What CMD Gears does

CMD Gears (Compagnie Engrenages et Réducteurs Messian Durand) is a French manufacturer specializing in high-torque, low-speed mechanical power transmission equipment for heavy industry. Founded in 1901 by André Citroën and currently operating as a subsidiary of the privately-owned Groupe CIF (acquired in 2005), the company designs and produces custom parallel shaft, planetary, and wheel-and-worm gearboxes under brands including ERmaster, ERmill, Bogiflex, Millrex, Jumborex, Rollerex, Canemaster, Caneflex, and Jumboflex, with torque ratings reaching 4 million Nm. The product portfolio also covers flexible steel couplings (Flexacier, Flexident), plain bearings (ALC Bearings), large-diameter crowns and pinions using patented FerryNod cast iron, and precision compressor rotors and screws, supported by services spanning spare parts, repair and renovation, on-site installation and maintenance by a 30+ technician field service network, and subcontracting gear grinding and 3D measurement.

The company operates two production sites in France (Cambrai and Fourchambault), employing nearly 400 staff including 50 engineers, with commercial and technical presence in 50+ countries via regional subsidiaries in Germany, India, Chile, and North America. Revenue mix is roughly 70% export-driven, served through enterprise field sales with custom engineering quotes and direct account management across nine primary verticals: mining, cement, sugar, energy, steel, chemicals, rubber, infrastructure, and environment. The business model is project-based custom equipment sales complemented by recurring spare parts and lifecycle services, with pricing determined per quote rather than published. Certifications include ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, and 50001 (via LRQA), and an EcoVadis Silver Medal placing the company in the top 25% of rated firms for sustainability. CIF Group, the parent, employs over 1,500 people across its subsidiaries.

CMD's competitive position rests on 120+ years of heritage, proprietary technologies (Bogiflex floating drive, FerryNod cast iron, KGD kiln gear drive), ownership of Europe's largest gear grinding machine (P6650G, 6.5m diameter, 50-ton capacity), and integration with sister companies within CIF Group covering crowns/pinions (Ferry-Capitain), bearings (ALC Bearings/Ateliers Roche), and couplings (CMD Couplings). Specific revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, though the company references 2023 turnover in millions of euros on its homepage.

Name

CMD Gears

Legal name

Compagnie Engrenages et Réducteurs Messian Durand

Website

https://cmdgears.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1901

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

CMD Gears is a French manufacturer of high-torque, low-speed mechanical power transmission equipment (gearboxes, couplings, bearings, and large crowns/pinions) for heavy industry verticals including mining, cement, sugar, energy, steel, chemicals, rubber, and environment, operating as a subsidiary of privately-owned Groupe CIF since 2005.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambrai

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Gearbox and Reducer Sales: Design, production, and sale of custom mechanical power transmission equipment including parallel shaft gearboxes, planetary gearboxes, and worm gearboxes. Solutions tailored to specific customer requirements for heavy industrial applications.
2. Spare Parts and Replacement Components: Supply of quality spare parts for original CMD gearboxes and couplings, as well as gears of any brand manufactured to CMD quality standards
3. Repair and Renovation Services: Expertise and workshop repairs for gearboxes, pinions, couplings and other mechanical transmission parts of all brands, including diagnostics, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle testing, and large-scale test benches
4. On-Site Installation and Maintenance: Global on-site services including installation, commissioning, inspection, diagnosis, and periodic maintenance. Turnkey solutions for industrial sites worldwide.
5. Subcontracting Precision Manufacturing: Precision gear grinding and 3D measurement services for external customers including rotor and compressor screw manufacturing

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CMD Gears designs, produces, installs, and maintains high-torque, low-speed mechanical power transmission equipment for heavy industrial applications. The portfolio spans parallel-shaft gearboxes, epicyclic (planetary) gearboxes, wheel-and-worm gear reducers, flexible steel couplings, plain bearings, large-dimension crowns and pinions, and precision screw compressor rotors, complemented by spare parts, repair and renovation, on-site intervention, and subcontracting gear grinding services.

