Our history

The Dumarey Group, leader in the development and production of propulsion systems, has acquired Vitesco Technologies Italy, a Tuscan company specializing in injectors for gasoline engines and exhaust gas treatment systems for diesels applications. In the new organizational structure, the company will take the name of Dumarey Flowmotion Technologies s.r.l.

The transaction was finalized on December 31, 2023

PUNCH Powerglide signs a production contract with NIDEC PSA E-Motors, generating an investment of almost 40 million euros.

Production is expected to start in 2024.

PUNCH announced the establishment of a new company, PUNCH Hydrocells, based in Turin. The company targets the development, supply, and integration of hydrogen-based propulsion and energy storage systems. 

The allocation of over two million euros to start the project allows the group to expand its business into one of the most promising sectors in the energy transition.

In 2014, PUNCH acquired a production site of Steelcase, part of Wisches, renaming it PUNCH Wisches. 

PUNCH again embarked on a successful re-industrialisation project, saving the jobs of 200 employees.

In December 2013, PUNCH Corporation acquired Benteler Automotive’s forging factory in St. Ursanne, Switzerland and renamed it Thecla Pun.ch Umform. 

The company’s activities stopped in 2015, and two years later, PUNCH Corporation established the company PUNCH Precision Detva in Slovakia to start forging activities for third parties in Slovakia.

At the end of 2012, PUNCH Metals International (now PUNCH Motive International) acquired General Motors Strasbourg (France) and renamed it PUNCH Powerglide Strasbourg. PUNCH Powerglide produces automatic transmissions for BMW and ZF in addition to a range of Chinese, Russian and Indian OEMs. PUNCH invested 250 million Euros to increase production capacity and develop new transmissions. These steps grew the business, and in 2017, PUNCH Metals International exceeded 500 million Euros in revenue.

The decision saved the jobs of 1,000 direct employees and 3,000 indirect employees.

From 2010, Guido Dumarey consolidated the group’s metal components manufacturers in Belgium and France into his new 100%-owned automotive-related holding PUNCH Metals International. 

Some branches, such as PUNCH Metals Montataire, were restructured over the course of 2013. All remaining parts in Punch Powertrain were sold off in 2010.

Punch Powertrain opened its assembly production site in Nanjing, China.

Quotation of PUNCH Technix via Prolion (Amsterdam): PUNCH Technix activities were successfully contributed in-kind into Prolion.

PUNCH consolidated its telematics companies into one specialised telematics group, PUNCH Telematix, which was quoted on the Brussels stock exchange. 

Telematix was then sold to Trimble in 2010.

PUNCH entered a new sector by acquiring Prolion, a milk robot system company, which was quoted on the Amsterdam stock exchange. 

PUNCH grew and later sold Prolion to Westfalia in 2008.

PUNCH’s move into end products encouraged an exit from several of its existing business. 

In 2002, PUNCH sold a 51% stake in PUNCH Mécanique to the Valorics Group, and in 2003, it sold PUNCHtronics to the same company. In the same year, both the PUNCH Precision plant Bridgend and the PUNCH Plastic plant in Bruges were closed.

In April of 2002, we extended our range of operations again by acquiring Xeikon. The Belgium-based company Xeikon had been a leading global maker of digital colour production systems that had slumped into bankruptcy amid the general tech industry crash at the beginning of the 2000s.

The PUNCH acquisition of Xeikon included the company’s Belgian and U.S. operations, along with its Japanese sales and service subsidiaries.

PUNCH immediately set out to revive Xeikon, relaunching its sales and service operations at a new headquarters in Lier.

In 2001, Punch established its first production site for electronic products in China, Jin Hui.

In January 2000, PUNCH International acquired Strobbe Graphics, which supplied computer-to-plate pre-press systems for Agfa-Gevaert. 

In December 2000, PUNCH moved Strobbe into new and larger production facilities in Ypres, Belgium.

At the turn of the century, PUNCH was looking for new areas of growth. Staying true to its manufacturing roots, the company added injection-moulding capacity by purchasing Stevens, a company specialising in injection-moulding). Soon after, it began constructing a new plant in Evergem. 

The new plant unified the PUNCH Products and Stevens operations into one. The company continued to develop its plastics operations, acquiring Bruges-based Trelleborg, which later became PUNCH Plastics.

The PUNCH/Philips partnership was fortified following the establishment of PUNCH Électronique in Dreux (France). 

The company produced PCB assemblies for Philips.

PUNCH’s business success in creating components and assemblies for electronics (including monitors and cathode-ray tubes), allowed it to invest in additional factories. 

The first investment was in the United Kingdom (PUNCH Precision in Bridgend), followed by expansions in Eastern Europe, most notably Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland. 

The PUNCH customer base grew to include Grundig, Hitachi, Sharp, and Sanyo.

Guido Dumarey launched the PUNCH brand. The first PUNCH company, PUNCH Products in Evergem (Belgium), built its own production site for machined punch metals. 

Activities included ‘punching’ grid-metal to create holes in speakers smaller than the thickness of the material (mainly galvanised steel). 

‘PUNCH’ later became the name for the entire Guido Dumarey group.

Guido Dumarey founded Acyclon in Ghent and worked closely with Phillips Electronics to produce telecommunication devices such as pagers.
He later re-developed and launched a two-way communication pager called ‘Scottie’.

Guido Dumarey’s entrepreneurial journey takes off with the acquisition of New Impriver in Ghent (Belgium), a company that produces metal nametags and anodises aluminium for the automotive industry, various household applications, and the IT sector.