a strategy of international conquest, accompanied by a strong capacity for investment.
The Joubert Group :
As a multifunctional material, plywood can be used everywhere! Whether in interior or exterior use, or for structure or fittings, it is light, manageable, resistant and it restores all the properties of wood. The international plywood market has among its main actors a French manufacturer, born from an industrial family history which began in the 30s : the Joubert Group. Co-leader on the French market for Okoume plywood and second on the European market, the Joubert Group is the heir of a tradition of quality. It pays great attention to the production of its plywood : a constant preoccupation, proven by the numerous labels and certificates that the Joubert plywood panels have! The industrial company in Charente also stands out thanks to its environmental voluntarist policy, embodied in each stage of the production process: preservation of the natural resources with a guarantee of the wood supply (they all come from European or managed tropical forests), management of the production sites and the production process (in collaboration with the forestry partners) aiming to ensure the tracability of the products... The Joubert Group also rises up to the challenge of ecocertification : a step in line with its inherent commitment, initiated well before the notion of "durable development" started appearing on the media scene. With 370 employees, a turnover of 50 million euros, an annual production capacity of 70.000 m3, on 3 different sites, the Joubert Group has won renown through its reactivity, its innovative spirit and its financing capacity. Proof, the latest investment of 2.300.000 Euros, made in 2006, was for a press guaranteeing optimal working conditions and a significant improvement in the production capacity. While the Joubert Paint (a plywood panel covered with a white melamine film, ready to be painted) has already become a reference in Holland, the Joubert Primed (an acrylic painted panel) is on the way to seducing the most demanding markets!
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Joubert
Press release / may 2007
on ligne: www.n-schilling.com
A family trend for quality
The industrial Joubert story began in the 1930s, in the small town of Auge St Médard, near Rouillac in Charente (16). André Joubert, a young farmer, decided to create a sawmill, in order to repair the rooves on his farm himself.... Did he have any idea what would come of this wonderful initiative? All types of jobs then followed little by little, André Joubert's reputation grew until he had become the local supplier for the villagers. The requests multiplied and André Joubert started to build on the land around the farm, for a real forestry undertaking. Specialised in sawing and peeling poplar, there was quick demand from regional wood transformers.... In 1966, Guy Joubert took over his father's business and developed the peeling side of things : making the most of the abundance of poplar in Charente, Joubert was actively participating in the economic dynamism of the region by creating a good number of jobs. Besides the easy supply of poplar trees, the Joubert Group also had another major advantage : it's closeness to the port of La Pallice at La Rochelle, the main European port for the importation of logs, situated right in the middle of Charente Maritime (17). The Joubert Group was able to supply itself with tropical wood species. A geographical opportunity which, together with the amazing Joubert "savoir faire" in log peeling, enabled Joubert, as of 1972, to launch itself into the production of plywood panels.
JP Villéger, Sales & Markezting Director - Thierry Joubert, President.
A tropical wood species particularly interested the Joubert family : Okoume, imported into Europe since 1899. Very tender and light, a quite dark salmon pink colour, it has exceptional transformation and longevity qualities. Ideal for the production of plywood panels, it is equally made up of inner and/ or outer veneers (crossed veneers). With nearly all of the global production of Okoume coming from Gabon, the company installed a wood peeling mill in 2000, in partnership with the forester CBG (Compagnie du Bois du Gabon). The unit at Port Gentil today produces 40% of the Okoume supplying the Joubert mills. These new "productions" brought about clear success and in 1992 the Holding Etablissements Guy Joubert SA was set up, created following the acquisition, 2 years earlier, of a second production unit established in Saint-Jean d'Angely (17). Thierry Joubert, the President, today manages the family group whose offices have been set up in André Joubert's old renovated farm at Auge St Medard (16) on "Les Eliots" site.
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The exceptional qualities and the longevity of Okoume wood enabled the Joubert Group to conceive the plywood panels that are today renowned on the international market.
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High performance mills and international renown.
