AWD INTERVIEW
THE AWD INTERVIEW WITH...
BRUNO BOUYGUES
THE CEO OF GYS, ONE OF FRANCE'S LEADING INVERTER WELDING EQUIPMENT, CAR BODY SPOT WELDING EQUIPMENT AND BATTERY CHARGER MANUFACTURERS
I UNDERSTAND GYS WAS STARTED BACK IN THE 1960'S MANUFACTURING AUTO TRANSFORMERS. HOW DID THE TRANSFORMATION TO BUILDING WELDING EQUIPMENT COME ABOUT?
GYS started in 1964 but my father acquired it in 1997. From 1964 to 1997, the company was mainly held by the founder family (the Stephany family - the 'S' in GYS) and slowly moved its business model from the manufacturing of auto-transformers to arc welding machines and battery chargers. At the time of the acquisition in 1997, welding machines were still made of traditional technologies, which mainly meant winding copper transformers. Soon after, the industry witnessed a technological change with the arrival of high frequency electronics in power conversion. In short, the business changed to manufacturing electronic cards. To highlight the significance of the change, it is a bit similar to the evolution from typewriter to computers. To survive, we had to adapt and we used these technological changes to invest in modern production capability. In 1997, we were manufacturing less than 6 000 traditional machines. In 2009, we manufactured more than 180 000 inverter welding machines.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF BEING A FAMILY BUSINESS IN THE WELDING INDUSTRY?
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT GYS? WHEN DID YOUR FAMILY ACQUIRE IT?
My father acquired GYS twelve years ago, in 1997. At the time, the company employed 40 people in an old- fashioned factory and there had been no significant commitment to R&D for years. Today the company employs about 400 people in four countries and we manufactured over a quarter of a million machines in 2009.' At the time of the acquisition, in 1997, my father took a very methodical approach to rebuilding the fundamentals of the company. At first, GYS focused on developing a new range of electrode welding machines, then moved on to battery chargers and automotive body shop equipment. Now that GYS is a strong contender in each of these areas it has turned the full focus of its R&D on becoming a full range Tier 1 supplier of industrial welding equipment within the next three years.
As a family business, GYS has never really had a short- term approach - what mattered was the excitement of growing the company. Finding new ways to do things, developing products and providing people with challenges, being innovative in our products, manufacturing processes and marketing - these are the things that really have mattered to us. I strongly believe that these long term values associated with a taste for new challenges is the cement of our relationship with our dealers.
Also, many product improvements are a direct result of these relationships with our distributors around the world. With thirty people in R&D and over 12 persons in production engineering and quality management, GYS can quickly mobilise a team to put its ideas into action. If we want to change a small detail in a product we can pretty much do it the next day. Without our customers, we couldn't have evolved from where we were 12 years ago to where we are today.
30 12
Welding
World
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