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Created in 1992 by Pascal Julliere for the tool trade, the Evatec company, based in Thionville, has today become the Evatec-Tools group, headed by Benjamin Julliere, his son. With four manufacturing sites in France and a sales subsidiary in Canada, this group of about one hundred people covers the entire carbide tool manufacturing chain, from powder sintering at Evamet, through the creation of tooling and wear parts at Create Outillage, the design and manufacture of special tools at GMO, to monobloc rotary carbide tools and cutting tools in CBN, PCD and ceramics at Evatec.

Each entity is thus unique and complementary to the others, for a perfect synergy at the service of the largest contractors in the aeronautics, automotive, general mechanics and steel industries. Invited to the GMO site in Montbrison, in the Loire, the editorial staff of Machines Production was able to see the relevance of the offer, accompanied by Benjamin Julliere and Georges Grunon, site manager.

Tooling design office to reduce production costs


The know-how of GMO's professionals is the site's primary strength. The six people in the design office, working with leading design and programming software, are able to quickly design special tools to meet the needs expressed by the group's five technical sales representatives in the field.
Speaking the same technical language, they quickly understand each other to elaborate a combined tooling solution, answering the most complex problems. In multifunctional turning, 5-axis milling, boring, counterboring, core drilling, and drilling from 1,500 mm to more, the most original insert holders are designed and the manufacturing range proposed to the final customer. The predictive gains are known and quantified, quickly amortizing the price of the tooling. From Evamet, with thirty grades available, the best adapted carbide cutting inserts are ground on Agathon machines, guaranteeing the necessary restocking.

GMO's tooling design office is a real source of ideas and has a workshop with a recent and older generation of machines for the rapid production of insert holders and attachments. As for the lead time, "we start up our special tools, made for the first time, between four and six weeks after receiving the drawing of the part to be executed," says Georges Grunon.

Investissement, organisation et commercial, les clés de la réussite

With an average growth of 8% in recent years, the Evatec group invests an average of 10% of its turnover in its workshops. Installed in a new building since 2014, GMO uses two Somab CNC lathes for the preparation of tool bodies and attachments, and five 5-axis machining centers, of the Ferrari and Soraluce brands, finish the drilling and milling operations of the spans, in a single assembly with precision.

Twenty or so older drilling, boring and grinding machines are available to meet more specific requirements. Controlled on a Venturion center, from Zoller, each tool has its own quality control sheet. Organized in Lean Manufacturing like all the sites of the group, the workshop is clear, clean and very well organized for an optimized flow, with a minimum stock managed for certain customers. The question of hiring remains. "We need to recruit at least six professionals in the group this year, including an experienced technical sales representative for western France," Benjamin Julliere points out. "Faced with a shortage of applicants, we are resorting more and more to work-study training, because our businesses require specific know-how," he adds.

The expertise and know-how of the in-house teams are combined with the advice and technical support of the sales representatives in the field. All the keys to success are thus gathered here, for the greatest benefit of Evatec-Tools' customers. Our customers have access to a top-level tooling and methods service, from carbide tools to CBN tools, including the most suitable insert tools for the most difficult materials. A customized collaborative service, to be discovered at Industrie Lyon, on stand 2-E31.