The Michelin Roanne Site Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

Michelin is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its Roanne plant in the presence of Pierre-Louis Dubourdeau, Industrial Director and member of the Executive Committee of the Michelin Group, Antoine Vermorel-Marques, Loire Councilor, Jacques Blanchet, Vice-President of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region and Hervé Guérin, Deputy Prefect of Roanne.

A day of celebrations intended for employees and their families will take place tomorrow, Saturday September 28.

The site, which now has over 800 employees, has specialized since 2015 in ultra- high-performance tires, for prestigious clients and manufacturers such as Porsche, AMG and BMW in particular.

The history of an industrial revival

Since its creation, the Roanne site has constantly reinvented itself to adapt to shifts in the European passenger car and light truck market. For almost 40 years, this ability to adapt to its clients’ needs enabled the site to expand; before it was confronted with an accelerated transformation of the market in the 2010s, which required a complete industrial overhaul.

More than 30 years of growth

After two years of building works, the first 204 employees produced the first tire on April 5, 1974: a 14-inch tire for the Citroën Maserati. The manufacturing process involved an AMM (Automatic Manufacturing Machine), as well as several finishing machines. In 1989, a new workshop opened to produce even larger, 17-inch tires, with specific production methods. From 2007 onwards, the plant began producing 18, 19 and even 20-inch tires for high- and very high-end vehicles.

The turning point of the 2010s

The early 2010s heralded great challenges: on a broadly and enduringly sluggish European market, the high-end tire segment witnessed the emergence of new, high performing competitors. The site’s production was split at the time between 70% high-end tires (16 and 17-inch) and only 30% very high-end tires (18-inch and higher). The positioning of the plant, that now employed some 900 employees and produced 4 million casings per year, quickly worsened.

2014-2019: an innovative transformation project

At the behest of the site’s labor organizations, the Group accepted to introduce an innovative policy to co-build an alternative solution to drastic restructuring with employees.

In 2014, the site’s management and employees worked for several months with support from the central teams to define a joint analysis of the plant’s overall performance. The aim was to offer the Group a thorough transformation plan to fully reposition the site in the very high-end segment (or ultra-high-performance), which at the time only represented a third of its production.

Christened Phoenix, the project required significant investment to implement the new C3M manufacturing process, overhaul the working organization to enable greater reactivity and develop new skills for most of the site’s workforce. It was officialized in May 2015 by means of the signature of the Future Pact 2015-2019, that laid down the reciprocal undertakings between staff and management.

A successful transformation

Since 2019, the smooth functioning of the Phoenix project and the still favorable situation on the ultra-high-performance market, have enabled the transformation to continue beyond initial ambitions, perpetuating the co-construction work launched on-site a decade ago.

An entirely modernized site that has been repositioned on the ultra-high-performance segment

In 2014, the plant produced 70% 17-inch tires (and below) and only 30% 18-20-inch tires.

In 2024, it produced 90% 19-inch tires (and above), with 30% of production being destined for the manufacturers’ market and 80% for the European market.

This transformation was made possible thanks to the Group’s confidence and investments

Since 2014, the Michelin Group has invested 300 million euros to transform the Roanne site, half of which is earmarked for renovating its industrial machinery.

At the end of 2024, 90% of the site’s production involved C3M and by 2025, the plant plans to produce all of its tires using this automated and digitized process. Today, the factory offers its clients a bespoke offer: 150 industrializations carried out in 2023, a portfolio of 162 sizes and a working organization that enables high reactivity.

Positive change for staff

While the initial project foresaw the loss of around one hundred jobs, without any forced layoffs, the site’s workforce in 2024 is now equivalent to that in 2014:  833 employees in mid-2024, approximately 850 in 2014 (permanent and fixed-term contracts).

• The site’s modernization has resulted in an increase in workstation ergonomics and a sharp increase in the development of business lines and skills; in particular a significant spike in the number of machine operators and maintenance technicians.
•  A large-scale training plan was rolled out during the period to help production operators acquire new skills. Between 2014 and 2024, more than 300,000 training hours gave rise to this human transformation. In 2024, a C3M maintenance school even opened on-site with 8 people joining the first year group in May.

Concomitantly, the increase in accountability permitted management changes to facilitate employee autonomy on a daily basis.

A drastic reduction in the environmental footprint

Finally, the project allowed the site to greatly enhance its environmental performance:

• electric tire curing incorporated into the C3M process, resulted in the virtual elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, with an aim of reaching zero emissions in 2025 by transitioning to green gas;
• -water consumption dropped by 60% with regard to 2022, with an aim of reaching an 85% reduction in 2026;
• the site’s refocusing on a local-to-local approach, with 80% of production destined for Europe, also helped to reduce its environmental impact.

The site’s 2025-2026 roadmap must allow the Roanne site to consolidate the benefits of a decade’s worth of transformation and to assert its position as part of the Group’s industrial strategy in Europe, around several priority areas:

• supporting staff in the transition to 100% C3M;
• increasing the ultra-high-performance capacity up to 2 million casings per year;
• doubling the innovation capacity (industrialization of new casings).

Achieving these aims will be contingent on the site’s specific culture, that is characterized by positive and resolutely future-oriented social dialogue.

Source: Michelin