From the offices to the workshops to the coffee machine, everyone here knows him. Dominique Pelletier, aka "La Crevette", is part of the Galland legend: after 37 years of experience and versatility, he also knows how to assemble tensioning devices and insulators at his fingertips.
“I like to say that I spent my life at Galland! I was 18 when I first entered the Parisian workshops of Choisy-Le-Roi. I am 55 today.
At the time, I started in crimping with a CAP as an adjuster, then I moved on to assembling insulators and tensioning devices. When I close my eyes, I see all the models I have worked on scrolling by. I know them by heart!”
In the era of riveting
“I learned my trade on all the machines, from the most artisanal to the current digital units. At the beginning, we didn’t have a crimper, we pierced the tubes and riveted them. It was difficult manual work, which required strength and precision. I still remember the first return arm I worked on: the 204895! (aluminum tube with stock and end cap)
I also knew the era of key presses, before the arrival of automated hydraulic presses, much safer and more precise.
Now, there is no room for error, everything is ultra secure.”
Pride in a job well done
“As I am versatile, I like to share my knowledge with younger people.
The Galland know-how is irreplaceable: assembling a IS requires extreme precision, to within 5 hundredths. You have to be skillful and patient. What I like to pass on is the pride of a job well done.
The family spirit
In 2003, however, when Galland moved to the vast site of La Lande-de-Fronsac, in Gironde, Dominique Pelletier hesitated: "I had all my family in Paris and I lived just a few minutes from the workshops. I told myself that I would miss this life. So Dominique Bec offered to take me to see the future site, so that I could get an idea. I liked the nature, the vines, the proximity of the Arcachon Basin. I stayed! And then, let's be honest: I would have had trouble finding the family spirit that reigns at Galland. We all know each other and the door to management remains open. The hierarchy is not a hindrance, decisions are made quickly. I like this simplicity."
Wink
Where does he get his nickname “the Shrimp” from?
"I'm a big fan of Formula 1. When the French Grand Prix was held on the Magny-Cours circuit, I was in the stands, under the July sun. I was coming back from vacation as red as a shrimp coming out of court-bouillon!"
