Founded in 1836, the Alstom Le Creusot factory is actively involved in local life. It is one of the largest employers in the region. It is Alstom Transport’s global centre of excellence for bogies and shock absorbers, with expertise in international design, validation, manufacturing and project management.
The site has all the engineering, research and development resources to enable it to develop bogies for all of Alstom’s railway equipment (tram, metro, suburban and regional trains, locomotives, high-speed and ultra-high-speed trains). There are 730 employees and an annual output of more than 2,000 bogies. That’s what the 110 tourists who are expected to take part in the Saône-et-Loire Economic Heritage Day will be able to discover this Saturday morning. It was a major first, of course to discover the activities and innovations of the creusotin site, to learn about the job opportunities and to discuss with all the employees present, who contribute every day to Alstom’s success at Le Creusot.
From mechanical welding workshop to shipment
Welcomed by the management team and in particular by the site director Bénédicte Ganivet, the five groups of visitors began a tour of the mechanical welding workshop, where they were able to discover the welded structure of the frame after cutting the sheet. The welding robot impressed the youngest , especially today’s most capable railway Fanuc, it helps to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and improve working conditions by reducing the difficulty. This innovative investment of more than 1 million euros also makes it possible to automate welding operations for steel or stainless steel parts and handling operations for bulky parts up to 1 ton and 5 meters long. „We are developing a robotics center here, and Le Creusot is the driving force in robotics…“ David Nicolier proudly introduced during the robotics demonstration.
In the machine shop, it’s hard to walk past the new „Soraluce“ machining center inadvertently. As Bénédicte Ganivet points out, this latest-generation machine entered service this year, demonstrating Alstom’s desire to continue investing in Le Creusot: „We have also ordered a new Poli, which should be delivered in 2023…“. Likewise, the investment cannot be ignored: 1 million euros.
Alstom Creusot is hiring and training!
The Creusot website is looking for 45 people. They are welders, boiler builders, assemblers, but also project managers, design engineers and buyers. „We have a welding school and we do on-site training to predict the next retirement…“ explains Bénédicte Ganivet. With this recruitment, the issue is to continue the momentum of the site and prepare for the increase in activity, especially the large number of MP14 bogies (Paris Metro) and RER bogies delivered ahead of the next Paris Olympics.
Significantly reduces energy consumption
If Creusotin bogie manufacturers are facing huge challenges in production, it should be noted that site management has done a lot of work on the famous energy savings. In fact, since 2021, 80% of the lighting in the workshop has been converted to LED. This saves over 15% on electricity bills. „Today we are trying to save gas, in the boiler room…reflection is at the group level…“ the website’s director noted.
Jessip
information
The next „open house“ at Alstom’s Creusot plant will take place in June 2023.
