Forges de Niaux, belonging to the Rodenbostel family (Industriehof), a global leader in cultivating and sowing discs, invested 13 million euro in Pamiers, its home region in the Ariège department. The new plant, which will reach its full functionality in the spring of 2024, is to at least double the production capacity, with a focus on quality, people, and environmental impact.
Factory 4.0 “Apart from main technological advancements, such as robotisation, the Industry 4.0 also takes into account the production influence on people and environment”, explains Laurent Pineda, a managing director at Forges de Niaux. The new facility is fully powered with zero emission electricity, completely replacing gas. Currently, the environmental certificate conforming to ISO 14001 is being sought. Steel coils delivered to Pamiers come from France. More than doubled production capacity of a discrete producer, who is a supplier to the largest manufacturers of designs based on cultivation and sowing discs, including: John Deere, Horsch, Degelman, Sky Agriculture, Bourgault Industries, or Kverneland …. 80% of manufactured products are exported. The Niaux 200 patent, which name emphasises the unique hardness of the product, embodies the FDN quality and its fight with the wear process, which is a problem frequently presented to manufacturers. With a potential of 2.4 million discs, 3/4 from the second half of 2024, Forges de Niaux creates the basis for servicing new customers on all five continents.
In the global export, the Pyrenean chamois combined with the Niaux 200 mark is frequently associated with the Made in France quality and stability for the future. Laurent Pinéda concludes: “The new factory strengthens our long-term vision; it renews the perception of quality at Forges de Niaux. We already see the advantages stemming from the increased trust of our international customers, as well as 90 employees working at the plant.”
The patented metallurgic process Niaux 200 not only ensures hardness, but also flexibility of the disc, so it can withstand stresses to which the hub is exposed.
The most important information about Forges de Niaux:
1881 Industrial activities are initiated at the site. Sources of iron ore, wood, and water available in the vicinity made the Vicdessos valley in Ariège an ideal location for forging operations.
1945 First metal plates. In the post-war period, the Marshall Plan resulted in bringing American agricultural techniques to Europe. They also included a disc plough. At that time, Forges de Niaux specialised in manufacturing of steel plates.
1954 First export to Italy
1965 Niaux 160. Using boron steel, Forges de Niaux is able to increase the disc hardness to 160 kg/mm². The Niaux 160 brand enables the company to increase its global sales.
2009 Niaux 200. A break-through year in the Forges de Niaux history: a patented technology was used to establish a new quality standard, with the hardness level scalable to 200 kg/mm².
2010 Technological transformation. After nine years at the position of a production manager, Laurent Pineda is appointed as as Managing Director of Forges de Niaux; With his team, he leads the company to robotisation of its processes and manages development of fully integrated IT system.
2023 Start-up of the Factory 4.0 in Pamiers, the Gabrielat industrial site, with a direct access to motorway A66, and less than an hour away from Toulouse.
