AFTS

What AFTS does

AFTS is a French industrial metal-finishing subcontractor headquartered in Thyez, Haute-Savoie, that delivers surface treatment services — polishing, nickel plating (including bulk barrel plating of small parts down to 2.1 mm diameter), electrolytic chrome plating (industrial and decorative), sandblasting/microblasting, ultrasonic cleaning under vacuum, laser marking, and lapping/flat grinding — on a job-by-job basis to professional B2B customers only. Contact is direct via phone, email, or website form, pricing is quote-based (per unit or per weight for bulk nickel plating), and the stated capability spans prototype to very large series production.

The technical backbone combines manual craft with capital equipment: transfer machines with manual or automatic loading, manual polishing lathes (tourets), a centerless polishing/toilage machine, robotic polishing cells and a transfer-machine robot added since 2012, vacuum ultrasonic cleaners with continuous distillation and 5-micron filtration, and laser marking for traceability (barcode/QR). January 2021 brought a merger with sister company Savoie Polyrodage, expanding the lapping/planing offering under the combined commercial name AFTS-SAVOIE POLYRODAGE. The company operates from a single facility at 86 promenade de l'Arve and is led by G rant Emile Pasquier.

Customer segments span luxury goods (fashion accessories, leather goods hardware, cosmetics packaging, writing instruments, tableware), automotive components (engine and trim parts, wheels), medical/industrial fittings (e.g., chrome/nickel-plated medical oxygen fittings), and general subcontracted surface treatment. Notable proofs of capability include polishing 2,000 torches for the Olympic flame crossing France and a 2020 recycling certificate for treatment bath residues, supported by a rainwater recovery and demineralization system that holds total water consumption to ~180 m3/year. The business is founder/family operated, fully private, with 15–20 total headcount in the broader enterprise.

Name

AFTS

Legal name

AFTS

Website

https://aftsurface.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AFTS is a French B2B metal-finishing subcontractor in Thyez that provides polishing, nickel and chrome plating, lapping, sandblasting, laser marking, and ultrasonic cleaning to luxury goods, automotive, leather goods, and industrial customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Thyez

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Surface treatment services: One-time professional services for surface treatment including nickel plating, chrome plating, polishing, and other finishing processes. Pricing is quote-based, either unit or weight-based for bulk nickel plating.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

AFTS is an industrial subcontracting company specializing in metal surface treatment, with polishing as its main activity. The company offers a complete range of finishing services including metal polishing, electrolytic chrome plating, bulk nickel plating, sandblasting, laser marking, ultrasonic cleaning, lapping/flat grinding, and combined surface finishing for professional customers in luxury goods, automotive, leather goods, cosmetics, tableware, and industrial sectors.

Product overview

AFTS is a surface treatment services company specializing in industrial metal finishing. The company operates as a single unified service provider offering complementary treatment processes including metal polishing (polissage), chrome plating (chromage), nickel plating (nickelage), sandblasting (sablage), laser marking (marquage laser), ultrasonic cleaning (nettoyage ultrason), lapping/flat grinding (rodage/planage), and combined surface finishing. Founded in 2006 and merged with Savoie Polyrodage in January 2021, AFTS also provides custom R&D services for new product development and manufactures specialized photo mirrors for dental applications. The services cover various industry sectors including automotive, luxury goods, leather goods, cosmetics, writing instruments, tableware, and saddlery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Industrial Metal Polishing (Polissage métaux)
• Chrome Plating (Chromage)
• Bulk Nickel Plating (Nickelage vrac)
• Lapping and Flat Grinding (Rodage / Planage)
• Sandblasting and Microblasting (Sablage)
• Industrial Laser Marking (Marquage laser)
• Industrial Ultrasonic Cleaning (Nettoyage ultrason industriel)
• Combined Surface Finishing (Finition de surface combinée)
• Photo Mirror (Miroir photo)
• Research and Development (R&D)
• Automotive Mechanical Polishing (Polissage mécanique pièces automobile)

Quantifiable outcome

• 2000 torches polished for Olympic flame
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Savoie PolyrodagecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021AFTS and Savoie Polyrodage merged in January 2021. The commercial name became AFTS-SAVOIE POLYRODAGE. Address and contact persons remained unchanged. Savoie Polyrodage specialized in lapping/planing services and was a sister company before the merger.
• OVHminorOthersOVH provides web hosting services for the company website (www.aftsurface.fr). Located at 2 rue Kellermann, 59100 Roubaix, France.
• D2b ConsultingminorOthersD2b Consulting designed and developed the company website. They specialize in commercial strategy and natural referencing (SEO). Located at 3, rue Gattefossé, 69800 St Priest, France.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Atotech (Element Solutions): Global leader in plating chemistry and surface finishing solutions, owned by Element Solutions. Competes with AFTS at the chemistry/process layer rather than as a direct job-shop, but shapes the technology and competitive context for the finishing services AFTS provides.
• Aalberts Surface Treatment: European surface treatment group with multiple sites across France and Europe, offering plating, heat treatment, and coating services. A scaled incumbent that competes with AFTS in selected regional and capability segments while serving a far broader portfolio.
• Coventya: International supplier of specialty chemicals and processes for decorative and functional surface finishing, including nickel and chrome plating. Comparable via the same plating processes AFTS runs, though Coventya operates on the chemistry-supply side of the value chain.
• MacDermid Enthone: Global supplier of metal finishing chemistries used in decorative and functional plating operations. A broader incumbent in the same finishing ecosystem as AFTS, supplying process know-how and chemistry rather than competing job-shop services.

Direct peers

• Mecanolav: French industrial surface treatment subcontractor offering polishing, deburring, and metal finishing services to professional clients — directly comparable in service mix, B2B sub-contracting model, and French regional footprint to AFTS.
• Galva Union: French metal surface treatment specialist (galvanizing and related finishing) serving industrial customers on a subcontracting basis. Comparable to AFTS as a domestic French finisher with a multi-vertical customer book.
• SNTI (Société Nouvelle de Traitements Industriels): French industrial surface treatment provider offering plating and finishing services to professional customers. Operates in the same subcontractor segment as AFTS with overlapping capabilities in metal finishing.

Regional players

• Groupe LISI: French-listed industrial group producing fasteners and assembled components with in-house surface treatment capabilities. Operates as both supplier and competitor to AFTS in the French luxury and automotive hardware finishing value chain, primarily at a larger scale and via in-house lines.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/aftspolissage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/a-f-t-s

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 AFTS