François Duval appointed managing director of GF Machining Solutions SAS
August 13, 2020
GF Machining Solutions, a division of the Georg Fischer Group headquartered in Switzerland, appointed François Duval as managing director of GF Machining Solutions SAS based in Palaiseau Cedex, France, on July 6, 2020.
Duval has spent almost thirty years with the Fives Group, advancing to global executive roles over the course of his career. Additionally, he has twenty years of experience in the machine tool business, including six years as president of the French machine tool manufacturers and imports group within the Syndicat des Machines et Technologies de Production (SYMOP).
GF Machining Solutions states that Duval’s broad, international experience includes extensive travel in Russia, China, and Asia, as well as a period when he was based in Australia. Duval is a French citizen and is currently vice president of the European Association of Machine Tool Industries and related Manufacturing Technologies (CECIMO), representing France within CECIMO.
“There clearly is a market in France for GF Machining Solutions’ complete solutions,” stated François Duval. “With our broad technology portfolio, including Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM), Milling, Laser texturing and micromachining, Additive Manufacturing, Automation, Tooling, Software, and Digitalization solutions, combined with our expert application engineers, we can truly deliver turnkey solutions to customers in France.”
“Our ability to be a partner throughout the full life cycle of the customer’s GF Machining Solutions machine is a key differentiator in the French market and makes us a real source of strength to end-users,” he continued.
Duval added, “My message to the French market is: We are here to accompany you in your investment projects, but also to automate and digitalise those processes to provide you with a fully connected, automated manufacturing cell. At the same time, we bring you deep application expertise, and a full range of parts and services to maintain your machine, including full machine retrofits. I want our customers to make money with our solutions.”
Scott Fosdick, GF Machining Solutions Head of Sales and Marketing, confirms France is an important market—and one that he is confident will be well-served by Duval’s experience and customer-centric approach.
Fosdick commented, “François Duval brings with him vast experience within the machine tool industry. He is close to the market and well aware of the needs and expectations of the customers. We are fully confident in his abilities to elevate GF Machining Solutions France back to previous levels and then build further upon that.”
“The entire management team of GF Machining Solutions is here to support and to ensure the success of François Duval and the entire GF Machining Solutions France organization going forward,” Fosdick concluded.
