ATC expands production and celebrates international achievement
28/07/2011
The ranking was based on a sample of 3,147 French SMEs with turnover between EUR 10 million and EUR 1 billion, who do over 30% of their total sales outside France. Two of the top 15 are cognac producers.
Jean-Pierre Gualino, ATC founder and chairman, and his two sons, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre-Antoine (both sons are company directors), played host to more than 200 guests at the June event, which began with a guided tour of the new facilities followed by cocktails and a presentation of the company and its history, and ended with a gala dinner with live music.
Pierre-Antoine Gualino, who joined his father and brother in 2006 and oversaw the whole Trevoux project from start to finish, framed his presentation with a few of the most striking statistics: the new plant took over four years to complete, from the initial feasibility studies to completion of construction, for a total cost of EUR 7 million, which included six years of investment in research. Of the total investment, 10% was in safety and the environment. Of 55 companies and suppliers who took part in the work, 80% were local. The plant has an immediate capacity to produce 20,000 tonnes of leather chemicals per year, with the potential to double that figure.
Jean-Baptiste Gualino, who has been working with his father since 2002, explained that the new plant reflected the company’s belief that technical breakthroughs in leather chemicals were both necessary and possible, and that one of the challenges the company was taking up was that of helping tanners control the cost of finished leather in spite of higher prices. This includes proposing products of optimal efficiency, enabling tanners to reduce the quantities of chemicals they use in the tanning process, reducing costs and impact on the environment.
The new plant will focus on liquid leather chemical products, including a new range of fatliquors, acrylic and polyurethane resins for finishing, and a full range of compact resins.
Jean-Pierre Gualino gave a brief history of how ATC had grown from its modest start back in 1976, when the French tanners didn’t give the young enterpreneur a particularly warm reception. He pointed out that those who did give him a chance in the early days were among the leaders in the French tanning industry today, such as Tannerie Roux, Degermann, and Megisserie Bodin-Joyeux. Mr Gualino expressed his thanks to the whole ATC “family”, with particular mention for the most long-standing members such as Charles Dalmais, who produced the company’s first products, and Michel Deville, who contributed largely to building up ATC’s presence in Asia (60% of total turnover). He also gave a special mention to the company’s 20-strong network of agents.
The chairman explained that the choice of keeping production in France was based partly on the desire to create jobs in the local community, and partly on the belief that transferring production overseas would mean losing precious know-how.
ATC has three overseas subsidiaries, in Brazil, Thailand and India.
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