News & Innovation Powertage 2022

Challenges for the polymechanics

Thanks to their new equipment, which cannot be found anywhere else in French-speaking Switzerland, the Central Workshops are taking on new challenges, from machining a giant chandelier to making a special tank for cocoa!

As a result of the numerous technical challenges they regularly receive, our Central Workshops in Martigny have invested in a new 5-axis machining centre from Correa (milling + turning). In terms of its size and level of precision there is no other installation like it in French-speaking Switzerland. 

Three machines are now dedicated to large parts, which can weigh up to 20 tons:

  • CNC milling machine (max. diam. of 7m x 3m)
  • Vertical lathe (max. diam. of Ø 2.8m x height 2.5m)
  • Longitudinal lathe (max. diam. of Ø 0.8m x height 3m)

Thanks to these machines, Pierre-Yves Besse and Gilles Taramarcaz’s team will be able to continue to successfully meet demand, 40% of which now comes from sectors other than hydroelectricity, as in these recent assignments:

  • Interior plants / Machining of stainless steel half spheres with over 6000 holes for HBF-SA Metal System Solutions and its client, Photo Elysée (newly named Musée de l’Elysée).


  • Aluminium production / Machining of complex parts used in aluminium casting. Engineering by GAP Engineering SA for its client Constellium Singen (DE) who produces a wide range of products for the packaging, transport and automotive markets.


  • Railways / Manufacture of a clamping table for the mechanical workshop Jacquier & Luisier and its client Railtech, for bogie testing.


  • Food / Welding and machining of a special 3.5 metre long cocoa butter production tank for Meili Technology SA.


  • Cable transport / Repair of a ski lift pulley for the PomaGroup, world leader in its sector.