Product overview

CMD Gears is a French manufacturer of mechanical power transmission equipment specializing in high-torque, low-speed transmission systems. The product portfolio includes three main gearbox families: parallel shaft gearboxes (ERmaster, ERmill, ERflotation, Haflex, Millrex, Jumborex, Bogiflex, KGD), epicyclic gearboxes (Rollerex, ERsun, Canemaster, Caneflex), and wheel & worm gearboxes (Jumboflex, standard Réducteurs Roues & Vis, Couple Roues & Vis). The company also produces couplings under the Flexident and Flexacier brands, ALC Bearings plain bearings, and large dimension crowns and pinions through Ferry-Capitain. Supporting the product lines are services including spare parts supply, repair & renovation, on-site interventions, and precision subcontracting with gear grinding and 3D measurement capabilities. The products serve major industrial sectors including mining, cement, sugar, rubber, energy, steel, chemicals, infrastructure, and environment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ERmaster: Standard parallel shaft gear reducers for various industrial applications with torque ranges from 10,000 Nm to 1 million Nm
• ERmill
• ERflotation
• Haflex
• Millrex
• Jumborex
• Bogiflex
• Bogiflex KGD
• Caneflex
• Canemaster
• ERsun
• Rollerex
• Jumboflex
• Flexident
• Flexacier

Products and services

• ERmaster Parallel Shaft Gearbox Standard parallel shaft gearbox range with 1 to 4 reduction stages, torque from 10,000 Nm to 1,000,000 Nm and reduction ratios up to 500, for general heavy industrial applications.
• ERmill Gearbox Gear reducer designed to eliminate couplings and drive train extensions by integrating the drive pinion and bearings into the reducer, with welded steel housing, for mill applications.
• ERflotation Vertical Gearbox Vertical axis gearbox developed for flotation, agitation, and mixer applications primarily in mining and environmental industries, available in 5 sizes up to 520 kW.
• Haflex Gearbox Compact split-torque (couple-split) parallel shaft gearbox with floating or fixed machine shaft mounting options, supporting torque up to 3,500 kNm and reduction ratios up to 10,000.
• Millrex Split-Torque Gearbox Split-torque gearbox designed for lateral (side) drive of cement and raw meal grinders, with cemented, hardened and ground gearing rated for 100,000-hour gear and bearing life.
• Jumborex Coaxial Split-Torque Gearbox Split-torque coaxial parallel shaft gearbox with 3 reduction stages for central drive of cement and raw meal mills, power from 1,500 kW to 6,500 kW.
• Bogiflex Floating Gearbox Split-torque floating gearbox that connects directly to the machine shaft without coupling, with self-aligning capability for cement kilns, sugar mills, steel, and special applications.
• KGD Kiln Gear Drive Bogiflex-based Kiln Gear Drive designed to drive cement or mineralurgy kilns, with floating and self-aligning capabilities to accommodate kiln shell movements and deformations.
• Rollerex Vertical Roller Mill Gearbox Gearbox range for driving vertical roller mills in cement, raw meal and coal applications, with power from 150 kW to 3,500 kW and torque from 35 kNm to 1,500 kNm.
• ERsun Planetary Gearbox Planetary (epicyclic) gearbox range for heavy industry applications including the sugar industry, with reduction ratios from 40/1 to 2,500/1 and torque from 130,000 Nm to 4,000,000 Nm.
• Canemaster Cane Crushing Gearbox Gearbox specifically designed for sugar cane crushing, covering power range 400 kW to 2,500 kW with input speed 600-1,800 rpm and output speed 3-7 rpm.
• Caneflex Cane Crushing Gearbox Gearbox specifically designed for sugar cane crushing, covering power range 700 kW to 2,500 kW with input speed 600-1,800 rpm and output speed 3-7 rpm.
• Jumboflex Roues & Vis Worm Gearbox Wheel and worm gearbox available in 8 sizes, usable as reducer or multiplier, mass from 2.5 to 20 tonnes, bore from 200 mm to 450 mm, reduction ratio between 7.5 and 60.
• Réducteurs Roues & Vis Standard wheel and worm gear reducers with hollow or conventional output shaft, diameter 70 to 180 mm, reduction ratio between 5 and 60, mass from 130 kg to 2 tonnes.
• Couple Roues & Vis Bare wheel and worm pairs supplied for replacement applications, available with center distance 40 to 1,400 mm and module 2 to 40.
• Flexident Flexible Steel Couplings Steel flexible couplings with curved gear teeth including Flexident Senior (ultra-compact), Junior (700 Nm to 41,500 Nm) and Z (conforming to French steel standard).
• Flexacier Flexible Steel Couplings Steel flexible couplings including Flexacier 9000 (950 Nm to 26,500 Nm), Flexacier T elastic spring coupling (90 Nm to 800 kNm), and Flexacier TAC for corrosive environments.
• ALC Bearings (Paliers) Plain bearings with spherical-mounted bushings developed by Ateliers Roche (Groupe CIF), suitable for mill or furnace drive controls in extractive and chemical industries.
• Couronnes (Large-Dimension Crowns and Pinions) Large-dimension steel and cast iron crowns and pinions designed and manufactured by Ferry-Capitain (Groupe CIF), including the patented FerryNod cast iron grade, with more than 2,200 steel and 1,100 cast iron crowns produced.
• Rotors (Screw Compressor Rotors and Hydraulic Pump Screws) Precision-thread-machined and ground screw compressor rotors and hydraulic pump screws produced in a temperature-regulated 1,000 m² facility at the Fourchambault site since 2012.
• Spare Parts (Pièces de Rechange) Quality spare parts for CMD gearboxes (ER series, Messian, Durand, Duravis) and CMD couplings (Flexacier, Flexident), including gears, bearings, couplings, accessories and instrumentation for original CMD and competitor-branded equipment.
• Repair & Renovation Workshop-based expertise, diagnostics and repairs for gearboxes, pinions, couplings and other mechanical transmission parts of all brands, with ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle testing, vibration measurement, and large-scale test benches.
• On-Site Interventions Installation, commissioning, inspection, diagnosis and periodic maintenance services including alignment, coupling and gearbox expertise, lubrication system maintenance, and vibration analysis, performed by more than 30 qualified technicians worldwide.
• Subcontracting (Precision Gear Grinding and 3D Measurement) Subcontracting precision gear grinding using the P6650G machine (6.5 m diameter, 50-tonne capacity) and three-dimensional measurement using the LEITZ 3D PMM-G 50.40.30 machine, available to external customers including rotor and compressor screw manufacturers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100,000 hours gearbox gear lifespan rated to ISO 281 standards
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• LRQAcoreOthersLRQA provides certification services for CMD's Integrated Management System covering ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ISO 50001 standards. Multi-site Group CIF certification strengthens CIF Group's position as a key player in precision mechanics.
• Ferry-CapitaincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFerry-Capitain, another CIF Group company, designs and manufactures large-dimension crowns and pinions. CMD collaborates with Ferry-Capitain for complete solutions including diagnostic, site surveys, load capacity calculations, product design, manufacturing, and on-site assembly of large gears and crowns.
• ALC Bearings (Ateliers Roche)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerALC Bearings brand from Ateliers Roche (CIF Group subsidiary) provides bearing products for CMD equipment. Products include bearing pads, hydrodynamic/hydrostatic pads, and mill stand bearings adapted for mining and sugar industry applications.
• CMD CouplingscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMD Couplings subsidiary handles flexible coupling products including Flexacier and Flexident ranges. Specializes in custom coupling design including large misalignment couplings for rolling mills, disengageable couplings, telescopic couplings, and electrically insulated couplings.
• CIF GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMD Gears is a subsidiary of CIF Group (Compagnie Industrielle de Ferrieres), a private equity-backed industrial group founded in 1831 with over 1,500 employees. CIF Group provides global commercial and technical presence across more than 50 countries.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• ZF Friedrichshafen (Industrial Technology): Major industrial conglomerate offering gear technology, industrial drives, and marine propulsion systems that compete with CMD in heavy industry and energy applications.

