French Explorers’ Words share French entrepreneurs’ keys of success to explore the world, but also their challenges abroad and how they manage to export outside French frontiers. Today’s guest is Fabrice Val-Duprez, CEO of Cuir Corrugated Machinery, manufacturing for printing and cutting corrugated cardboard.

Graduated from the Institute of Industrial art and design, Marcel Cuir founded Cuir Corrugated Machinery in 1932, which is now a pure player of French industrial design. Based in the historical Northern area of Lille, the company offers a large variety of corrugated board equipment.

 

French innovative expertise, a worldwide recognition

Designed and produced by highly skilled experts, Cuir Corrugated Machinery proposes a genuine 100% Made in France expertise that perpetuates an almost century-old tradition of quality that attracts worldwide customers since 1970. Mainly present in the western world (large Europe and the Americas), the company never stopped improving its technological intelligence. It combines both mechanical and electronic upgrades to fit Fabien Val-Duprez to promote French strong innovations through all continents.

Today, over thirty countries benefit from the robustness of these machines, which met a renewed era of development in 2015, after a pause of 9 years of production. As French savoir-faire proved to be worth the deal, a British customer happened to order a series of machines twice, in 2016 and a second time in 2019.

 

A solid and diversified support by Bpifrance

An international expansion requiring strong financial assets, Fabien Val-Duprez did not hesitate to activate two main adequate products: “the exchange risk insurance enables us to quote for our client in their own currency. And since we work a lot in dollars, Bpifrance covers the exchange rate when we edit the quote, very early on in the process, so we don’t worry about the risk anymore.”

Moreover, Cuir Corrugated Machinery also benefits from the Investment bank’s ability to fix export loan, guaranteeing their bank, in the process of enhancing their equipment park: “Bpifrance support gives us the necessary funds to manufacture of our machines.”

All in all, both solutions keep encouraging the entrepreneur to limit its risks while expanding Cuir Corrugated Machinery’s added value material.

 

Discover Val-Duprez’s experience abroad here: