Based in Monswiller for almost a century, the Charles Bonnet & Fils company, which received a visit from the Bas-Rhin prefet Josiane Chevalier on Wednesday, November 22, is specialized in the production of wood drill bits. It is the only one in France, and one of two in Europe, to manufacture these drilling tools. 

The design of wood drill bits is a rare skill. In Monswiller, however, it is the specialty of the almost century-old company (read below) Charles Bonnet &Fils, located in the Weidmatt business park in Monswiller. It is also the only one in Europe, along with the Austrian company Eberhard, to produce them.

Enough to attract the attention of elected officials and representatives of the State, this Wednesday, November 22, since the places were visited, among others, by the prefet of Bas-Rhin Josiane Chevalier, the sub-prefet of Saverne Benoît Vidon, the mayor of the city William Picard, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Alsace Eurométropole Jean-Luc Eimburger.

“This type of visit is held three times a year” he said, the aim being to take the pulse of the economic players in a region. During the same day, the prefet also visited the premises of ITW Automotive in Ingwilller and Jus de fruits d’Alsace in Sarre-Union.

The Monswiller company is doing rather well, with a stable turnover, hovering around 1.8 million euros for many years, and even a peak of 2.5 million euros during the health crisis. Many individuals had indeed taken up DIY at that time, becoming particularly in demand for the equipment needed to drill wood.

A team of 14 employees

A godsend for Charles Bonet & Fils, which manufactures more than 3,000 references of these steel tools, even if only around fifty constitute 80% of its sales. The trend is also optimism for its director André ERTZSCHEID, who predicts a 10% increase in turnover next year. “Wood is the material of the future” he believes.

To achieve this, he can count on a team of fourteen employees, ten of them are in production. There are “old hands” with at least 15 years of experience, thirty-somethings and a few younger staff, even if, and the boss is aware of this, future recruitment will not be easy to achieve. The fact remains that each person is responsible for a stage of the drill bit production process: turning, milling, heat treatment, sharpening, etc. With, in the long term, the desire to increase the competencies of employees.

On the customer side, the company works mainly with European distributors for the timber frame and construction market, but it also has a major French buyer with the SNCF, which
needs such instruments for its railway sleepers.

In total, 300 tons of steel are used per year to shape 300,000 parts. “But we are thinking about the products of the future, we are looking for ways to improve the cycle” continues André Ertzscheid, who intends in particular to make the process more ecological by consuming less energy.

Almost a century of family management, then a director from outside

The company was officially created in April 1925 by Charles Bonnet. The premises were then located in the heart of the village, rue du Général Leclerc.

“That’s where he started working on drills” says the current director, André Ertzscheid. Little by little, the business developed, and a forge was built for this purpose in 1949. The mechanical workshop appeared almost ten years later, in 1958, under the control of Marcel, son of Charles Bonnet who took over the management of the company.

Since December 2022.

In 1984, Marcel’s son, Régis, took over and developed the company’s business, particularly concerning railway sleepers. He passed away at the beginning of the year at the age of 61, and in December 2022 he handed over the management to André Ertzscheid, who until then was the boss of a plastics manufacturing company in Niederbronn-Les-Bains. He is therefore the
first director of Charles Bonnet & Fils not to come from the family circle.