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.