This year, in Saint-Dizier, Father Christmas left an unexpected gift at the foot of the tree: a brand new piano-making workshop, with some 70 to 80 jobs initially, then 120 eventually. The Manufacture de pianos, established in this town of Haute-Marne since 2004, has in fact taken the decision to repatriate to France the production of its entry-level pianos, sold in supermarkets under the Colmann brand and manufactured in France. China for three years. This is good news for this territory of around 150,000 inhabitants, a hotspot for the cast iron industry, which, like so many others, is suffering from the decline of the automobile industry’s subcontracting channels.
The arrival of this piano factory did not, however, fall from the sky. Rather, it is the result of the Covid-19 crisis and the disruptions it has caused in global production chains. “Between the moment we place an order with our Chinese subcontractors and the moment we can take delivery of the pianos and put them up for sale, we now have to expect nine to ten months of waiting: we cannot conquer new markets with such a lack of flexibility, explains Raphaël Faber, Managing Director of the Manufacture de pianos. And with the crisis, the cost of boat transport – which represents a third of the cost of the instrument – has been multiplied by seven in one year, an additional cost which endangers the profitability of the company. “
Gain flexibility and responsiveness
The Manufacture has done the accounts. To gain flexibility and responsiveness, and reduce costs, the decision was taken to repatriate the pianos. “The final costs will be barely higher than in China”, argues Mr. Faber. To start production in May or June 2022, the company is currently finalizing the installation of a new workshop of approximately 5,000 square meters in Saint-Dizier, near the workshop of its more elitist range, sold under the Gary Pons brand. The wood intended for the manufacture of the furniture which accommodates the keyboard and electronic parts will be sourced, cut and lacquered locally. Only the motherboard, the centerpiece of these digital instruments, will continue to come from China. The investment represents a total of 5 million euros.
It remains to recruit the staff to assemble these pretty mechanisms. Despite the labor shortages that plague many manufacturing activities, this prospect is not of great concern. The task does not require highly skilled know-how. “We will be able to reach people who have difficulty accessing jobs in industrial companies in the region”, remarks Mr. Faber, who has other projects in the pipeline such as “The development of new products such as an outdoor piano, which does not need to be tuned”. And this desire to tackle the American market with these pianos now labeled “made in France”.