Boules or Pétanque is a popular sport across the whole of France. Since 1955, Obut has been producing the steel balls weighing around 700 g and enjoying a veritable cult in the country. Starting next summer, the company will produce the balls at its headquarters in Saint-Bonnet-Le-Château near Lyon on a 1300-tonne forging press from Farina.

“Schuler and Farina have been great in helping us find the equipment to meet our needs,” says Romain Souvignet, president of La Boule Obut, whose grandfather joined the company in 1958. “The new forging press impressed us not only with its high productivity, but also with the low energy requirements and high connectivity that our manufacturing needs.”

The starting material for the boule balls, which have a diameter of just over 70 mm, are steel rods sawn into sections, which a press first forms into discs and then into half shells. Obut welds the shells together, before machining and polishing to a mirror finish. On the company’s website, visitors can not only choose between different models made of stainless or carbon steel, but also mark them individually. Once the customer has clicked on ‘order’, the job goes straight into production.

The 1300-tonne Farina forging press replaces two lines with a press force of 600 and 800 tonnes respectively, which are becoming obsolete. The future line, which also includes a transfer and a furnace, will form a half shell every two seconds. This rapid throughput is necessary, because every month 200,000 balls leave the factory.
For further information www.schulergroup.com