

Triple benefits for the customer:

• Economic: the production test samples can be multiplied in different configurations while ensuring low costs for the customer;
• Marketing : the samples produced allow the customer to test papers on demand, and intended for their own final customers;
• Strategic : Allimand’s innovation capacity and demonstration of its know-how is particularly comforting for its customers and reinforces the trust between the two parties.

Furthermore, these product tests in the United States can be completed by other supplementary tests, resulting from specific functional needs required by products being developed.

Strategic tests for international needs

This new strategic pilot meets the 4 main objectives of Allimand’s customers wishing to diversify their markets, develop new products, increase their production capacity and even modify their existing machines.

And the market potential is not just limited to within American borders; the whole world is targeted…!

NB: Definition Pilot: A paper machine used for carrying out tests, capable of producing paper samples meeting customer’s needs prior to the construction or modification of a machine for a customer or within the framework of product development.

APMS, NEW SUBSIDIARY IN SPAIN

FIRST STAGE OF THE INSTALLATION STRATEGY ON THE IBERIAN AND LATIN-AMERICAN MARKETS

The opening of a 200 m2 site

With an area of more than 200 m2, in the heart of the Zuatzu Business Park in San Sebastian, the new ALLIMAND offices provide its customers with an ideal working technical support.

“We hope to reinforce our presence by being closer to our customers and therefore reinforce our prospects on the Spanish and Latin-American markets” explains Miguel IBANEZ, Director of ALLIMAND’s new subsidiary, APMS. The new ALLIMAND offices, ideally located in the heart of a business park and close to European and International airport links, in particular to Lyon which is close to the Headquarters, meet a real need: Front desk, project offices, training centre and showroom… etc. The building architecture is particularly modern and the interior was designed by the ALLIMAND design team.

Miguel IBANEZ, with more than 30 years’ experience in the paper industry, is well positioned on the Spanish market and will take on the Management of the new subsidiary APMS.

A set-up resulting from a large order taken for a paper machine in Spain

This new set-up in Spain resulted from the signing of a large order in 2010 with Terranova, subsidiary of the group “Miquel & Costas”. The construction of the future machine which will produce “long fibre” specialty papers is currently undergoing the test period. The industrial commissioning will take place by the end of 2012.

With the future employment of engineers and a local technical assistance team, ALLIMAND confirms the 1st stage of its strategy to set up offices abroad.

“We have been experiencing dynamic growth for the last few years now, which not only requires constant adaptation and anticipation but also for us to be closer to our customers!” explains Franck RETTMEYER, ALLIMAND’s Chairman & CEO.

APMS contact details in Spain:

APMS

Parque Empresarial Zuatzu

Edificio Urgull 1º-10

20018 San Sebastian

TEL +34943210412 Email : apms@allimand.com

Contact Miguel IBAÑEZ : TEL +34630994014

SUCCESSFUL START-UP IN THAILAND

RECONSTRUCTION BY ALLIMAND OF A COVER PAPER MACHINE FOR PACKAGING: A SUCCESSFUL START-UP

The group SIAM CEMENT is a key player in Thailand’s industry and is present in many sectors such as the building trade, food industry and the paper & board industry.

Its Thailand’s leading group in the paper & board industry due not only to its paper production capacities for packaging but also its machines which are located throughout Thailand and which attract regular investment allowing the mills to maintain high productivity and performance levels.

THAI KRAFT, Wang-Sala mill in Kanchanaburi, is one of the largest liner board production mills in Thailand. Its paper machine 6 specializes in the production of cover paper for packaging with a basis weight ranging from 125 g/m² to 335 g/m².
After taking the order in April 2011, the start of a new venture between the Group SIAM CEMENT and ALLIMAND, the French paper & board machine manufacturer rebuilt the machine 6 in May 2012 in view of improving the quality and mechanical characteristics of the paper produced on this machine.

This order mainly entailed the installation of a starch deposit station on the machine 6, which wasn’t already equipped with one, followed by a new 8 dryer post-dryer part. The main objective of this installation was to carry out the starch deposit and therefore obtain better bursting and “ring crush test” characteristics while keeping the same original raw material.

ALLIMAND installed an SC-Sizer, a deposit system by film transfer, allowing the dry deposit and starch consistency levels to be adapted in order to optimize the sheet characteristics while maximizing energy saving by reducing sheet rewetting.