Direct peers

• SEW-Eurodrive: Germany-based global leader in drive technology, gearmotors, and electronic drives, competing directly with CMD across industrial gearbox segments and verticals including mining, cement, and steel.
• Flender (Siemens): Manufacturer of mechanical gear drives, couplings, and generators used in mining, cement, power, and steel applications, making it a directly overlapping competitor in heavy-duty industrial gearboxes.
• Bonfiglioli: Italian manufacturer of gearmotors, drive systems, and inverters serving industrial sectors that overlap with CMD's mining, cement, and energy end markets.
• NORD Drivesystems: Global supplier of drive technology including industrial gear units, motors, and frequency inverters with comparable product breadth and vertical coverage in heavy industry.
• David Brown (Clyde Blowers Capital): Specialist in custom-engineered gear systems for heavy industries including mining, steel, and power generation, directly competing with CMD in high-torque, low-speed application niches.
• Wikov: Czech-based manufacturer of mechanical power transmission products (gear drives, gearboxes) serving cement, mining, and metallurgy customers with comparable specialized solutions.
• Hansen Industrial Transmissions (Sumitomo Heavy Industries): Supplies industrial gear units for cement mills, power generation, and mining under the Sumitomo banner, overlapping with CMD's high-torque product portfolio.
• Reggiana Riduttori (Brevini): Italian specialist in industrial gear reducers and power transmission products serving metallurgy, mining, and bulk material handling markets comparable to CMD's verticals.
• Renk Group: German manufacturer of specialized gear units, couplings, and test systems for naval, industrial, and energy applications, with product overlap in high-power geared drives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cmd-gears
• Facebookfacebook.com/CMD-GEARS-143609629162849

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CMD Gears