Mechanical engineering and metals in Hauts-de-France

Hauts-de-France’s SMEs work in synergy, boosting scope for growth and offering a range of industrial applications along with growth opportunities for new entrants.

Mechanical engineering and metals in Hauts-de-France

Hauts-de-France’s SMEs work in synergy, boosting scope for growth and offering a range of industrial applications along with growth opportunities for new entrants.

Fast facts: Metals and metalworking in Hauts-de-France

We have a long industrial history: Hauts-de-France was a cradle of the industrial revolution, and our mechanical engineering and metals sector is behind many milestones set over the years.

Today the region is home to a tightly-woven ecosystem of expert companies offering unrivalled opportunities for your business. Our SMEs work in synergy, boosting scope for growth and offering a range of industrial applications along with growth opportunities for new entrants.

  • 3,800 companies in the metals industry
  • 10% are major corporations with global reach
  • 90% of the metals ecosystem consists of SMEs
  • 139,000 metals industry jobs in the Hauts-de-France, with 50% in mechanical engineering

These leading companies chose Hauts-de-France

Major international corporations have recognized the advantages of joining our mechanical engineering and metals industry. Businesses already here include Rio Tinto Alcan, Moret Industries, ArcelorMittal, Poclain, Tata Steel, AGCO, Railtech, Dillinger, GIMA.

What Hauts-de-France can do for you

Our robust industrial ecosystem gives you easy access to a wide range of technological resources and expertise.

Close to customers

Hauts-de-France offers a major competitive edge: a high concentration of industrial players—including many customers—in automotive, rail, aeronautics and a host of other fields. Bottom line: doing business here gives you access to significant growth potential.

Easy recruitment

Hauts-de-France has the skills and the numbers you need for your business, in the long tradition of an industrial region where know-how is handed down from generation to generation.

Qualified workers are available here, and our labor pool is substantial, with nearly 50,000 jobseekers in industry. When you choose Hauts-de-France, you get access to the skills you need to sharpen your competitive edge and make your growth strategy successful.

Close-up: Promeo training programs

For 50 years Promeo has offered vocational training for technical and commercial workers in industry and in business services.

Promeo has:

  • 775 instructors/consultants
  • 450 permanent employees
  • 3,500 partner businesses

3 main focus areas:

  • Work-study programs from baccalaureate level to postgraduate engineering degrees
  • Continuing education for employees
  • Training for job applicants

And Promeo has a strong presence in key Hauts-de-France towns and cities—Amiens, Beauvais, Compiègne, Friville, Saint-Quentin, Senlis, Soissons.

Synergy with other companies in the industry

A genuine revolution is transforming the mechanical engineering and metals industry, as new techniques emerge and companies reorganize and reinvent their management structures. In this complex environment, you can count on the fast-moving, successful companies in Hauts-de-France and a supply chain that is easy to activate when you need it. In this community of versatile companies working together in synergy, you’re sure to find the solutions to your company’s challenges.

Specialized support from Cap’Industrie

Cap’Industrie is an economic development program dedicated to supporting Hauts-de-France metals companies and helping them grow. It can help you meet recruitment challenges, find the skills you need, and even get financing. Cap’Industrie has the funding you need to take action—from organizing job fairs to finding industrial sub-contractors with the right technical skills. It’s also well positioned to bring industrialists in the region together and help you forge ties with the right partners.

Cap’Industrie is a partnership of

  • the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI),
  • The Technical Center for Mechanical Industry (CETIM)
  • Federation of machine industries (FIM), and
  • Union of metal industries and professions (UIMM)

Close-up: CETIM—a pacesetter for innovation in mechanical engineering

CETIM is the Technical Center for Mechanical Industry—a powerful asset for your R&D projects. Based in Senlis, it monitors technology trends and shapes strategies for the sector as a whole.

Founded in 1965 at the urging of players in the mechanical engineering industry, CETIM provides the resources and skills that metals companies need, to help:

  • sharpen their competitive edge
  • boost efficiency
  • meet quality requirements
  • create and promote industry standards
  • forge ties between scientific research and industry
  • improve processes