France’s number one pool manufacturer invests 25 million euros in its Loire industrial site. It is automating injection presses, relocating small-scale plastic screw-making and extending its test rooms.
A new R&D center is to be built on the Piscines Desjoyaux industrial site at La Fouillouse, near Saint-Etienne (Loire). France’s number one pool manufacturer is investing between 2 and 3 million euros to extend its test rooms and relocate its 30 or so technicians and engineers. Owner of some thirty patents, Desjoyaux spends around 3 million euros a year on R&D in materials, filtration and assembly systems.
Begun last autumn, the project will be completed by the end of the year. The new 1,500m² building is part of a larger 25 million euro investment program. Despite the slowdown observed since the start of the school year in September, this family-owned, listed ETI is keeping up the pace. At the plant, which employs 205 people 7 days a week, it is automating its injection press line, “to reduce the energy bill by 30%”, says Jean-Louis Desjoyaux, its Chairman, who has just closed the 2022 financial year with sales of €160.5 million and operating income of €28 million. The other industrial project concerns the relocation of a manufacturing and bagging line for plastic fasteners. “It will enable us to depend less on our Chinese suppliers”, says the CEO.
Price rises
Building on the momentum of 2020 and 2021, the pool market held up well in 2022 for Desjoyaux “thanks to the summer heatwaves”, notes the executive. But it fell off in the last quarter due to the international situation and inflation. The sharpest plunge was in exports, which account for 40% of the pool specialist’s sales. “In Germany, we’re down 50%. German consumers are postponing their purchases. Their electricity bills have increased tenfold in just a few months,” compares Jean-Louis Desjoyaux, who has raised prices by 15% to offset the rise in energy and raw material costs, particularly for steel and polypropylene. The 280-strong company’s next objective is to become energy self-sufficient by 2025, or even energy positive. The roofs of the parking lots and the 50,000 m2 headquarters in Saint-Etienne will be covered with photovoltaic panels. And several wood-fired boilers will replace the company’s gas-fired power supply. The cost of these energy-related investments is currently being calculated. Jean-Louis Desjoyaux is hoping for a rapid return on investment, as other manufacturers in the business park between Saint-Etienne and Andrézieux Bouthéon are ready to buy more local electricity at a less fluctuating price ■
Article published on January 31, 2023 in Les Echos
Stéphane Frachet
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