France

Winoa Group: history, strategy & governance

Who we are

Winoa group

Winoa group is the World leader in the manufacture of steel abrasives and surface treatment tools and services.

 

We distinguish ourselves by providing added value and innovative product ranges, using sustainable solutions and unique technical assistance, tailor-made to meet the specifics of our customers for their main shot-blasting, peening and cutting operations, and all this since 1961.

Winoa group

A global footprint for better customer proximity

120
Coutries covered by our sales
10000
Customers
800
Employees
8
Plants all over the world

Discover our steel abrasives range here

History

Discover our story

How it started

Deep in the Grésivaudan valley in France, a region with a rich steelwork history, two  industrial  groups  –  one  French; the Société des Hauts Fourneaux & Forges d’Allevard,  the  other  American, Bell Intercorp Group  –  created  Wheelabrator Allevard in 1961 to combine their expertise.

A joint venture that aims to introduce steel shot blasting to the European market: a new and revolutionary technique for grit removal and descaling operations in foundries and forges. 

Development

Some 60 years later, we have achieved global leadership in this core business thanks to strong internal dynamics and to an active acquisition policy.

In the 80s, we underwent strong development with significant acquisitions in the UK, Italy, Canada and the USA. This development continued in the 90s, to the Czech Republic, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, South Africa, Brazil and in Asia (China, Thailand and Japan). For the company’s 50th birthday in June 2011, Wheelabrator Allevard was renamed Winoa. 

Shaping the future... together...

Our philosophy is deeply rooted in customer service, product quality, and performance through innovation. 

Through the past decades, we innovated, adapted to the market and environment and at times, had to think outside of the box… but from the very beginning until today, one thing has never changed: our ambition is to always exceed our customer’s expectations all over the world. This ambition is what leads us today to move forward, to evolve from an abrasives’ manufacturer to a global services provider through the development of our brands.

Download "Wheelabrator Allevard to Winoa" historical book here

Our brands

our services

Winoa

W Abrasives

Complete line of abrasives media developed to provide the best adapted solution, based on the existing International Standards.

W Care Logo

W Care

Dedicated to guide each customer to improve their use of steel abrasives and overall blasting process through a large range of services

Winoa

W Tech

Enlarged offer to meet all customer’s needs, including complementary tools and technologies dedicated to analyze and improve blasting process and results.

IKK Shot logo

IKK SHOT

Japanese brand specialized in shots, gritsAMS products and “Dummy Balls” used as conductive media to electroplate chip parts such as chip capacitors, chip resistors, etc.

Strategy

Winoa Strategy

The group’s new strategic plan, Agenda 2025, is based on 3 main axes:

  • Providing the customer with a global solution,
  • Developing sustainability by promoting the circular economy with the ambition of moving to carbon neutrality and
  • Digitizing management and economic model.

Digitization has already taken root, notably with the launch of 4 e-commerce sites lately, in Italy, Brazil, Thailand and Mexico.

This roadmap aims to ensure the sustainability of Winoa and, to all the players in this industry, a future that is as least as long and fruitful as the previous years.  

Learn more about our carbon neutrality plan

About Us

Our vision

Winoa vision

“Being the leading partner for our distinguished clients with Innovative and Eco-friendly surface preparation products, solutions and services.

  • Zero CO2
  • Commercial Excellence
  • Extraordinary Growth
  • Full Digitalization
Winoa group

It is in our hands, with the love for our company, passion to serve our clients, dedication to execute promises and the fantasy to dream further.

From our hometown in Le Cheylas, now to a global leader in abrasive products was the story of the last 60 years.

Now building on that base of product leadership and, emerging into a sustainable technology leader in surface treatment, is our vision for the next years.

Our mission

Winoa mission

Preparing tommorow’s surfaces

  • We support and guide our customers in optimizing their processes  
  • We ensure an engaging and high-performance work culture in which our employees grow and “give the best of themselves“ 
  • We deploy investment in sustainability, advanced technologies and digital 
  • We drive growth in relevant economies and manufacturing  sectors through Merger & Acquisition and joint-venture“ 
  • We establish an attractive environment for investors and stakeholders.
We are Winoa

Meet Our Excecutive Board

Ramesh Krishnan

Ramesh Krishnan

CEO & Chairman

Ramesh Krishnan

CEO & Chairman

Ramesh Krishnan has 28 years of professional service, and there-of 20 years of successful CEO roles, in corporate and Private Equity Assets. He served in additional governance roles internationally . Ramesh has built his career on European Manufacturing Assets (with global operations) in special situations and rapid transformations. He has a strong track record of global M&As to his list. His career stints include listed firms and hidden champions. Ramesh is an Engineer by trade (Dipl.Ing., TU Karlsruhe, Germany), gaining executive education in LBS (London) and Insead(Fontainebleau), is 51 years old and lives in Munich Germany, cherishes Astronomy and Guitar as hobbies, and focuses on Industry 4.0 & AI for future investments. 

