Created in 1989, Fibers has just celebrated its 30 years of production and expertise serving Reunion wood artisans. Made up of wood engineers and technicians providing personalized advice to professionals and individuals, Fibers is today the benchmark industrial company in the Reunion wood industry., always guided by its original cooperative values.
Founded on the basis of a cooperative, Fibers Industries Bois celebrated its 30th anniversary on November 13. A little late due to health crisis. An abundant and lively birthday, although discreet because centered on the “community” Fibers : its teams (48 employees), its members, ses clients, its partners… More than 300 people in total were present. Fibers is not only a production and distribution company, offering around thirty wood species and panel manufacturer, laminates, portes, guardrails, etc. Its success has made it possible to structure and develop the Reunion wood industry., helping to raise it to the level of quality it enjoys today. Carpenters, roofers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, staircase manufacturers, fitters, construction companies, know what they owe to Fibers in terms of product quality, expertise and advice. Thirty years of continuous progress and the certainty of reliable supplies, meeting environmental requirements, adapted to the climate in tropical areas.
Innov Fibers 2020
In 2015, Fibers has embarked on an all-out modernization program (Innov Fibers 2020) who reconfigured it. The company has invested to expand, renew your equipment and take the digital shift. A 33,000 m2 covered storage space protects raw materials and processed products from bad weather. A new low-consumption dryer uses a solar hot water drying process unique in the world (25% electricity savings). Framing trimming is fully automated by a robot. A new autoclave, unique to Reunion, treats wood. The panel processing workshop is equipped with new machines. Fibers went from all paper to all digital in two years. Customer relations will soon be digitalized on 
the new website which displays the new identity of the company. Some additional figures to summarize Fibers today : 70 associated artisans; a clientele of 700 craftsmen and general building companies, i.e. almost the entire artisanal construction sector ; a market share varying from 25% to 35% depending on the wood species.
The Fibers community salutes a model
“A positive alchemy”, “a great human experience”, “a visionary side”, “the cooperative spirit”… In a film shot on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of Fibers, collaborators, members, customers express their vision of the company. “Fibers, it’s my second family” goes so far as to respond by a colleague. Answers that ring true. With professionalism and the development of multidisciplinary skills, this is the other success of Fibers : the bond of trust and loyalty which has continued to strengthen over the years, with the staff (employees hold 15% of the company's capital) and with the company's customers and partners (the cooperative spirit remains the guiding principle of the company). It is also this exemplary management that the participants at the anniversary evening of Fibers Industries Bois praised. And among them, we can cite the president of the Réunion Region, Huguette Bello, and the mayor of Saint-Paul, Emmanuel Seraphin. Fibers paid tribute to the financial assistance provided for its modernization by the Réunion Region, local manager of European funds.
THE BIG FIBER DATES
1989 : around thirty Reunion wood craftsmen create a cooperative to have a tool for drying and treating wood adapted to the climatic conditions of the island. Very quickly, the activity extends to the import and distribution of wood.
1997 : creation of Fibers Trading (became Fiber Industries Wood).
2000 : Fibers obtains CTB-B+ certification for its autoclave wood treatment station.
2001 : Fibers is the victim of a fire. Commercial activity continues, but industrial activity will only resume in 2003.
2008 : Fibres is the first timber materials trader certified ISO 14001-2004 (environmental management) in the meeting.
2011 : Fibers obtains FSC and PEFC certifications (sustainable forests). Creation of a panel transformation workshop.
2016 : opening of the self-service area and professional hardware.
2015-2020 : launch of the Fibers Innov 2020 industrial modernization plan.
2018 : launch of the digitalization of all sectors of activity with a view to streamlining information for customer service.
Three questions for David Bodelu, Managing Director of Fibers Industries Bois
Is the Fibers Innov 2020 modernization plan completed? ?
This plan was very largely carried out, more, while we were making it, new projects have appeared. In 2014, we took the decision of an industrial upheaval of our activity in order to make it much more productive. We were historically divided between two companies, with the original cooperative. During the construction crisis which lasted several years from 2008, this dual structure proved to be very cumbersome to manage. We have chosen to bring everything together on a single site., in Cambay, and we took the opportunity to modernize our entire production tool and digitize our activity. We are almost at the end of the program launched in 2015.
You are planning towards new goals ?
We indeed have other projects. We serve the wood industry. This is what has always guided us. We must always anticipate its needs in the next five to ten years and invest in this direction. We will also continue to cover our stocks of raw materials and processed products., because we have grown since 2015. Inventory hedging brings us several benefits. It greatly improves the quality of the wood. It therefore improves our environmental performance by significantly reducing wood waste.. Finally, it improves the working conditions of our employees who can work in the shadows.
Are you a stakeholder in the Cambaie ecocity project? ?
We would like to be. So that this city is fully ecological, we think that wood should occupy an important place. We have the industrial tool allowing it. We have remarkable examples, like this seven-story Bordeaux building built entirely out of wood. We discuss with decision-makers so that they take into account the benefits that wood can have. I remind you that it is the only material that stores carbon instead of producing it when it is transformed.. A huge asset. Without forgetting the other acoustic aspects, isolation, comfort of life. As for environmental protection, at Fibers, we have not waited for the last ten or fifteen years to take this into account : all our sources of supply are selected according to this criterion.
