19.07.2013

Bobcat celebrates 50th anniversary

Last Friday Bobcat held a special ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its telehandler plant at Pontchateau, Loire-Atlantique in France.

The event was attended by almost 250 people including local dignitaries and former employees of the plant, and the occasion was marked with the unveiling of a commemorative plate, produced by one of the workers in the factory.
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Bobcat recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its telehandler plant in Pontchateau in Loire-Atlantique, France.

As well as providing an opportunity to meet up with old friends and the current workforce, visitors were treated to a full day’s programme which included a factory tour, speeches from plant management including anecdotes from the previous 50 years, an exhibition of old Sambron and new Bobcat machines, demonstrations and the chance to try out the new machines for themselves.

Current employees at the plant were very willing guides for the factory tour and took pride in showing former colleagues and the other visitors around the site.

“The factory has changed a lot, and all for the better,” said André Tricodet, who worked for many years at the plant. “I am 80 now, and I worked here for 26 years as a machine tool operator. I was delighted to be able to attend the anniversary celebrations.”
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The event was attended by almost 250 people including local dignitaries and former employees of the plant.

The history of the plant dates back to the early 20th century, when Joseph Sambron, a locksmith by trade, took over his father’s workshop and turned to producing agricultural machines and bicycles. Just a few years later, in 1920, Joseph was running a 3,000 square metre facility, where around 100 employees produced flower mills and cider presses.

When Joseph retired son Maurice, stepped into his father’s shoes. Always looking to exploit new opportunities, he entered the material handling business in 1953 and started producing wheelbarrows moving on to dumpers and then all-terrain handlers.

All of this laid the groundwork for the development of the Sambron range of telehandlers, the first of which, the Drop 2000 model, was launched in 1979 when the factory was bought by the Fayat Group. In 1981, two new series of telehandlers followed and Sambron extended its dealer network, as exports grew to make up 70 percent of the plant's sales.

In 2000 Ingersoll-Rand, owner of the Bobcat brand, bought Sambron and changed the name of the company to Bobcat France. In 2007 Doosan acquired Bobcat - including Bobcat France.

Today, Pontchateau manufactures 12 different telescopic handler models, including the new generation TL360 and TL470 models launched in 2011, followed by the new high-flow 130 HP TL470HF model in 2012.