Author: Raphaël Tournaire

In partnership with the UIMM and the AFPI, Tournaire is now rewarding 14 of its employees who obtained their Certificat de Qualification Paritaire de la Métallurgie (CQPM) at the end of 2018. The CQPM is a recognized national diploma, obtained after a period of training via the company’s Internal School and after an examination taken at the AFPI (Association de Formation Professionnel de l’Industrie, a continuing training organization attached to the UIMM).

The Ecole Interne de Tournaire has been working for 10 years to train all its employees internally. As a guarantee of effective training, the company has 100% success at the CQPM.
These certifications allow the employee to adapt to a new workstation. They also contribute to his professional development and the development of his know-how. CQPMs are issued at the end of a training course and they attest to the professional skills acquired.

Try the Tournaire adventure?
This is possible because the company is currently recruiting 10 line drivers. Application (CV and cover letter) to be sent to recrutement@tournaire.fr.

Discover the 2019 Corporate Film of Tournaire Group:

What was your job with Tournaire?

 

I joined Tournaire on 15 December 1959 as a draughtsman. After a year working both for the Equipment Division and the Packaging Division I moved full-time into packaging and I retired on 1 January 2000 as Head of Industrial Development. I worked for Tournaire for over 40 years.

 

My job involved:

1. Unceasingly improving the quality of existing products;
2. Feasibility assessment and design of new models or formats for containers and new closure systems;
3. Analysis, design and manufacture of the tools and machines required for production.  

 

What innovations did you contribute to?

 

Almost all the innovations involving manufacturing tools and products came by way of my team and myself. For example in the 60s we improved manufacturing facilities by using new automated spin-forming machines, or for the extrusion/spinning, conification, stamping and washing of aluminium bottles.

In the 1970s one of our great innovations was System Plus: the idea was to be able to fit different aluminium or plastic safety sealing systems to a single type of bottle neck.

In the 1980s we developed plastic injecting moulding for sealing systems and integrated a co-extrusion process for multi-layer plastic bottles.

In the 90s we adopted ISO quality assurance…

 

 

What were the client needs that were the targets of your research projects and innovations?

 

We always aimed at the same goals:

• Improving the quality and performance of our plastic or aluminium bottles: i.e. their watertightness, cleanliness, aesthetics and safety for the transport of hazardous materials, their drop-test performance and their tamper-proof qualities.
• Increasing productivity: reducing the volume of scrap, improving line speeds thanks to better tools and the creation of new machines or processes.
• Responding to specific requests from clients for new models or for technical parts for the aerospace, marine and defence industries.

 

What is the innovation or packaging system you are most proud of, and why?

 

The Ø380 23-liter and 60-liter aluminium bottles for a client in the health sector who wanted to protect and transport antibiotics. This led us to perform several technical exploits in the shaping of the aluminium.  

But I’m also very proud to have participated in the development of the multi-layer plastic bottle.

This was a new range identified by our sales force, corresponding to the needs of clients in the crop protection sector who were beginning to use plastic containers. But crop protection products contain compounds sensitive to oxygen or which migrate through polythene. We studied several “barrier” materials and techniques to make the packaging really impermeable.

Finally we adopted the multilayer container technique because it enabled us to respond to changes in product composition and adapt the barrier layer to the types of products to be transported and protected.

 

Why did Tournaire decide to create the first aluminium container?

 

When it was founded in 1833 Tournaire specialized in the construction of equipment for the extraction of natural raw materials, but soon had to respond to a demand for containers to transport products such as essential oils, absolutes and other materials for the perfume industry. At first copper was used, tinned on the inside and assembled from several pieces welded together (which gave rise to the name of Estagnon)*, and then in the 1930s we chose aluminium for reasons of ease of manufacture, chemical neutrality and cost

 

In your view, what is unique about Tournaire’s know-how?

 

It’s a combination of factors: the extent of the range and the number of types of seal, with capacities from 15 cc to 32 L, the watertight qualities, the choice of models for different chemical industries and for liquid or powder products, unceasing technical evolution and fast response to demands.

 

 

Have you noticed whether your products have been copied?

 

Our products are indeed copied, particularly in the Asian countries and India, but I don’t think they match Tournaire when it comes to the watertight quality of containers. Luckily for us!

(One story: I’ve seen a copy where on the bottom of the container they had reproduced the Tournaire logo and the pictogram with the serial number for tracability).

 

 

One sentence by way of conclusion?

 

Yes, my 40 years with Tournaire have been a 40-year love-affair.