The ALLIMAND SC-Sizer is based on the principle that the operators who must constantly master the complex paper making processes, therefore deserve to have production tools combining production simplicity and efficiency.

ALLIMAND has used its latest developments to design and build this SC-Sizer which with its simplified settings, perfectly gauges the starch deposit and maximizes equipment efficiency.

During the machine 6 shutdown, ALLIMAND carried out a turnkey installation including not only the installation of the SC-Sizer, post-dryer part and hood, the relocation of the calender and existing reel, and the delivery of the starch preparation system, coupling and piping of all this equipment, but also the engineering including the steam & condensate system and ventilation system.

Following this shutdown, the machine commissioning was carried out under the supervision of a team of ALLIMAND specialists. From the first reels produced, the paper showed signs of improved mechanical characteristics which even exceeded the guaranteed levels therefore providing the machine with new possibilities on a local and international scale.

This successful reconstruction opens doors to new opportunities as the group SIAM CEMENT has several other production lines which could greatly benefit from this kind of improvement: no doubt the ALLIMAND SC-Sizer will soon interest many other paper makers within the group SIAM CEMENT.

1st part : Porsche SUPERCUP in Monaco

When and how did you meet Kevin ESTRE? How long have you been sponsoring motor racing for? In your opinion what does Kevin ESTRE (only 23 years old) represent?

Franck RETTMEYER, ALLIMAND Chairman and CEO: I met Kevin ESTRE 5 years ago at a race circuit, motor racing being a passion of mine. ALLIMAND has been sponsoring young pilots for the last 8 years with the aim of helping them start up their career. We had a talented pilot, Laurent GROUPI, Formula Renault 2.0 French Champion, who won the French Porsche Cup 2 years ago. However we stopped sponsoring him as he only competed in races in France and Kevin ESTRE’s potential seemed a lot more interesting. Kevin ESTRE is a quick, willing and sound young man, a fighter, and this is why he caught our attention.

How do you compare motor racing with the company Allimand?

A race is a commitment, as is business; then there’s risk taking: taking orders is always a risk even when we do our best to have everything under control… Finally there’s the challenge: motor racing and the industrial world both have the same objective, annual success.

Why do you support Kevin ESTRE? What is there of interest for ALLIMAND in being a sponsor? What is the ROI for ALLIMAND? What is ALLIMAND’s sponsoring budget? Do you sponsor any other activities?

The interest is helping a young man fulfil his dreams. The real interest for the company is to take up a challenge. Finally being associated with the Porsche SUPERCUP evokes reputation and excellence. Man is what interests us the most. The car is a means but man is the master. That’s what we like.

How is this rank encouraging?

The Porsche SUPERCUP is a European discipline in which experienced or promising pilots participate. To finish 2nd in Monaco is more than just a stepping stone to success!

Do you have other sponsoring projects coming up?

At the moment we’re happy to stay with Kevin ESTRE and hope to accompany him as far as possible, while staying in a reasonable financial framework. Our objective is to share Kevin ESTRE’s success with our customers, personnel and partners and what better way to do it than with this impressive Porsche SUPERCUP race.

And next year… Do you hope to go that step further and be part of the Monaco Grand Prix?

For Kevin ESTRE and ALLIMAND, we’ll be at the Porsche SUPERCUP or its equivalent. Our objective for him is to win Monaco and other Grand Prix which will be a curtain raiser to the Formula 1 but most importantly for him to fulfil his dreams and become a high performing sportsman.

2nd part: ALLIMAND / 2011 results / 2012 forecast

Over the last 30 years, we can see that despite a surge in government spending, deficits and debt, France’s growth is weaker and weaker (1.2 % per year for the last 10 years), unemployment’s growing, poverty is rising and inequalities are increasing.

Since 2009, France hasn’t managed to generate sufficient growth, even if only to ensure paying public debt interest; the fall of French GDP isn’t helping the situation. While world growth is stabilising around 3.5 % in 2011 and 2012, Europe is heading straight for a recession… What’s ALLIMAND’s position with regards to Europe?

2011 was marked by a strong sales activity allowing us to build up our order book with 5 paper machines, 2 of which are to be delivered in 2013. These machines are to be built either in Europe or South East Asia (Indonesia, China). In addition to these machines, we also have several rebuild projects on existing machines in France, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan.

The annual turnover for 2013 is very high; between 70 to 80 million Euros. It’s an impressive industrial performance! Our order book is full and our workshops are running at full speed with three 8 hour shifts on certain machines.

