Industry benefits from ESRF expertiseI M P A C T O N I N D U S T R Y

E L E C T R O M A G N E T S,

F R O M M A N U F A C T U R E

T O T E S T I N G

T H E C O M P A N Y

For 40 years, SEF Technologies has been

manufacturing electromagnets for particle

accelerators such as CERN, SOLEIL and the ESRF.

Electromagnets are fundamental components

of these big-science facilities, used to steer and

focus particle beams. Based in Toulouse, France,

the company has 15 employees and an annual

turnover of €1.1m.

T H E W O R K

Historically, SEF has been a supplier to the ESRF:

it provided electromagnets for the synchrotron’s

original storage ring, as well as for the synchrotron’s

new storage ring, the Extremely Brilliant Source

(EBS). As is common in these cases, the ESRF

performed its own testing of the magnets to make

sure they conformed to design specif ications and

to make adjustments as necessary. For the EBS

upgrade, the ESRF developed its own magnet

testing benches, based on the latest “stretched-

wire measurement” (SWM) technology.

On completion of the EBS upgrade, SEF switched

from being a supplier to an ESRF customer

by arranging to buy one of these testing benches.

At about 10% of its annual turnover, the purchase

has been a signif icant investment for the small

company. However, it has already enabled SEF

to of fer magnet testing as an additional service

to its clients.

T H E I M P A C T

Our purchase of the ESRFs SWM bench was

a strategic decision Several of our larger competitors

already of fer magnetic measurement as a service

The new bench is helping us transition from

being a pure manufacturing company to a more

integratedtechnology company that can model

design and measure magnets as well as build

them Meanwhile it is good for our clients because

they will be getting precharacterised magnets and

will no longer have the expense of doing this kind of

testing inhouse Recently we won a call for tender

on the basis that we could test as well as supply

the electromagnets As a result the investment has

already paid of f

Eric Fanio CEO SEF Technologies

“Our purchase of the

ESRF’s SWM bench was

a strategic decision.

Our investment has

already paid off!”

Eric Fanio, CEO, SEF Technologies

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S E F T E C H N O L O G I E S