 

 

Georges Ramozzi
Former Head of industrial developent for Tournaire

 

*Estagnon: A cylindrical container made of tin, copper or tinned iron, often wicker-covered, used in the south of France for oils and aromatic essences.

Since 1833 Tournaire has enjoyed steady growth, mostly thanks to international sales. What are your development projects in 2018?

This year Tournaire has decided to move into the Asia-Pacific region with a physical presence in the form of a subsidiary and a depot that will be managed by Romain Leclef, who has already been in Vietnam for 5 years.

We have chosen Vietnam as a base so as to be able to cover the whole of the Asia-Pacific zone.

 

Tournaire is already present in more than 70 countries; why have you chosen to move into the Asia-Pacific region?

For Tournaire this establishment means an office and stocks of products, with the aim of setting up a sales team to cover the whole of the Asia-Pacific zone and having stocks available to offer rapid service, essentially to the perfume industry, which is widely scattered and requires local service which we currently find it difficult to provide from France.

 

 

Why did you choose Vietnam?

Vietnam has the advantage of its position right in the heart of the zone we want to cover; it also benefits from highly developed port facilities (and the possibility of finding a site close to those facilities), along with, I would say, quite favorable conditions for our establishment.

 

Will this establishment also be a sales outlet for the equipment and packaging divisions?

It will of course serve as a relay for the Equipment Division, for the detection, let us say, of business opportunities for the division.

Obviously the services offered by our Equipment Division are high-level engineering services; we shan’t have engineers on the spot to provide such services but it will be a sales antenna, covering the needs both for packaging and technical equipment of all sectors working with sensitive materials.

 

 

 

How will this establishment in Vietnam help to distinguish you from your competitors?

Currently we have competitors who are local companies, serving the same markets as Tournaire but with products that are, let’s say, of a different quality. Our aim is to better understand the markets and be closer to them so as to offer products that exactly match their needs.

 

Do you intend to develop a manufacturing facility for packaging in Vietnam?

For the moment this is not on the agenda. Today we consider that this part of the world represents 10% of our sales, and our goal, our ambition is to double and in the long term even treble this figure. Obviously when we reach that goal we shall need extra manufacturing capacity and then it would be logical to manufacture goods on the spot. But for the next few years we shall be investing in France.

 

 

Do you already have important clients in Asia?

We have a large number of regular clients, and some have been loyal customers for many years. Naturally a market like China is developing rapidly, but our main clients today are still the leading European companies.

 

After Europe, the USA and now Asia, do you have any other projects?

Today Tournaire’s roadbook leads us to envisage the possibility of a future move into South America. This is a sector we’ve been talking about for a long time, it’s a part of the world that is developing rapidly. To serve it as well as we already serve our North American customers we believe that in the coming decade we shall have to set up a subsidiary in South America.

 

Luc Tournaire

Chairman of the Management Board of Tournaire

 

How long and for what services has PAYAN BERTRAND been working with Tournaire?

 

PAYAN BERTRAND has always worked with Tournaire. When my grandfather Henri Proal took over the company in 1922, it was just after the First World War, he had been a fighter pilot and he had two mechanics, two brothers, who looked after his aircraft: they were the Tournaire brothers.

 

In 1922, PAYAN BERTRAND immediately began working with Tournaire to produce several machines for extraction and distillation. Right from the start PAYAN BERTRAND was working in the field of essential oils and therefore with distillation. We have preserved, right up until today, the old copper stills made by Tournaire Frères and then Tournaire Fils.

So right from the start we were working with steam distillation systems. PAYAN BERTRAND worked with Tournaire to produce machines for solvent extraction. I have letter written by Gilbert Tournaire after the death of my uncle saying that Tournaire had developed the first FFE (Floating Filter Extractor) with PAYAN BERTRAND, and we still have the first machine that was the industrial pilot for the 100L equipment.

 

PAYAN BERTRAND works with Tournaire equipment solutions, but do you also use Tournaire packaging?  

 

Yes, PAYAN BERTRAND has always used Tournaire packaging, in fact behind me you can see some 19th century copper containers. Even when the aluminium containers arrived (without and then with stoppers) we continued to use Tournaire packaging.  PAYAN BERTRAND exports more than 90% of its ingredients to countries all over the world and so far we have never had a single problem concerning the transport of our materials. These natural materials can be extremely expensive, since some Iris extracts for example can be worth more than €100,000 per kilo. For PAYAN BERTRAND and its clients packaging is of vital importance for the transport and protection of these fragile materials.

