- The Swiss family enterprise Affolter Group, a world technology leader in microtechnology, celebrates its 100-year anniversary.
- While Affolter Pignons focuses on the manufacturing of gear trains for the watchmaking industry, Affolter Technologies develops, manufactures and sells CNC gear hobbing centers for the production of microtechnology gears.
- Training the chief engineers of tomorrow: The Affolter apprentice program guarantees efficient knowledge transfer between the generations.
In 1919, Louis Affolter, the second child of the watchmakers Samuel and Marie-Louise Affolter, founded his own company and started to produce gears and pivots for the Swiss watch manufacturers in the area. 100 years later, nine Affolter family members work in the high-tech enterprise Affolter Group and its daughter companies Affolter Technologies and Affolter Pignons.
The 100-year history of the family enterprise was filled with technological innovations. After Louis had established the enterprise, the second generation – his sons André, René and Marc – developed the business further and built the first industrial premises. In the third generation, led by Jean-Claude, Michel and Marc-Alain Affolter, the company underwent a rapid modernization process. Electronics and high-tech equipment helped to improve the production processes.
Sustainable growth
Based on its innovative power, the Affolter Group expanded, diversified and grew. In 1980, a mere 15 employees worked on a workspace of 5,400sqft. Today, the company has 140 dedicated employees, 15 apprentices and 4 buildings with an overall workspace of 86,000sqft. The fourth generation, led by Grégory and Vincent Affolter as well as Nicolas Curty, oversees the continued expansion and diversification of the Affolter Group, including the founding of Affolter China in 2013 – a milestone for the enterprise.
The two main business lines of the Affolter Group are the contract manufacturing of gear trains for the gear trains industry and the development, manufacturing, and marketing of machine tools and numerical controls.
Affolter Pignons is specialized on the manufacturing of gear trains for the Swiss watchmaking industry. For 100 years, the company has reinforced its position as a leading expert in the art of force transmission. Through automation, Affolter Pignons was able to realize the mass-production of top-quality, high-precision gear trains. “In a partnership with Affolter Technologies, we also develop our own machines. Together with our experience and know-how, that enabled us to grow quickly. We aim to continue this growth strategy”, explains Grégory Affolter, Managing Director of Affolter Pignons.
Affolter Technologies specializes in the design, manufacturing and commissioning of numerical control gear hobbing machines for microtechnology gears. “Through the decades, we were always dedicated to be a technology and innovation leader in the field of micro gear hobbing, aiming to make our customers more productive and efficient”, says Vincent Affolter, Managing Director of Affolter Technologies. That is why the company continues to invest heavily in R&D. Vincent Affolter: “Robots, machine learning, in-house designed and developed CNC controls, our own software, Industry 4.0 – we embrace the future.” The CNC gear hobbing machines of Affolter Technologies are used for the production of microtechnology gears in markets such as watchmaking, micromechanics, automotive, aircraft, robotics, servo motors or dentistry. 80% of the machines are being exported into the main markets EU, Asia and USA.
Talent of tomorrow
The extensive apprentice program has become one of the backbones of the Affolter Group. Today, more than 15 apprentices are trained in-house and in a network of six highly specialized businesses in the Swiss Valbirse area. Nicolas Curty, CFO at the Affolter Group: “Our apprentice program makes sure that the micro-technical know-how and expertise is transported efficiently from generation to generation in the company.” The chief mechanical engineers of tomorrow are trained in high-tech fields such as profile turning, gear hobbing, burnishing and assembly.
Affolter Technologies will present its innovative gear hobbing centers at Motion Power at the Cobo Center, in Detroit, MI from October 15-17 in Booth 3131.
100 Years: the Affolter milestones
- 1919: Louis Affolter starts his business in Renan.
- 1926: Construction of a workshop in Malleray, with a family apartment upstairs.
- 1927: Registration of the company “Louis Affolter, gears and pivots of all kinds” in the commercial register.
- 1946: The three sons of Louis, André (1916-1992), René (1918-1991) and Marc (1928-2009), take the torch and the company changes its name to “The sons of Louis Affolter”. The company manufactures clockwork wheels as a subcontractor for the Swiss watch industry.
- 1947: Death of Louis Affolter.
- 1978: The company is transformed into a public limited company under the name of ” Affolter Pignons SA”.
- 1985: The management of the company passes into the hands of Marc’s three sons Jean-Claude (1954), Michel (1955) and Marc-Alain (1952), representing the third generation.
- 1991: Expansion and creation of Electronics SA, the research and development department of Affolter Pignons SA. This company changes its name in 2005 to Affolter Technologies SA.
- 2004: Establishment of the Affolter Holding SA and AFManagement SA.
- 2008: Opening of the Shanghai sales and service office for Affolter Technologies products.
- 2012: Moving into the new Grand-Rue building. The floor space is now 86,000sqft.
- 2013: Founding of Affolter China Co., Ltd., with headquarters in Shanghai.
- 2013: Obtaining ISO 9001 certification for Affolter Pignons SA, Affolter Technologies SA and AFManagement SA. In 2014, also for Affolter China Co., Ltd.
- 2016: The fourth generation takes over! Grégory Affolter (1984) as Managing Director of Affolter Pignons SA and Vincent Affolter (1980) as Managing Director of Affolter Technologies SA. With Nicolas Curty (1972), Grégory and Vincent form the new management of the Affolter Group.
- 2016: Marc-Alain (1952) and Michel Affolter (1955) leave the management. As the third generation passes the torch, the staff has increased from 17 to 140 employees, and the floor space of industrial buildings has grown from 5,400 to 86,000sqft.
- 2017: Creation of Affolter Innovations SA in order to concentrate the research and development of the group in a single company.
About Affolter Technologies SA
Tradition meets innovation: Affolter Technologies SA is a part of the Affolter Group with more than 140 employees around the globe and was founded in 1919 by Louis Affolter in Malleray, Switzerland. Today, the fourth generation leads the family enterprise. A China daughter company was founded in 2013. Affolter Technologies operates worldwide with a broad network of distributors. The highly specialized company is world technology leader in high-precision gear hobbing solutions.
For more information, visit: www.affoltergroup.ch | www.affolter-applications.
Media Contact:
Bernhard Hagen | Hagen PR
