THE LEADING PLIERS FACTORY IN FRANCE

The factory at Laissey in France, produces over 2 million pliers per year from steel rod or hot forged castings! With an average workforce of 140 and an 8,700 m2 site, the factory is ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified.

The principal products that are manufactured on the site are: Pipe wrenches, Circlip Pliers, Mechanics’ Pliers, Electricians’ pliers, Precision cutting snips, Concrete erectors' pliers, 1000V insulated tools.

All the steps in the manufacture of pliers are managed on the site, from cold stamping of coils of rod to assembly of pliers.  120 years of know-how are applied to the control of the key steps, enabling us to offer products which provide high levels of performance for our customers.

The key processes used at Laissey are as follows: cold forging, conventional and NC milling, Grinding, Heat treatment, Shot blasting, HF tempering, polishing, assembly and 100% manual final inspection.   In addition to the manufacture of pliers, the factory is also a centre of expertise for the production and certification of 1000V insulated products, such as sockets, spanners and ratchets.

Quality is an integral part of the process of manufacturing of pliers, through inspections carried out upstream during development, during production and in the final phase. Before they are placed on the market, every model that is created, modified or which incorporates new components is subjected to a series of tests on Site in order to test and validate its performance.

The organisation of production in the factory complies with the improvement approach embodied in ISO 9001, ISO 14001 (environment) and Oshas 18001(safety of individuals). All of the factory's suppliers are selected using strict criteria, including compliance with the requirements of standards such as REACH.

In order to improve efficiency, a Research and Development team, made up of 2 project leaders, 2 industrial designers and 3 toolmakers work as closely as possible with production in the design and conception of products that meet the needs of professional users and which overcome manufacturing constraints. This department has designed all current circlip pliers and will design all future pipe grips. Manufacturing start-up of these products is managed in its entirety in partnership with a four-strong Methods department, who also work on the continuous improvement and automation of our manufacturing processes.