GYS (company)
Founded in 1964, in Laval, GYS is a French family-owned industrial group that engineers and manufactures three portfolio of products:
- Arc Welding machines (Arc welder / TIG welder / MIG welder / Plasma Cutter)
- Automotive Body Repair equipment (Spot welder / Steel Dent puller / Aluminium Dent puller)
- Battery Charger products
Although GYS is headquartered in Laval, Mayenne - AbOUT 280 km west of Paris - the industrial group has R&D centers, factories and commercial subsidiaries in France, Germany, UK and China.
Group history
1964 : In France, in 1963, EDF decided to change the electrical voltage from 110 V to 230 V. Mr. Stephany created GYS in 1964 with the purpose of manufacturing auto-transformers on behalf of EDF for the west part of France. .
1970 : In the early 1970s, GYS expanded its product range with car battery chargers. The company first engineered and manufactured car battery chargers in 6 V, then in 6 V/12 V and finally in 6 V/12 V/24 V. In the late 1970s, an additional product expansion is realized with the manufacturing of GYS' first welding machine.
1980-1996: Over 16 years, the company GYS is bought by two industrial holdings. During the same period, the company expanded its portfolio of welding products.
1997: GYS is acquired by the current management. The company had at the time a strong local brand in France for its battery charger range. The sale of welding products was more confidential and mostly concentrated in agricultural and automotive markets.
1997-2001: After the acquisition, significant investments are quickly made to modernize the historical French factory. Simultaneously, the management decided to expand the transformer-based welding machines range with the manufacturing of GYS first inverter electrode welding machine.
2001-2004: The company continues to invest in R&D to expand its inverter welding range to TIG/Plasma and MIG as well as its battery charger catalogue. During the same period, the management decided to expand the company product range with a third product range: automotive body repair spot welding products. Significant investments are made to continue to expand the French factory to match growing demand.
'''2004-Today: During this period, the group expands its three product families and decides to accelerate its international expansion with the opening of international subsidiaries.
- 2004: An industrial subsidiary is opened in Shanghai, China with the aim of manufacturing a low-duty cycle battery charger range.
- 2006: A commercial subsidiary is opened in Aachen, Germany
- 2008: A commercial subsidiary is opened in Warwick, UK
- 2011: A second company (commercial subsidiary) is opened in Shanghai, China
- 2013: A subsidiary is opened in Coimbatore, India
References and video
Press - external links
- GYS - 50 Years of Innovation
- GYS - Committed to Quality
- L'Usine Nouvelle - Les champions cachés
- http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease
- http://www.lesechos.fr/info/regions
- BBI Article - A new challenger in European welding markets
- French manufacturing group GYS achieved a finalist nomination at the 2010 Franco British Business Awards
- French Industrial Group GYS Was Nominated by the French-German Chamber of Industry & Commerce for the “Prix Franco-Allemand 2011 de l’Economie”