LMT Belin celebrates its 50th anniversary

When Yvon Belin set up his small tool factory in 1962 he certainly had little idea that his business would eventually be one of the leading manufacturers of tools for the processing of composite and plastic materials. Everything began with the successful manufacture of carbide tools for the production of spectacles. By 1974 the company employed a workforce of 30.

Range broadened in steps

The product range was extended in the wake of the increased use of aluminium in car manufacturing. The company offered new PCD sawing and drilling tools that were especially suited to working with this abrasive material. Over the next few years the company developed its expertise and increasingly produced tools for machining hard plastics. The company’s headquarters in Oyonnax near Lavancia became the centre of plastics processing in France and the area came to be known as “Plastic Valley” in the industry. Belin has been part of LMT since 2001 and now forms the competence centre for composites machining within the Group in collaboration with LMT Onsrud.

Today the company has 120 employees and generates an annual turnover of 11 million euros. As a result of its specialization on composites, lightweight materials and plastics, it enjoys a special position in the market, which results in a constant flow of large orders from the automotive and aviation industries. “LMT Belin’s 50th anniversary and the successful development on the French market are grounds enough to celebrate a big party in September this year,” says a pleased Bertrand Lefevre, Managing Director of LMT Belin.