August 2011 marked a turnaround point in the recession. In this seasonal context of little trade on the international stock markets, and after having been hit by the Greek recession, the American public debt rating was downgraded from Triple A to AA+. Immediately speculation spiralled out of control and the wildest rumours spread during the summer of 2011. Stock prices collapsed in sizeable proportions. It’s the economic crisis. Where is ALLIMAND placed in all this?
For ALLIMAND, the economic crisis obviously has an impact on everyone’s daily lives by the inevitable higher tax burden, by the behaviour of politicians often very misplaced in view of the inescapable fact: Globalisation.

ALLIMAND is different in that we have integrated a global market that has allowed us to compensate for a drop in investment in Europe by areas where investment is still strong: Asia, but not only…!

2012 started out like 2011 and finished in a mist of demagogy. The debates on the social VAT and France’s loss of its Triple A ranking set the tone. Many greeting cards were designed using the Triple A theme: “Argent, Audace, Aventure” “Money, Audacity, Adventure” etc. How did you express your best wishes?

2012 is a busy year for us and much of 2013 as well. With this in mind we wanted to start the year full of optimism, remaining however attentive to the development of our customers’ order books. The latter have considerably weakened over the last few months due to the impact of the decline in growth, the collapse of the car industry for certain European countries and in particular France, the drop in consumption, which all result in the inevitable increase of the tax burden and increase of unemployment.

Our order book is full up until mid-2013 which is particularly pleasing; however the drop in activity of certain paper producers is worrying. The cost increase of waste paper has become unaffordable for not only French paper producers but also European. Finally, politically speaking, our leaders do not place their strategy within global competition and still dream of Western world dominance! Which is not so viable today.

We are supported by our banking pool and ALLIMAND is therefore not affected by the pressure from the banks. In 2012, we are investing 2 million Euros in our production means, management and opening various offices around the world. Furthermore, we have invested in a “long fiber” pilot machine, installed in the United States, an hour from New York, in order to develop our products and offer our customers a specialty paper testing base.

How do your foreign customers see France and more importantly, French industries like you?

France is no longer spoken about! The Empire days are behind us and now we are reinforcing our presence on the particularly competitive world market where our customers expect to receive new technology and products in order to respond to the needs of their different markets.

In which geographical areas have you noticed the highest increase in your turnover?

Without a doubt Asia, with its leader, China.

The escalation in the prices of raw materials weighs on the buying power of importing countries and can oblige companies, households or governments to ration their consumption, and therefore reduce demand. Has this explosion of raw materials since mid-2010 affected your production costs?
It’s a real concern. Raw materials are fixed at high prices and are not lowering. This has been going on for several years as we are at the same level as in 2008, which is before the 2009 economic crisis. However, we’re pleased with the decline in value of the Euro which is reinforcing our product competitiveness in Asian and American zones.

3rd part : ALLIMAND / Setting up in Spain and in the United States

You will soon be opening an office in Spain in San Sebastian… Why?
Mainly to discover the Hispanic market, but also the Latin American market. For that matter, we have taken an order for a new “long fiber” machine in Spain for the group “Miquel y Costas”, for which the commissioning is scheduled for the last quarter of 2012.

United States: ALLIMAND has just installed a new pilot machine in the United States, in Albany in the state of New York. This means that you have opened a new ALLIMAND entity. How long have you been working on this project? What does this new step mean to you? What’s in it for your customers? But firstly, what is a pilot machine?
A “pilot machine” is a small scale complete machine used for carrying out tests and for producing paper in order to have a clear idea of the characteristics that will be obtained on an industrial scale machine. This investment is an opportunity combined with the possibility to be closer to our customers in this area.

We started working on this project in 2009 while confronted with the recession. We were threatened by the development of electronic media, which started having a serious impact on our customers who produce magazine, writing & printing paper, more commonly known as “White Paper”. With this announced drop in white paper consumption, we needed to find new opportunities for growth. We therefore concentrated our efforts on technical papers where ALLIMAND is well known and “long fiber” papers. These are very high added value, creative papers for the food, medical and construction industries and which are today sought after in Europe and the United States.

4th part: ALLIMAND / PROSPECTS

After the United States, what other continent do you target? And where will you stop? You are one of the rare heavy equipment manufacturers that have remained independent… Have you ever been approached by investors?
A company like ALLIMAND is a constant challenge. Our aim is to create value through developing products, following the development of our customers and winning over new customers while remaining independent.

