Brexit oblige, the Gard-based company ErgoSanté, specialising in the design and production of ergonomic equipment for well-being at work, repatriates 80% of its production to its head office in Anduze (30). It is expanding its plant to meet this need and support its growth (+66% in 2019).
ErgoSanté, created in 2013 and based in Anduze in the Gard, designs and distributes ergonomic equipment adapted to the specific needs of companies and their employees. Its ambition: to improve working conditions by reducing the arduousness and facilitating access to work for the most exposed people and in particular people with disabilities.
The company has 65 employees spread between its headquarters in Anduze and 12 agencies throughout France. On 30 January, it announced strong growth (+66%) in its business for the year 2019, bringing its turnover to €7.3 million.
All companies are obliged to have 6% of people with disabilities ," recalls Samuel Corgne, founder and CEO of ErgoSanté, to explain this growth. Even if they are still far from fulfilling these obligations, companies must recruit and therefore adapt workstations and create favourable conditions. The market is therefore developing, and we are structuring our presence in the territory. We are also doing risk prevention with exoskeletons, office chairs, treadmills, etc. »
" With Brexit, industrial subcontracting becomes unmanageable! »
On February 3, Ergo Santé will inaugurate its new 400 m2 and 6 m high storage warehouse (€500,000 investment), allowing its production capacity for ergonomic seats, one of the company's flagship product ranges, to rapidly increase from 3,000 to 10,000 units per year.
This extension of production capacity meets the need to accompany business growth, but also the strategy of integrating production, particularly in the context of Brexit.
Until now, 70% of ErgoSanté's production has been subcontracted to UK partners, enabling it to produce customised ergonomic chairs "under competitive price, delivery and volume conditions ".
We were working with British subcontractors because the know-how, especially at the head office, had somewhat disappeared in France, whereas qualified people could be found in England," explains Samuel Corgne. But the industrial management set up with our subcontractors to ensure customised production was déjà̀ complex, and with Brexit, it became unmanageable. The integration of production at the company's headquarters in Anduze will enable us to increase our industrial performance. We will gradually increase to 80% of our production in Anduze and 20% in England, which we are keeping for reasons of flexibility. »
The company will thus create more than 20 jobs during the year, mostly for workers with disabilities, thus reinforcing its adapted business model. At least 80% of its production currently employs disabled workers.
The exoskeleton market
ErgoSanté's clients include BNP, SNCF, Airbus, Banque de France and La Poste. Given the evolution of the market, Samuel Corgne is betting on a turnover of " at least €10 million" in 2020.
The company should market, from March, a new exoskeleton " simpler, usable by all and which will be sold for less than 1 000 € ".
There are crying needs everywhere ," observes Samuel Corgne. We want to make a new exoskeleton proposal every year. »
By Cécile Chaigneau | 31/01/2020, 16:27
https://objectif-languedoc-roussillon.latribune.fr/entreprises/industrie/2020-01-31/brexit-ergosante-rapatrie-sa-production-dans-le-gard-838552.html