A tribute to Michel Granjon: 36 years the ‘body and soul’ of Richel Group
“If we had to compare a company to the human body, at Richel we would say that the factory is the heart, engineers are the brain, purchasing is the legs and logistics are the veins. Michel Granjon, the operations manager of the family group, has ensured the good health of this body for nearly 36 years,” the Richel team shares. “With courage and relentlessness, this motorsport enthusiast has always sought performance thanks to the teams that accompanied him. Michel is a discreet man who does not put himself forward. We wanted to put him in the spotlight and pay tribute to him on his retirement.”
Benjamin Richel & Michel Granjon
When Michel arrived in 1986, the Richel company had 50 employees and a few machines in a 2000m2 hangar. Today it employs 350 people in premises of 50,000m2 housing mostly automated and robotic machines.
Development of product range
Michel Granjon testified during his farewell party: “With the design office and purchasing, I had the pleasure of coordinating the development of a whole range of products that you know today: 0V90, 0V130, beam gutter, seamless cross, Multispan always wider and higher, Toutabri, Venlo… With the production, supply chain, and planning, I really enjoyed setting up the organization and industrialization of many processes: slitting, profiling, stamping, tube coating, confection TTa tarpaulins… All this was possible first of all by the trust and recognition that Christian Richel granted me during more than 30 years of collaboration; I would like to thank him as sincerely as possible”.
As a page in the history of the company is being turned, a new chapter is being written with the arrival of Stéphane Juville in June 2021, who benefited from Michel’s support for more than 8 months to take up this huge task.
Stéphane declares: “At 40, succeeding such a respected man is both a great honor and a heavy responsibility. What struck me the most when I arrived was the family atmosphere of the company. For an mid cap company of this size, I find that has a great ease of communication. I think the path taken deserves praise and we still have a lot of challenges ahead of us and Michel will continue to accompany us as a consultant. »
Christian Richel, former CEO of the group testifies: “Throughout his career, he was at the origin of the design of unique machines which today make the performance of our company. Huge worker, faithful, humble, pragmatic, ambitious, creative, tenacious, combative, humane, the list is long of the qualities of a man who embodied more than all the values of the Richel Group. Having this great builder by my side throughout these 35 years has been a blessing and a great comfort. Knowing that nothing is impossible when you have ambition and put your heart into it…. Thank you Michel!”
Last year, the Richel Group transformed more than 30,000 tons of steel in this plant to produce a total of 300 hectares of greenhouses in 90 countries. This galvanized steel may seem cold compared to the vegetables and flowers it houses. Know that the hearts of those who work on it are very warm!