Over 70 years of history

The development of the first hole bars

In 1952, Jacques Ory created Forécreu in Malicorne (Allier). He set up a unique industrial process to transform metals and manufacture steel hole bars. The range kept expanding, with materials, grades and geometries ever closer to customers’ needs. In 1975, the company moved to Commentry (Allier). In 1986, Forécreu decided to take advantage of the innovative processes it had developed to enter the medical market. This strategic choice paid off in 1998 with the creation of the VBM subsidiary, dedicated to the manufacture of orthopedic polymers. In 2003, the company built a new plant in Malicorne to meet ever-increasing demand.

Manufacturing process control

By 1964, Forécreu had mastered the entire steel bar machining chain (extrusion, drawing, twisting) to meet industrial demand. In 1994, the first cannulated bars from titanium alloys were manufactured at the Malicorne plant. The plant was first expanded in 2006 to accommodate a 1500 T extrusion press. A new building was also added the following year to integrate a hot extrusion press. Finally, in 2018, Forécreu added a rolling line to save production time and increase production capacity.

A global presence

Forécreu soon turned its attention to international markets. The commercial success of the hole bars and their reliability enabled the company to gain recognition and start exporting its products in 1966, first to Europe and then to the rest of the world. Today, our hole bars are exported to more than 50 countries.

The desire to stay close to its customers and their issues encouraged Forécreu to set up its first foreign subsidiary in 1998: in Tokyo, Japan. Over the next two years, Forécreu set up operations in Chicago, USA and Frankfurt, Germany. More recently, in 2012, the company set up a subsidiary in Changzhou, China.