Starting from the vine, Plumettaz has made a name for itself by connecting the whole world.
In Bex, the company has established its machines all over the world for laying telecommunications cables. It is now targeting the energy sector.
In brief:
• Bex-based Plumettaz, a century-old company, exports its cable-laying machines to 90 countries.
• The Chablais-based company has revolutionised the sector with its jetting system for underground cable laying.
• The new intelligent machines automatically adapt to the difficulties of cable routes.
Although little known to the general public, the hundred-year-old Plumettaz company has contributed to the expansion of telecommunications throughout the world. Every year, machines marketed under the Plumett brand name set off from the Bex industrial estate to install underground cables. This global domination in a highly specialised market is the result of a history that began in the wine-growing region of Vaud. The Plumett brand has made a name for itself in a host of sectors that appeal to the masses, such as the winches that enable snow groomers to maintain ski slopes on vertiginous slopes. And level crossing barriers are brought to life by the Chablais-based company, which manufactures everything - or almost everything - in its 2,000 square metre workshop. However, its core business is the telecommunications sector, with machines that excel at laying cables. An excellence recognised in more than 90 countries that the ambitious centenarian also intends to apply to the deployment of electrical cables.
Innovation at the heart of Plumettaz's DNA
Plumettaz was born in Vevey in 1923. "At the very beginning of its history, it was a Nestlé subcontractor, explains its Managing Director, Philippe Prat. The founder, Emile Plumettaz, quickly registered a number of patents for machines such as a cherry pitter". But it was the work in the vineyards that made the company famous: winegrowers adopted the motorised winch developed for them in 1930 to make working the soil easier. Some 3,500 machines were sold here and abroad.
But the company's core business developed in the middle of the last century, with the manufacture of equipment for laying underground cables. Plumettaz innovated in this sector with the invention of jetting, a system that pushes cables by injecting air or water, thereby reducing mechanical stress. Mechanical stresses are the subject of a knowledge base on the Plumettaz website, which provides an understanding of the forces at work in this activity. The company uses these equations in digital format. "Computer simulations using our own software enable us to guarantee the implementation of a project, says Philippe Prat. This is particularly important in the energy sector, where cables cost a fortune."
Innovation and digitisation of mechanical engineering
This phase of digitising equipment has been underway for a number of years, enabling the data produced to be exploited. "We were the first to offer Deutsche Telekom an automatic installation report using our machines", says Philippe Prat. The practice quickly became standard.
The director suggests another innovation: "The latest machine we have produced is “intelligent” and can adapt to the difficulties of the route when laying a cable, just as an experienced installer would. This meets the need to make up for the shortage of personnel on construction sites."
But the sector is not without its difficulties. "The duality between China and the United States and the various conflicts around the world have made trade more difficult than it used to be, laments Philippe Prat. With critical areas such as telecommunications and energy, and the protectionism that goes with them, we are forced to make choices that we would have preferred to avoid." Plumettaz's Chinese subsidiary was closed at the time of the pandemic.
While the opening of a subsidiary in the United States in 2019 is now paying off, the company has had to downsize its teams in Bex. Philippe Prat is not disclosing the number of redundancies in 2024. "Plumettaz is no longer a family business, which can choose to sit back and take it easy when the going gets tough, he explains. Our financial world is demanding and our shareholder expects results."
Now in the hands of the Invision investment company, Plumettaz continues to rely on its Bex workshop. Here, state-of-the-art machines manufacture the parts required for its various activities." There always comes a time when we think we need to rationalise our product range further, says Philippe Prat. But the different areas of activity that make up Plumettaz also enable us to offset the waves and maintain our production facilities."
translated from French to English with DeepL.com
