Download the file. - Groupe SEB

R&D key figures:
475 people,
€46 million budget,
more than 1,000 current
patents.
Mayenne, France – Food-preparation appliances
United States – All-Clad plant
STRATEGY – LIVING THE FUTURE
THE NEED TO BE COMPETITIVE
OPTIMIZING THE INDUSTRIAL VALUE CHAIN
Groupe SEB’s industrial strategy takes account of economies
of scale, labour-cost differences*, and the need to use protective
barriers for its production processes and innovations. These
considerations guide the Group in deciding whether to make
certain products internally or to outsource them. In 2007, Groupe
SEB manufactured 65% of the products it brought to market. Last
year it closed three French factories which had been chronically
under-capacity. This was done responsibly under self-imposed
conditions that sought solutions for all the staff and reindustrialization
of the sites. Meanwhile, the Group is building up centres
of expertise with the ability to confront global competition by
exploiting new technologies and high-volume production. One such
centre is the Is-sur-Tille plant which was behind the huge success
of the Actifry.
The Group is also rationalizing outside France: in Mexico, it closed
its Celaya plant which could no longer compete after the lifting of
trade barriers against Asian imports, while it concentrated its
American Millville site exclusively on logistics, and regrouped
production units in Brazil. Meanwhile, it continues to improve and
modernize production processes and exploit internal synergies
throughout the Group. The All-Clad plant in Canonsburg USA, for
example, introduced completely new bonded-steel production
techniques which will help to optimize output, reduce wastage of
raw materials, and speed up the finishing process.
* For example, the hourly rate in China is about 50-times less than in Western Europe.
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