Oris Artelier Small Second Automatic Black Dial Men's Watch 01 623 7582 4074 07 5 21 71FC

Revue FH - 4 June 2009

Founded in 1919, the business run by Louis Affolter, a native of Malleray, was entered in the trade register in January 1927 under the name «Louis Affolter, manufacturer of pinions and pivoting of all kinds». In 1946, his sons Andre, Rene and Marc took over the reins of the firm which became «Les Fils de Louis Affolter». The company became «Pignons Affolter SA» in 1978 and, in 2004, it changed its name again to become «Affolter Pignons SA». Marc's three sons, Marc-Alain, Jean-Claude and Michel Affolter, representing the third generation, were handed the baton in 1985. Each has a well-defined role: Marc-Alain is at the head of Affolter Technologies SA, formerly Affolter Electroniques SA, established in 1991; Affolter Pignons SA is run by Jean-Claude (engineering) and Michel (sales and production). To allow sister companies to focus on their core activities, namely the development, manufacture and sale of products, the management company AFManagement SA was created in 2004. It is run by Nicolas Curty, the husband of Melanie, Marc-Alain's daughter. And so the fourth generation is already playing its part! The Affolter group occupies three industrial buildings in Malleray, with a total floor space of 7,800 m2. It employs around 170 people: 110 at Affolter Pignons, 50 at Affolter Technologies and 10 at AFManagement.
The company Affolter China, in Shanghai, completes the picture. Affolter Pignons produces 15 million parts annually with the help of more than 200 machines. This production is intended solely for the watch industry. Prestige and top-end products account for 80% of production, with the remaining 20% categorised as the middle of the range. The firm's customers include some of the greatest names in watchmaking. Wheels for the luxury watch industry are produced on machines developed entirely in-house. The latter are used for all machining operations, including the bevelling of arms, sinking and circular graining. The burnishing workshop - burnishing gives a piece its final dimensions and considerably improves the surface finish of pinions - is one of the largest, if not the largest, with 75 highly sophisticated machines.

Established as an offshoot of the development department of Affolter Pignons, Affolter Technologies manufactures high-tech machines used not only in the watch industry, but also in the medical and dental industries and micro-engineering. The development of motorised spindles, numerical controls and basic machine assembly, followed by customisation of the application, are just some of the services provided by Affolter Technologies, which recently also began offering E-Learning. Behind this slightly off-putting name lies a truly ingenious application: E-Learning allows online training on numerical controls and machines developed by the firm, with a final test - online naturally - giving entitlement to a diploma as is the case with all traditional types of training!
It should also be noted that the Affolter group and six other firms in the region have pooled their know-how to offer comprehensive, first-rate training for polytechnicians. Since 2007, this activ- ity has resulted in the training of three apprentices a year, who follow a rotation schedule among participating firms. On a final note, the Affolter group, thanks to its flexible working hours and various other initiatives, was awarded the Fam- ily Business Prize in 2005 and last year was the only industrial firm in French- speaking Switzerland to be cited as an example in the document «Combining work and family» published by the Se- cretariat of State for the Economy (Seco) under the aegis of Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard.

Unrivalled productivity
The inventor of the first numerically controlled (CNC) gear cutting machine for the watch and micro-engineering industries, Affolter Technologies today launches the AF90, the fastest machine of its kind in the world. It offers a speed of 16,000 rpm far exceeding the 3,000 rpm of old models. This machine is also the most compact on the market, occupying the same floor space as its predecessors while guaranteeing a level of productivity two to four times higher according to applications.

This has been made possible thanks to developments carried out by Affolter Technologies engineers, who have elaborated more advanced electronic components, a numerical control called LESTE Series and more efficient motorised spindles. Prior to being placed on the market, the machine underwent successful long-duration tests in the sister company Affolter Pignons, which manufactures gear-trains for prestige watches.