VILLERS BRETONNEUX, FRANCE – 4B France, subsidiary of the 4B Group, a worldwide manufacturer of components for bucket elevators and conveyors and electronic monitoring equipment, has just celebrated the inauguration of its new facilities, a brand-new purpose-built office and warehouse complex, situated just 6km from the company’s old premises.

The new facilities and warehouse complex bring a lot of opportunities for 4B, as well as strengthening the group’s position in Europe after Brexit. “Due to Brexit, we have made this major investment in France to build a new facility to increase 4B France's activities and better support our customers in France and Europe”, explains the group’s chairman, Nicholas Braime. “90% of the 4B Group's sales are made through global exports and the European market remains very important.”

The new facility has been designed with the latest warehouse technology and high-level racking. The additional space and modern stock management system will significantly increase the company’s ability to fulfil more customer orders than ever before, reduce delivery times and improve the efficiency of order processing.

4B France, originally known as Setem, has a 30 year history within the 4B Braime Group of companies. The partnership started with a collaboration on the Starco elevator bucket, a design developed and patented by Jean Tripoteau, an ingenious technician at Setem, and subsequently manufactured on an industrial scale at the 4B Group’s headquarters in Leeds (UK). The Starco design of elevator bucket and the related technology first developed by SETEM was the first to fully exploit the advantages of centrifugal discharge in Bucket elevators when handling granular agricultural products such a cereals, allowing smoother handling of the product, with less dust, while dramatically increasing the capacity of the elevator; and it would change the way modern bucket elevators were built. Innovation remains key to the company’s success and 4B’s engineers continue to lead the way in the design of components for bulk material handling.

The 4B Group has been a pioneer of the material handling industry, and has been leading the field in elevator bucket and bolt design and manufacture. 4B supplies the highest quality forged chain and elevator belting and 4B’s electronic division specializes in level controls, electric sensors and safety control systems that prevent costly downtime and reduce the risks of explosions in hazardous areas.