Diversification into watch components

Founded in 2016 and based in the premises of Badeco SA downtown Geneva, Geneva Prod Sàrl manufactures high-precision components for watchmaking. The company produces watch crowns, push-pieces, tubes, pinions, arbors, watch hands and also components for the connecting industry, all on its Tornos turning centres.

In the La Jonction quarter in Geneva, the area has the Palladium with its concerts, festivals and other evening festivities unquestionably making it the mecca of Genevan nightlife. In the immediate vicinity of this highly symbolic place is a large building on the bank of the Rhône river that accommodates several companies. One such company is Geneva Prod Sàrl, the latest spin-off of Badeco SA.

Badeco SA was founded in 1945 with a focus on the manufacture of dental instruments. Since 1960, the company has been designing and manufacturing high-precision machines and equipment for the watchmaking and jewelry industries, especially hand-held power tools to perform machining operations such as drilling, polishing, grinding, chamfering, smoothing, deburring, filing and various other decoration tasks.  The components are designed, manufactured and assembled in-house. Taken over by Amir Hoveyda in 2009, this industry professional established an R&D department that marked the beginning of the new electronically controlled devices equipped with micro motors that can achieve speeds of 5000rpm.

Booming diversification
At the beginning of 2016, the management decided to diversify and establish a new business for the production of watch components. That's how Geneva Prod Sàrl started operations in August 2016, which went hand in hand with the appointment of Stéphane Menoni as Managing Director of the newly founded company. Stéphane Menoni exhibited profound skills in high-precision bar turning and had already made his career as a technical sales manager in a well-established company manufacturing watch components. He resolutely tackled the challenge and with eight employees, Geneva Prod develops and manufactures Badeco products. To face the challenges of production, the young company acquired two SwissNano CNC automatic lathes from Tornos.

When the available space is restricted
"We purchased these machines as soon as we started our activities. Right from the start, they have proved to be particularly flexible and precise while requiring minimum floor space," Stéphane Menoni declares. What was decisive, apart from the small footprint, was the flexibility of the SwissNano machines. "Some high-precision components are manufactured in large-scale production with lots ranging up to 25,000 parts, but it is also common practice to produce in small series or even perform one-off production. This means we can efficiently manufacture of prototypes or spare parts," asserts Stéphane Menoni.

He adds: "Since the space in our premises is restricted, we have installed the machines in an inverted position to gain additional space; this arrangement enables full access to the machining cell from the front." The machines are equipped with bar feeders and can be used for back machining as well as gear cutting operations.

Commissioning was quite easy, as Mr Stéphane Menoni affirms: "Just three days after the installation of the machines, the operator was fully familiar with machine set-up and operation. On the one hand, this was down to simplicity and on the other; it was the intuitive functions of the TISIS code editor. The latter is simply fantastic, since it allows program editing or transfer and tool selection as well as machining process monitoring."

Full flexibility in production
Geneva Prod's means of production comprises of conventional machine tools for the manufacture of the Badeco devices and accessories and an assembly/measurement department that is equipped with a camera-based dimensional inspection and measurement system. "The whole range of Badeco products is entirely designed, machined and assembled on the spot," Stéphane Menoni explains.

Apart from the two SwissNano machines having a bar capacity of 4mm, the new production sector comprises two other CNC automatic lathes, one of them being a Tornos Delta 20/5 with five axes and two spindles with a spindle bore of 20mm. These two machines are used more specifically to machine components of the Badeco range.

"From the very beginning, customers have placed their trust in us, so we could start our production in optimum conditions. We have a broad base of customers, be it major watchmakers, manufacturers of watch cases, independent watchmakers, watch repairers or watch designers. "We offer products such as assembled crowns, push-pieces and tubes, pinions, screws and arbors. All of them are micro parts that feature extreme surface finish and precision and that are made of materials such as stainless steel, titanium, nickel silver or precious metals," explains Stéphane Menoni.

The connecting business is another area. One of the specialties in this field is the production of parts made of beryllium bronze. A special production department for the manufacture of watch hands is based in Plan-les-Ouates. This field of activity represents almost one third of the turnover. Further diversification is being reviewed.