As Maude Duval reported in the news portal Bretagne économique, the acquisition of Private Assets will enable the implementation of FDB's transformation plan, which is aimed at diversifying production, modernising the industrial tool and improving performance. The transformation plan was initially developed in cooperation with the Renault Group (strategic partner and customer of FDB) when FDB was sold to Callista 2022. According to Bretagne économique, Private Assets also aims to create a European foundry group by merging FDB with Procast Guss GmbH (formerly: Class Guss GmbH) - which includes several German iron foundries with a production capacity of 55,000 tonnes - and the Spanish foundry Procast Abadino. This merger provides significant synergy opportunities for the reorganisation of FDB and its transformation into a coherent industrial complex.
FDB advisory committee meets for the first time
After the announcement of the takeover by Private Assets, the FDB Committee was created, an advisory committee made up of Jean-Michel Jacques, Member of Parliament; Fabrice Loher, Mayor of Lorient and the agglomeration of Lorient; Fabrice Vély, Mayor of Caudan and Vice-President for Higher Education, Research and Innovation in Greater Lorient; Florence Bessy, Administration of the Department of Morbihan; Gael Guegan, Director and Regional Councillor for Economic Development of Brittany, Loic Bardin, Director of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Morbihan and Peter Nass, responsible for the organisation of the FDB Advisory Committee.
Key figures of the plant and company development
The first meeting of the FDB committee took place at the end of July 2024 in the FDB factory halls. After the participants were welcomed by FDB Managing Director Jérôme Dupont, a presentation with the plant's current key figures followed. In the subsequent presentation, Sales Manager Natalie Delourme gave an insight into the company's development. This was followed by a guided tour of the factory halls and further presentations on current developments linked to the diversification of production.
The diversification and modernisation measures include the following points:
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New decoring line: the new decoring line is one of the main drivers for adapting to new markets, as it makes it possible to expand the range of products offered, particularly in terms of the production of larger parts. Pantzer Nicolas, FDB team, and Marco Meneguzzo, MVM Consulting, are responsible for this project.
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New finishing cells: Another key element in order to be able to respond specifically to the new variety of components is the installation of new manual and robot-supported finishing cells to expand the current machine park. The project is managed by Franck Jousse and the FDB team.
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Energy efficiency and FDB qualification: Other projects in the FDB transformation plan include increasing energy efficiency. The qualification of FDB as a supplier through new customers and their first orders is also planned. These are customers from the agricultural and transport machinery, automotive and railway infrastructure etc.
Erwain Jacquin, the plant's project manager, is responsible for all diversification and modernisation measures with the support of Bastien Morbidelli, head of energy supply at FDB.
At the end of the event, the FDB management thanked all committee members for their continued support. A further thank you went to the FDB employees, who are also actively involved in the transformation process.
