Established since 1836, the Alstom Le Creusot site is actively involved in local life. It is one of the largest employers in the region. It is Alstom Transport’s Global Center of Excellence for bogies and shock absorbers and has experience in the field of design, validation, manufacturing and project management at an international level.
The site has all the engineering, Research and Development resources that allow it to develop bogies for all Alstom’s railway equipment (trams, subways, suburban and regional trains, locomotives, high-speed and very high-speed trains). It now employs 730 people and has a production capacity of more than 2,000 bogies per year. This is what the 110 visitors who were expected to take part in the Saône-et-Loire economic heritage conference were able to discover this Saturday morning. An important first that, of course, allowed to discover the activities and innovations of the creusotin site, learn about job offers and discuss with all the employees present who contribute daily to the success of Alstom in Le Creusot.
From mechanical welding shop to shipping
Welcomed by the Management and in particular by Bénédicte Ganivet, construction manager, the five groups of visitors began their visit to the Mechanical Welding Workshop where they were able to discover, after the cutting of the sheets, the constitution of the frames by welding. . The youngest were impressed with the welding robots, in particular the Fanuc, the most capable of the railways today, which helps increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process and improves working conditions by reducing difficulties. This investment in innovation of more than one million euros also makes it possible to robotize welding operations for steel or stainless steel parts, as well as handling operations for bulky parts up to 1 tonne and 5 meters long. “Here we are developing a robotics center, Le Creusot is a motor in terms of robotization…” David Nicolier proudly launched during the presentation of the robot.
In the machining workshop, it is difficult to pass in front of the new “Soraluce” machining center without realizing it. Commissioned this year, this state-of-the-art machine demonstrates Alstom’s desire to continue investing in Le Creusot, as noted by Bénédicte Ganivet: “We also ordered a new Poli which should be delivered in 2023…”. Again the investment is not negligible: 1 million euros.
Alstom Creusot is recruiting and training!
The Creusot site is looking for 45 people. They are welders, boilermakers, installers but also project managers, a design engineer and a buyer. “We have a welding school, we do on-site training to anticipate the next retirements…”, explained Bénédicte Ganivet. With this contract, it is about continuing the momentum of the site and preparing for the increase in activity, in particular with the large volumes of MP14 bogies (Paris Métro) and bogies for the RER that will be delivered before the next Olympic Games. from Paris.
Significant energy reductions
If great challenges are launched in terms of production for the creusotine bogie builder, it should be noted that the construction management has already worked hard on the famous energy reductions. In fact, 80% of the lighting in the workshops has been switched to LED since 2021. This has led to savings of more than 15% on the electricity bill. “Today we are working on saving gas, in the boiler rooms… The reflection is done here at the group level…”, specified the director of the Site.
JC.P
Information
The next open day for the Alstom Creusot site will be held in June 2023.