The two French production units of the Joubert group (established on 270.000 m2 of land of which 58.000m2 is production surface), together with the CPBG (Compagnie des placages des bois du Gabon) in central Africa, have an exceptional production capacity : 70.000 m3 per year (compared with only 5.800 in 1981!) for a turnover of 50 million euros. To meet the changing demands of the market and to assure its position of 2nd European manufacturer of Okoume plywood, the Joubert group does not hesitate to invest in its production tools with a machine depot always more and more modern and high performance. For instance, in 2006, Joubert improved, on the Rouillac site (16), the painting line for the production of the Joubert Primed panels, semi-finished and pre-painted : a quality improvment at a cost of 300.000 euros. Each year, the Joubert group invests more than 3 millions euros to keep up an excellent standard of technology, to ensure the training of its employees and to modernize the transformation processes in all its mills : as an example, at the beginning of 2006, the sprinkler system on the two French sites which cost 1.500.000 euros. Still in 2006, the site at St Jean d'Angèly (17) was equipped with a line with a new rapid cycle press of 20 levels, for the production of panels measuring up to 250 x 153 cm, a "productivity" investment costing 2.300.000 euros! Always innovative and creative, the Research and Development department anticipates the changes in the market and adapts to the required needs, often very specific, as with the pre-painted Joubert Primed plywood, for the Dutch market. It is also thanks to the efforts of this Research and Development department that the Joubert Group has obtained national and international renown. A spirit of "conquest" also illustrated by the proactive communication policy of the Joubert group : a dynamic marketing and a commercial policy with tool destined for architects and sales deciders, update of the website news...
The site at St Jean d'Angély
The St Jean D'Angély site, acquired by the Joubert group in 1990, occupies 110.000 m2 in the heart of the Charente-Maritime (17), in a regional environment particularly favourable for supplies. An exceptional geographical location enabling the mill to obtain for raw materials not only through numerous local producers, historically linked to the economic and social dynamism of the region, but also in the African countries, where the tropical species, in abundance and of good quality, are commercialized at competitive prices. The mill at St Jean D'Angély boasts a large production surface of 24.500 m2 : 2.000 m2 are allocated for stocking the finished products. Thanks to machines that are competitive and high performance, the Joubert group benefits here from a top of the production tool, from where its whole range of plywood, which conform to the most strict international norms come from each year.
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The latest investment of the Joubert group in 2006, was the 20 level press, with hydraulic piloting regulating the thickness of the plywood and with a pressure of 18 bars and a temperature of 130° C. This investment of 2.300.000 euros improves even further the work conditions of the employees and the productivity of the site : each team now manages about 25 m3 instead of 18 m3 per day, increasing the total annual production by 5.000 m3.
The mill at St Jean D'Angély has impressive "human and technical means" : · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 119 employees 2 log depots 4 steamers for tropical species, of 200 m3 capacity each 6 sorting teams 3 peeling lines 3 dryers with heat atmosphere control 1 rolling bridge 5 jointing machines 2 pasting lines 1 calibrating and sanding machine 1 finishing line with a capacity of 15 panels per minute 4 wood grinders 9 forklifts from 4 to 12 tons 3 loaders from 15 to 35 tons
the new rapid cycle high performance RAUTE press which enables, to produce panels measuring up to 250 x 153 cm. This consequent investment (2.300.000 euros) improves both the working conditions of the employees and the annual production capacity of the mill at St Jean d'Angèly, which has increased from 150 m3 to 170 m3 per day, that is to say 5.000m3 more per year.
The Joubert plywood : the search for excellence, testified by international certificates.
The Joubert group knows how to make the most of the mechanical and aesthetical properties of the selected wood species : okoume, sapelli, poplar, igaganga......Monitored at each stage of their transformation  by the selecting of veneers, pasting, pressing, sanding  the Joubert plywood panels are certified by the most demanding international norms : the regulation CE S (validated by the Centre Technique du Bois et de l'Ameublement) certifies their conformity as regards the norm EN 13986 (relating to panels intended for construction use) and the quality stamp NF-EXTERIEUR CTB-X 44 and 48 guarantees that they are perfectly adapted to exterior use. Another proof of quality : the Joubert plywood panels correspond both to the Dutch norms KOMO Productcertificaat n° 32621/95 and n° 32622/95, controlled by the SKH (Stichting Keuringsbureau Hout) laboratories and the British specification BS 1088 Lloyd's Register for the panels intended for nautical construction. The Joubert offer, diversified and innovative, includes 5 large families : Joubert Classic, Joubert First, Joubert Expression, Joubert Marine and Joubert Force. In total, there are no less than 13 different references, adapted to every need and to the multiple uses for the Joubert plywood. The Joubert Classic range includes firstly Okouplex adapted to all the requirements of fittings, decoration and joinery.
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