The Périgord-based bag packaging specialist CETEC recently celebrated 50 years on the market. We are looking back over a half century and at the future prospects of one of the great French specialists of solutions in complete bag production.

A resolutely brilliant record

A family-run SME of 95 people based in the Dordogne, CETEC was founded by Jean-Claude Labrue 50 years ago. Later taken over by his nephew, the company has established itself as a French supplier of complete bagging lines. Initially specialising in bagging machines for pet food, CETEC soon expanded into different industries such as seeds, flour milling, construction materials or chemicals, producing bagging machines for containers ranging from 2 kg to 35 kg, depending on the fields of application.

With a single production site, in Périgueux, the company generates a turnover of €13 million a year, and nearly 40% of this comes from exports to wider Europe, Africa and the Americas: CETEC has now forecasted a turnover of €15 million balanced equally between France and exports by 2025, mainly thanks to the recent expansion of its factory by nearly 1,900 m² and the resulting productivity gain.

CETEC carries out most of its manufacturing in-house. This includes more than 80% of its sub-assembly work, whether it be sheet metal making, cutting, bending or painting. In addition to rapidly implementing innovations where needed, its integrated manufacturing is a guarantee of response, in terms of after-sales service and spare parts, without having to depend on any subcontractor or third-party service provider.

Concrete future plans, between paper and plastic

In uncertain circumstances due to the to-and-fro of market trends and legislation in favour (or against) the use of plastics or paper in packaging, CETEC prefers to play the in-between card and therefore not neglect anyone. From now on, the bagging machines that come out of its workshops are adapted to be equally suitable for plastic materials as well as for paper, as attested by the range of “Polyflex” machines, of which around fifteen are in operation in France.

Mathias Elie, sales manager for the France sector, explains: “Don’t go to the trouble of choosing between this or that technology, our machines can do it all. Either from the start or when upgrading. In this way, our customers no longer need to worry about changes in legislation and market trends.” This could prove to be a godsend, in other words, in this unstable context.

Thanks to this strategy, CETEC intends to benefit and allow its customers to benefit from the unlimited recyclability of plastic, and also from the many possibilities offered by paper. This choice gives the best of both worlds, and offers an extremely comfortable adaptability to potential future legislative changes.

Instead of developing new ranges of machines, CETEC has chosen to go forward with the pure and simple replacement of models that do not offer this adaptability from plastic to paper.

Device and machine upgrades

CETEC has also opted to upgrade older equipment when relevant and appropriate. As its machines become outdated, CETEC avoids de facto obsolescence by adopting a more sustainable system. The company therefore offers its customers a view into what it is possible to achieve in terms of improvement, transformation, or even modifications of specific parts on old machines, showing that these models are just as adaptable as recent ones.