Vacheron Constantin - New Component Manufacturing Facility
This new facility is in Le Brassus, a village located at the heart of the Vallee de Joux. A watch component manufacturing facility equipped with high-performance machinery and organised according to a modern and efficient production process: the new production facility is propelling the brand towards a well-programmed future. The global investment amounts to over 30 million francs. Whereas the manufacture in Le Brassus is exclusively dedicated to watch component production, other tasks such as movement assembly, casing-up and final controls are handled in the Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates (canton of Geneva). The new facility shows Vacheron Constantin's determination to integrate a consistently larger range of professions and to produce all its mechanical movements while having 100% of its production certified by the prestigious Hallmark of Geneva. It will house over 200 employees - out of the total 900 currently working for the brand - by the end of the year and could well accommodate over 300 by around 2016-2017.
Juan-Carlos Torres, CEO of Vacheron Constantin, commented: "This new component manufacturing site is a significant step for our Maison. Not only will it enable us to develop our production capacity and to incorporate new skills, but it even more significantly demonstrates our confidence in the future and our capacity to look to the long term." Innovative work organisationOver 40 professions are now exercised within the 7,000 square-metre production area available in the new manufacture. The entire production chain for the parts required to make Vacheron Constantin mechanical movements is now operational in Le Brassus. Once finished, the components are transferred to Plan-les-Ouates where the movements are assembled, rated and cased-up, while the watches are tested according to the Hallmark of Geneva criteria. The new Manufacture put in place an innovative organisation system: the "Lean Manufacturing" system. The system has proven its worth in other industries and Vacheron Constantin adapted it to the specific characteristics of high-end watch component production. This type of organisation, no longer based around workshops but instead on production flows by process or by product line, gives employees greater responsibility while improving quality and reducing transit times.
Entirely decorated by hand
Every single part of Vacheron Constantin's mechanical movements is manually decorated on all faces, even those that will remain forever hidden. Only a very small number of manufacturers still comply with such high-level finishing standards. By way of example, one may note that the chamfering alone of the components of an openworked tourbillon requires over a month's work by an experienced chamferer; while the tourbillon carriage bridge calls for around 12 hours of chamfering, and each tourbillon has two of them. Along the same lines, over 1500 separate 'beads' or spots composing a circular-grained or stippled motif must be arranged in perfect succession on the small surface of a self-winding movement's mainplate. Each of the operations - chamfering on a lathe or with a file, straight-graining, creating a matt effect, straightening, circular-graining or creating a Côtes de Geneve motif - calls for exceptional mastery and dexterity.
TrainingIn Switzerland, there are no official training courses for the most remarkable manual watchmaking skills - precisely those that demand the most dexterity and experience such as the decorative crafts. That is why Vacheron Constantin has set up in-house training programmes for its employees who perform these meticulous decorative operations that will make all the difference and represent the unique signature of a Vacheron Constantin watch. In the same spirit, the manufacture in Le Brassus will in due course handle the training of apprentices in all sectors of production.
The Manufacture in Plan-les-Ouates is currently also undergoing substantial extension work. Its surface is set to double and thus reach a total 17,000 square metres by the first quarter of 2015.
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