Huchez acquires a new production facility
On the eve of its 70th anniversary, the family company Huchez, a French leader in the design and manufacture of winches, is investing in a new building, modernising its production equipment and improving the working conditions of its employees.
At its new facility, Huchez manufactures very large capacity winches ready to reach new national and international markets. Since 1950, Huchez has been designing, developing and manufacturing manual, electric, hydraulic, petrol and diesel winches for lifting or pulling applications.
In 2018, managing director, Antoine Huchez, decided to extend the second site a few hundred metres away from its cramped factory historically based in the heart of the village of Ferrières. The 53 Huchez employees are now all grouped together in a single 4700 m² building. This investment meets the need for synergy between functions, from the receipt of raw materials to the shipment of finished products, and to improve productivity, efficiency and responsiveness. Workshops and employees are now able to work together because of the configuration of the new premises. Teams now work under the safest, most comfortable conditions.
The facilities, equipped with new test benches (including one to handle very heavy loads), overhead cranes and a paint shop, improve the company’s competitiveness. The modernisation of the logistics infrastructure and the optimisation of material flow enable shorter lead times and a better quality of service to customers.
Antoine Huchez said, “Over the last 70 years, Huchez has always invested to secure its future and reach new markets. In our previous cramped premises, our facilities limited us when it came to making new projects a reality, and the working conditions were no longer satisfactory. I am delighted to have moved to the limits of the village. Staying in Ferrières, a village to which the family is very attached, has allowed us to keep our employees whose qualifications and expertise are so precious to Huchez.”
The current production facility allows Huchez to respond to new markets, especially international ones, with larger winches while continuing to develop standard and tailor-made ranges.
Winches (manual, electric, hydraulic or thermal), workshop gantries and jib cranes hoists and associated lifting equipment with capacities from a few kilograms to several tonnes are delivered every year to meet the needs of large companies in different sectors of industry including: manufacture, engineering and construction, nuclear, rail, marine, and entertainment. The quality of the Huchez products is a priority for the company. In addition to meeting current standards and regulations, products are designed and developed to meet users’ expectations in the long term. The company says that the components and manufacturing processes of Huchez’s winches have built the brand’s reputation for robustness and reliability.