You continue to invest abroad but also for your employees as you are in the middle of renovating and extending the administrative offices of the 1st floor of your Headquarters in Rives. Is ALLIMAND therefore a good place to be…? Do employees have a lifelong career with ALLIMAND?
ALLIMAND has a strong activity and responds to challenges; it is not just a “walk in the park”. Lifelong career, absolutely not…! The desire for stability and social improvement…? Not an easy objective.

Finally, you have just been re-elected Chairman of the Paper Group SYMPO… What is the main strategic direction for the 2 years to come?
There are several areas: Promoting French companies who manufacture paper making equipment or propose their services. 2nd objective: our machine safety, which is a common objective amongst French paper producers and its technical association ATIP.

You’re head of an impressive French SME with 300 employees and with a full order book but for how long…? Several months… several years…? What advice would you give in order to succeed in France today?
I wouldn’t! Success is a fleeting phenomenon and a daily concern!

ENHANCING THE METALWORKING IMAGE

Enhancing the image of the metalworking industry a group of adults going through a professional reconversion visit ALLIMAND

Following the widely expressed concern of the region’s business owners regarding the image of industrial professions, in particular those of the metalworking industry, the job centre for the Voiron and Sud-Grésivaudan areas decided to organize a series of visits to different companies in the region. ALLIMAND, a leading company in the design and manufacture of paper machines and well established in the area, was the first to accept the offer…

Behind this idea: an HR metal industry survey
“A survey was carried out concerning human resources in the metal industry which helped establish the needs with regards to skills and more generally the needs for accompaniment in human resource management. This survey enabled the job centre and its partners to identify the interesting approaches to take in favour of employment, training and generally safeguarding career paths” explains Abderrahman LACHKAR, HR team leader.

ALLIMAND: A socially responsible company
“We accepted to welcome the group because ALLIMAND not only strongly supports the metal industry professions but also finds it important to make people aware of the diverse professions that exist in the company and allow each person to find their own interest” explains Michel FERRERO, General Secretary. The target public, representing different profiles and potentially interested by metal industry professions: job seekers, professional reconversions, young people seeking orientation, recruitment professionals, elected members of parliament and institutional representatives (state, region…), quickly came forward. More than 25 people participated in the visit of the company on the 24th of April.

Programme of the visit
Three professions of the metal industry were presented through the projection of three films, followed by a presentation of the company ALLIMAND and discussions with the management.

Emphasis on qualification and employment perspectives
“In a changing world, reinforcing the qualification of Human Resources and better orientating them with local employment perspectives is the main concern for local communities. This is one of the job centres main priorities” concludes Abderrahman LACHKAR.

INDUSTRY WEEK

ALLIMAND WELCOMES A SCHOOL GROUP TO THE COMPANY

SONY DSC

In the framework of the Industry Week, organized by the Industry Minister and taken on by the UDIMEC* and the Grenoble Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ALLIMAND, designer and manufacturer of paper machines, welcomed a group of 15 young students from the “Notre Dame des Victoires Les Oiseaux” school in Voiron, to its site in Rives. Focus…

“I was delighted with this project” expressed François RETTMEYER, Managing Attaché at ALLIMAND. “It’s important for young people to discover a professional and industrial environment. It’s difficult to know what job we want to do when we’re older!”

A partnership with the “Notre Dame des Victoires Les Oiseaux” school was therefore established. 15 young students were given the chance to discover the company ALLIMAND. A personalized programme was constructed with the collaboration of UDIMEC, ALLIMAND and the “Notre Dame des Victoires Les Oiseaux” school, represented by the teacher Mr GUILLET L’HERMITE. “I followed part of my schooling in this establishment and Mr GUILLET L’HERMITE was a teacher who took the time to increase our awareness and knowledge of the professional world. It’s a great pleasure for me to meet with him several years later in this new context” François RETTMEYER added.

A presentation of the company ALLIMAND in 2 steps
The students were first given a presentation of the company in the auditorium followed by a guided tour of the design department, the workshops and different pilot machines. The second part of the programme involved discussion with four ALLIMAND employees from the technical, sales administration, human resources and finance departments. “The aim is to encourage medium or long term vocations” explains Michel FERRERO, ALLIMAND General Secretary.

“If, following this visit, just two students leave with a positive view of the professional world, we are happy; the company will have played its part in the social awareness” concludes Francois RETTMEYER.

* UDIMEC – Union of metallurgical, electricity and associated industries