With more than 4,000 employees in 10 countries, Bontaz Centre is a huge success story that has fully placed its trust in Tornos, accrediting much of its success to the world leading machine tool brand. The French Company places such emphasis on the Tornos brand; it has significantly expanded its fleet of Tornos NC multi-spindle lathes and Swiss-type machines.
Bontaz is a global success story on how to transform a bar-turning workshop into a worldwide automotive supplier. The history of Bontaz Centre is closely linked to that of its founder Mr. Yves Bontaz, a man that formed the company according to his own ideas of an innovative, dynamic and fully future-driven enterprise. As a born entrepreneur from the Arve Valley, France, Yves Bontaz decided together with his twin brother Florent to join the prestigious National Clock making School in Cluses. In 1958, Yves and Florent Bontaz were conscripted to maintain aircraft for the French army. After 30 months of military service, Yves realised that he wanted to go into business for himself. To purchase his first machine, his parents helped him and decided to sell their horse to finance it. He canvassed his first customers and soon began to expand his machine inventory, which rapidly increased from 5 to 30 machines.
Growth driven by quality and productivity
For 10 years, the subcontractor manufactured for the big names of the Arve valley. However, this kind of bar turning was poorly paid, so productivity and quality became a keynote for Yves Bontaz. Even today, these two aspects are still forming the basis of the Bontaz Group. After 10 years of contract manufacture, Yves Bontaz bought his first three multi-spindle lathes and Bontaz became a supplier to Peugeot and Renault. The margins were higher and the two customers ordered large volumes.
One day, the purchasing agent of a major car manufacturer gave him a part no other bar-turning company wanted to produce. This part was a cooling nozzle entirely made of aluminum and it was the main component of the engine cooling system. This component marked the beginning of sustained growth for Bontaz.
In addition, environmental protection became a central issue in the 1990s. The better the engine cooling system; the less polluting the engine. The result was a 20-fold increase in the demand for cooling nozzles. This was the beginning of globalization for the Bontaz Group. In response to the constant pressure on pricing exerted by the purchasers, Bontaz established its first subsidiary in Eastern Europe, which was soon followed by a subsidiary in Shanghai. Today, over 400,000 new cars comprising of a component fully made by Bontaz will roll off a production line each month.
After China, Bontaz also gained foothold in the USA, South America and then in North America. Today, the company has almost 4,000 employees and branches in 9 countries with four sites in Tunisia and China respectively plus manufacturing sites in Morocco, Czech Republic, India, Brazil, the United States, Japan and South Korea and of course the company’s headquarters in Marnaz, France.
Partner of choice for the automotive industry
Bontaz has become a major Tier 1 supplier for the automotive industry. Apart from the famous cooling nozzle, Bontaz specializes in the assembly of various sub-assemblies such as electro-magnetic hand brakes as well as all types of fluid control systems. The company collaborates with all big automobile manufacturers as well as with most of the OEMs to enhance the engine efficiency day by day and kilometer by kilometer.
In Bontaz machine shops around the world, you will see a large number of Tornos cam-type multi-spindle lathes. Just recently, various Tornos machines of different types have found their way into the workshops and this includes the Tornos Swiss DT 13 machines. With these five 5-axis machines, Bontaz has remarkable production capabilities. “The Swiss DT 13 was chosen due to its competitive price, its productivity and its quality”, Yannick Bontaz, nephew of Yves Bontaz, emphasizes. The Swiss DT 13 machines are a valuable alternative to cam-type lathes as they boast the flexibility of numerical control while being ultra-productive. Thanks to their L-type kinematic system, the machines can reach most favorable cycle times.
Additionally, the company has also installed a series of Swiss GT 32 machines. “Just recently, we purchased two Swiss GT 32 with a B-axis facility to manufacture highly complex workpieces. We have been pleasantly surprised by the machine. With its rigid structure that includes the B-axis, its high performance and its driven tools that can reach speeds of up to 9,000rpm, the Swiss GT 32 is able to tackle machining tasks of high complexity. The machine really offers excellent cost effectiveness,” Yannick Bontaz explains.
The MultiSwiss family fully represented at Bontaz
Bontaz now has four MultiSwiss 6×16 machines. “Even if we trusted Tornos and their cam-type multi-spindle lathes for a great many years, we still decided to contact another manufacturer for NC multi-spindle machines,” Yannick Bontaz reveals. “We were very satisfied with these machines. Over time, we realized the MultiSwiss offered a very high performance. First of all, we were appealed by its ergonomic features that perfectly matched our needs and its technical features. We decided to take the plunge and purchase our first Tornos NC multi-spindle lathe. The machine is very easy to operate and to set up. Set-up changes can be realized in no time and this is a major advantage. Furthermore, the MultiSwiss provides us with an exceptional responsiveness. The quality of the parts and of the series produced is excellent as well. That’s why we have already installed 4 machines and ordered a 5th machine.”
“Given the success of the MultiSwiss 6×16, we did not hesitate when Tornos presented us with the MultiSwiss 8×26. We soon decided to purchase this product. And we have to admit that the machine has already fulfilled its promises. The machine has been perfectly designed and boasts outstanding machining features such as unrivalled dimensional accuracy, exemplary thermal stability and first-class surface finish. We owe the success of our company to Tornos’ expertise and their sophisticated machines. So, we are looking forward to the two new machines that will complement our MultiSwiss 8×26 fleet,” Yannick Bontaz continues. The entrepreneur from the Savoy region, a colorful personality, concludes: “Tornos finally displays the same conscientiousness in everyday work as I do.”
Web: www.tornos.com