 

What needs do Tournaire’s equipment solution correspond to?

 

Today PAYAN BERTRAND extracts natural ingredients for food flavourings and for the perfume industry. Strict regulations apply, particularly to food flavourings, and the whole industrial process must make use of stainless steel equipment. To avoid cross-pollution, for example. Today PAYAN BERTRAND is renewing all its production equipment since our oldest machines date back to the 1970s and 80s. For example, PAYAN BERTRAND has just ordered a fractionating column from Tournaire because today the finishing of essential oils and absolutes often requires additional processing to satisfy regulatory or quality requirements. So we also have Tournaire fractionating units on our site.

 

 

Does PAYAN BERTRAND call on Tournaire for other services?

 

Yes, since we don’t have the capacity to set up and develop units like fractionating columns we make use of Tournaire’s engineering services, and in the near future we shall also be calling on Tournaire to redesign and update a solvent extractor.

 

Why did you choose Tournaire’s packaging solutions?

 

PAYAN BERTRAND uses Tournaire packaging on account of its quality for the transport of materials, and for the reliability and robustness of Tournaire’s packaging solutions.

 

In a few words, how would you define Tournaire as a company?

 

I believe that, just like PAYAN BERTRAND, Tournaire is a family company based in Grasse, even though it works abroad, in Asia, or in Paris. But it’s part of the DNA of family companies to be closer to the service provided and closer to their customers.  One of the qualities of PAYAN BERTRAND, as for Tournaire, is the speed with which our companies can react, not only for design (of equipment or packaging) but also in terms of service and repair. Units wear out and have to be repaired. So in Tournaire what I greatly appreciate is their reliability, their competence and the family aspect.

 

Eric Proal

Chairman of PAYAN BERTRAND

« Tournaire is known throughout the world for its one-piece aluminium containers. These are packaging solutions approved for the transport on land or by air of hazardous products. For our customers the performance of our products is assessed on three levels: their resistance to leakage, meaning their sealing systems; their performance in pressure tests, drop tests, etc., which determine their certification level; and finally our knowledge of the interactions between container and content. Thanks to RUE we have discovered and benefited from local scientific expertise, enabling us to make progress in those last two fields on a scientific basis, rather than empirically, as an SME would normally do. So in this context we have launched two projects, one with the ERINI laboratory and the other with Carma. »
– Luc Tournaire – Chairman of the Management Board of Tournaire

 

Discover in this film the results of the partnership set up thanks to the RUE scheme by way of this link: 

 

Founded in 1833, Tournaire came into being along with the first perfume flower distilleries in Grasse. Originally a coppersmith, manufacturer of stills and cans for flower oils in copper, Tournaire continually acquired new expertise to meet the specific needs of the developing perfume industry.

From its beginnings until today, Tournaire has undergone several major transformations: while Tournaire began life as a craft industry, mechanization as from 1950 boosted it to new levels of productivity and quality: then the phase of industrialization – from 1960 onwards – took over before giving way to automation in 1980. In 2011 the Tournaire Group moved into the era of robotization with a first line equipped with three robots.

Today, Tournaire, still family-owned, is an international group present in 70 countries and generates an annual turnover of around 55 million euros, 65% of which is made on foreign market. Tournaire’s acknowledged expertise in leading-edge techniques (extraction, subcritical distillation, filtration, etc.) and high-quality technical packaging is available to industry throughout the world. Expert in the valuation of natural raw materials and the mobility of sensitive materials, Tournaire is recognized worldwide for its ability to provide premium, custom-designed equipment and high-tech packaging to the industries of perfumes, flavors, food ingredients, cosmetics, health, etc …

New engineering services now complement the offer of the Equipment Division Equipment in order to provide its customers with turnkey global solutions, including assistance to project management (management of utilities, piping, electricity, insulation, conveying, etc …).

Regarding the molecular distillation process, Tournaire innovates with the implementation of technological agreements and partnerships with Laboratoires Expanscience (user of the process) and the company BUSS-SMS, leader in thin-film evaporation technologies (core of the molecular distillation process). A new test unit has also been made available to customers in the Tournaire pilot hall for a few days.

Tournaire will present its innovations in terms of services and its advances in the molecular distillation process at Achema, a global benchmark for process equipment, which takes place in Frankfurt from the 11th to the 15th of June (booth A44 in hall 4.0). Invitations can be obtained on request from Karine Condo (karine.condo@tournaire.fr)

 

To read the article in french on Pôle de Compétitivité’s website, you can click here.