Louis Bienfait

Louis Bienfait

Chief Financial Officer - CFO

Louis Bienfait

Chief Financial Officer - CFO

Louis Bienfait is member of Advisory Board “Elastikos”.

Louis joined the Winoa Group as Chief Financial Officer in February 2019.

After starting in audit during 3 years, Louis Bienfait worked 9 years in management consulting.

With subsequently more than 20 years experience as CFO, Louis has international expertise in the fields of engineering, distribution, coatings, chemicals, manufacturing and services industries (Akzo Nobel, Stahl, Fabory, … )

Louis has a strong track record as deal maker both on buy and sell side M&A; and corporate finance (debt restructuring, recapitalization).

Louis holds a master degree of economics and a bachelor degree of fiscal law from the University of Amsterdam.

Thierry Fradin

Chief Sales Officer - CSO

Thierry Fradin

Chief Sales Officer - CSO

Thierry Fradin joined the Winoa Group in November 2018 as Sales & Marketing Director. A graduate of ESSEC, Thierry Fradin also has significant experience in the industry. He worked for 20 years at Kerneos, the world leader in calcium aluminates, successively as director of the Asia-Pacific zone, director of the refractory BU and recently as vice-president of sales and marketing of the group. 

Christophe Bertoncelli

Chief Operational Officer - COO

Christophe Bertoncelli

Chief Operational Officer - COO

Christophe Bertoncelli has been Vice President in charge of Winoa’s industrial operations since January 2014.

He started his professional career in materials engineering at IRSID (now Arcelor Mittal) before occupying various senior positions at Thomson Tubes & Displays, including assignments in the USA & Poland.

Christophe graduated in Industrial Engineering from Arts & Métiers Paris Tech. and also holds a Master’s degree from the Ecole des Mines, Paris.

Mickaël Denizot

Chief Delivery Officer - CDO

Mickaël Denizot

Chief Delivery Officer - CDO

Michaël Denizot joined Winoa in March 2015 as Chief Procurement Officer. Michaël brings 20 years of experience in the electronics and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning) industries.

He started his career as a Commodity Manager and has taken on increasing responsibilities in Purchasing, Supply Chain and Design to Cost Program Management. In his last assignment, Michaël led the purchasing rganization at Carrier EMEA, part of the United Technologies Corporation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in International Procurement Management from Strasbourg University.

Olivier Tuech

CEO Region ASIA

Olivier Tuech

CEO Region ASIA

Olivier Tuech has worked for more that 20 years in the Winoa group, starting as Production Manager in France, before moving to several assignments in North America and then Asia, where he has been Asia Zone CEO for 10 years. Olivier holds an engineering degree in Materials Science from the ISIM university (now Polytech Montpellier). 

Bill Cousineau

CEO Region AMERICAS

Bill Cousineau

CEO Region AMERICAS

Bill joined the Winoa Group in July 2021 as Chief Executive Officer of Americas Region.

He acquired an extensive experience within the refractory industry during the 32-year successful career at Vesuvius. From construction business, to manufacturing to sales management, he held several GM, VP and Business Unit Director responsibilities across Vesuvius global company mainly in Canada, Asia Pacific and in the US.

More recently he was Vice President-NAFTA Advanced Refractories based in Pittsburgh – USA.

Falko Schmidt

CEO Region EUROPE

Falko Schmidt

CEO Region EUROPE

Falko Graduated in telecommunications engineering (Osnabrück – Germany & Edinburgh Scotland), he has acquired 20 years of experience in very diverse industries, from telecom to maritime as well as automotive mainly in Europe and Asia in program directions as well as business management. Before joining, he was Regional CEO for APAC with main focus on China market within R&M; Group. He previously worked for Harman/Neusoft and Vodafone. 

Michel Quéré

Chief Information and Digital Officer

Michel Quéré

Chief Information and Digital Officer

Michel has over 30 years of experience in IT management and innovation, in the metallurgy sector (Pechiney which became Alcan then Rio Tinto) and the logistics sector as the CIO for Groupe Charles André. Michel has managed all aspects of IT, including infrastructure, applications, third party management, ERP deployment and innovation projects. 

Cécile Deixonne

Chief Human Ressources Officer

Cécile Deixonne

Chief Human Ressources Officer

Cécile comes with a strong international experience as HR Director within industrial Groups such as Addev Materials, Assa Abloy & Tyco Healthcare (France), Intermas (Spain) and Limagrain (France & USA). She has a strong experience in mergers & acquisitions, change management, learning & development and performance management systems. 

More about us

We hope you found everything you needed on our website. If you ever need more information, please contact us.

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