{"id":5047,"date":"2023-09-11T16:11:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T15:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/?p=5047"},"modified":"2023-09-11T16:11:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T15:11:50","slug":"bobcat-celebrates-60-years-of-pontchateau-france-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/2023\/09\/bobcat-celebrates-60-years-of-pontchateau-france-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobcat Celebrates 60 years of Pontch\u00e2teau, France Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"

From school benches to world renowned telehandlers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bobcat\u2019s factory in Pontch\u00e2teau in France traces its history back to the early 20th century when Joseph Sambron transformed his school bench factory into a hub for farm machinery and bicycles. By 1920, the factory employed hundreds of workers and produced flour mills and cider presses. Following Joseph’s retirement, his son Maurice ventured into mini-dumper production, selling over 50,000 units, and paving the way for the construction of the present-day Pontch\u00e2teau plant in 1963. The new facility specialized in off-road dumpers and forklifts.<\/p>\n

Today, the factory is renowned for its production of telescopic handlers, which commenced in the early 1980s under the Sambron brand and was then acquired by the Fayat Group. Under the new ownership, Sambron became FDI Sambron and introduced hydrostatic telescopic handlers. In 2000, FDI Sambron was acquired by American corporation, Ingersoll-Rand, which also owned the Bobcat brand. Consequently, FDI Sambron transformed into Bobcat France. In 2007, Bobcat was acquired by the South Korean group, Doosan, and continues to operate as part of the Doosan Bobcat EMEA company.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Thirty thousand telehandlers made in France<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2023, the French factory achieved an impressive milestone, when it manufactured its 111,000th machine. Out of this figure, around 30,000 of the machines have been telehandlers proudly carrying the Bobcat signature logo and typical white and orange colours.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur current telehandler line-up consists of 14 models in five platforms, with key markets in agriculture, construction and rental. Managing such a comprehensive portfolio is only possible thanks to our experienced engineering team, which is running all the European operations and contributing to global telehandler development activities. The majority of our production, over 80%, is targeted for export,\u201d says Philippe Marescot<\/strong>, <\/strong>Pontch\u00e2teau factory manager at Doosan Bobcat EMEA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Substantial regional employer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Employment has seen significant growth alongside production, with the workforce more than doubling to 420 employees in the last 10 years. The Mayor of Pontch\u00e2teau, Danielle Cornet<\/strong>, recognizes the factory’s significance as a major regional employer, with over 50% of employees residing within a 20 km radius, and offering diverse job opportunities ranging from manufacturing to executive roles, administration and Research & Development.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catherine Perio, an accountant at Bobcat <\/strong>in Pontch\u00e2teau, embodies the company’s positive work environment. With an impressive thirty-six years of service, she credits her long tenure to the company’s continuous growth, which remains fulfilling even after four decades. The supportive and friendly staff have also played a significant role in her journey.<\/p>\n

The future of the Pontch\u00e2teau factory<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Over the past decade, significant investments, amounting to approximately 30 million EUR, have been made in human resources, research and development and facility enhancements. These structural investments have strengthened the Pontch\u00e2teau factory\u2019s capacity to meet market demands and maintain a growth trajectory aligned with market needs,” Philippe Marescot<\/strong> concludes with a positive outlook.<\/p>\n

About Bobcat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since 1958, Bobcat <\/u>has been empowering people to accomplish more. As a leading global manufacturer of compact equipment, Bobcat has a proud legacy of innovation and a reputation based on delivering smart solutions to customers\u2019 toughest challenges. Backed by the support of a worldwide network of independent dealers and distributors, Bobcat offers an extensive line of compact equipment, including loaders, excavators, telehandlers, compact tractors, mowers, attachments, parts and services and other equipment.\u00a0The Bobcat brand is owned by Doosan Bobcat.<\/p>\n

www.bobcat.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From school benches to world renowned telehandlers
\nBobcat\u2019s factory in Pontch\u00e2teau in France traces its history back to the early <\/p>\nRead more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plant-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5049,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5047\/revisions\/5049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}