Work steel, use your hands to create various and varied works, know how to read and understand a plan to manufacture unique pieces, how not to be fascinated by the work of the boilermaker who, starting from "simple" pieces of steel shape technical, bulky, precise parts. Would we dare to speak of industrial works of art?
How long ago the time when boilermakers made the famous cauldrons that gave the name to this profession! What if today we took a closer look at a profession that was already practiced in the Late Bronze Age (i.e. between -1400 and -800 years BC) and which has passed through the ages in evolving and adapting to each period of our history.
If we stick to the dictionary definition, the boilermaker is a professional who works metal sheets or plates for industrial purposes to make metal works, most often large-scale.
And when we go to meet these steel workers, it is the metal element that caught their attention and opened their curiosity for this profession. "Iron work, welding and the shaping of parts of any volume", this is what captivated Kévin DO, during an observation internship which will lead him to an apprenticeship in the profession of boilermaker which he defines. as "creative, essential, a magnificent job where you never get bored"! Even if he does not avoid the daily difficulties linked to a profession in an industrial environment, the diversity of the tasks makes this job a passion for him.
It was also “the interest in scrap metal” that led Christophe to the profession of boilermaker. He followed a proposal for a welding diploma and then trained in the trade of boilermaker, which he defines as "starting from a simple flat sheet metal to create all kinds of shapes and parts". The job is certainly somewhat messy, but it is a varied job where every day is different.
For Kevin DA. boilermaking arrived as a “sort of last chance”. School difficulties, a passage through the ITEP (Therapeutic Educational and Pedagogical Institute) to find motivation, an internship in boilermaking which he liked, leading him to pass a CAP and then a professional baccalaureate. For him “the trade of boilermaker is multiple. There can be as many definitions as there are sectors in which this profession is exercised”. Even if this job is “physically and mentally demanding and requires a certain autonomy” it is a job where you are constantly learning and where routine has no place!
Giovanni discovered the trade by helping his boilermaker uncle during the holidays. "Starting from scratch to create a complete piece" fascinated him and made him want to do the same. At the end of the 3rd class, he therefore left for a Bac Pro Boilermaking apprenticeship at GOYON where the transmission of know-how is inscribed in the DNA of the company. What he particularly likes in his daily life as an apprentice boilermaker is the diversity of tasks! He is “never bored”!
Anthony, our production manager, also began his career at GOYON as an apprentice boilermaker. It is a discovery internship in 3rd technology that gives him a taste for the profession of welding and boilermaking. At the end of college, he decided to follow a CAP and a BEP boilermaking apprenticeship. After graduating, he practiced this profession for ten years, which “allows him to make something with his hands”. He will continue by becoming workshop manager for 6 years and will evolve further to the position of production manager. For him, the job of boilermaker is a job that requires skill with your hands. It is a profession that can only be learned by working the steel day after day and by reproducing the gestures of the most experienced. You have to do and redo to finally know how to do it.
But sometimes you become a boilermaker by chance. This is the case of Laurent, who at the end of his chocolate/pastry chef CAP “cannot find a job in this field”. A friend brought him into GOYON to “only drill holes”. His ability to learn on the job and his desire to evolve will do the rest and transform the chocolate maker into a boilermaker. For him, “never doing the same thing” is the big plus point of this multi-faceted profession.
Yves, his neighbor in the workshop, can only confirm that the job of boilermaker is "a profession of experience", he who arrived in boilermaking by the side roads. Training as an electro-mechanic, various positions in foundry then in locksmithing, sheet metal work and finally a position as a boilermaker. The most interesting part of this job, he tells us, is “making a part and seeing it evolve until assembly”. Even if the job can sometimes "be daunting when working on series parts" and it is "physical" it is a very formative job "where you constantly learn from your mistakes".
Abderrahmane, for his part, sailed to boilermaking after a CAP which led him to the merchant navy. As he rightly says “when you are a mechanic on a boat, you have to know how to do everything, and boilermaking is one of them”. He then worked in Italy as a welder and boilermaker “improving on the job”. If you ask him to define this profession, he will answer you with a big smile: “It’s art! It's an exciting job where you create things from scratch. A job that allows you to be useful”.
Maxime is also a boilermaker who embraced the profession “more or less by chance”. Arriving for a summer job, he enjoyed working with steel so much that he decided to stay and train “on the job”. The transmission of know-how is the essential element that allowed him to go through almost all the positions in the workshop. Preparer, puncher, folder and finally boilermaker, Maxime is a jack-of-all-trades who will also validate the CQPM as an industrial designer to be able to move on to a method position (initially one day a week). From the workshop to the office, there is only one step. And this step leads him today to the job of business manager!
In short, as you will have understood, the profession of boilermaker is a “passionate profession” where transmission and experience are very important. It's a job where you don't get bored, a job that allows you to build not only metal parts but also a career. It is also a profession that is moving forward and has already entered the future through cobotics and other exoskeletons that will increasingly transform the way boilermakers work. Do you know of another profession that can claim to be both historical and futuristic?