The pure mountain company, Rossignol, has announced it will be bringing back manufacturing to the Alps after outsourcing fabrication of certain lines of skis to factories in Taiwan.
This decision came in the midst of a number of French businesses re-localising back onto home territories, following moves of operations to foreign countries caused widespread job-losses in the industrial sector. A Rossignol & Dynastar spokesperson said: "70% of the cost of manufacturing of skis is represented by the cost of materials, and 30% of the workforce", therefore the relocation of some of the production abroad represents only a slight advantage.
In a 'proactive investment' move the company will now be manufacturing a complete line of skis giving 20 workers full-time employment in the Mont Blanc based factory. The factory will also develop a workshop and test centre to develop small batches of specialist skis (think 'made for Mont Blanc' type equipment).
The factory is now the last of its kind in France after the shut-down of the last Salomon factory in 2009.
