Erick Rousseau appointed CEO of Pinette PEI

 Pinette PEI, the French expert in forming and assembly equipment for advanced materials, has just appointed its Managing Director Erick Rousseau as Chief Executive Officer. “I am deeply honoured to announce my appointment as Chief Executive Officer of our Pinette PEI group. This appointment represents both a challenge and an opportunity: the crowning achievement of a rich professional career, a strong mark of confidence from our financial partners, but above all, an immense honour: that of leading a group with 160 years of history, a true French industrial heritage, whose expertise and innovations shine in France and internationally,” Erick Rousseau said with pride and gratitude in a linkedIn post.

He joined Pinette PEI in 1992 as an apprentice engineer and has continued to progress within the group, holding key positions in quality, purchasing, operations and sales management before reaching the highest level of governance.

A leader from within the company

In 2015, he took over the management of Jean Perrot Industries, a subsidiary specialising in sheet metal work, with the mission of restoring this historic brand to its former glory of the 1980s.

Since then, he has successively held the positions of Chief Operating Officer (COO), Quality Director, Sales Director, then Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in July 2024, before being appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in August 2025.

From implementing an ERP system to leading major international projects such as the installation of a complete factory in Vietnam, Erick Rousseau has always combined technical expertise with strategic vision.

His experience covers strategic contract negotiation, complex international project management, commercial development and international partnerships, and organisational and technological innovation.

He also sits on the board of directors of Gade, an Italian company acquired by the group in 2022 that specialises in the manufacture of sheet metal working machinery.

2025, a pivotal year for Pinette PEI

Under the leadership of Erick Rousseau, 2025 was marked by several strategic announcements that reinforced Pinette PEI’s position as a key player in thermoplastic composites.

In March 2025, the company unveiled the world’s largest thermoplastic press. Its Large Scale Stamping Press, a 5 m x 2 m thermoplastic press with a force of 30,000 kN (3,000 T), is the largest ever designed for thermoplastic composite stamping.

Installed in the Airbus Aerostructures workshops in Bremen, it supports the ramp-up of production of new-generation parts. This innovation makes it possible to produce larger, lighter, repairable and recyclable components.

At the JEC World 2025 trade show, Pinette PEI also joined forces with Coriolis Composites, Loiretech, the Institut de Soudure and Cetim to found the Composites TP Team, a group of excellence in thermoplastic composites.

This consortium brings together three manufacturers and two technical centres to offer a complete value chain, from research and development to the industrialisation of high value-added composite solutions.

“We want to be able to provide our customers with complementary technological building blocks through several entry points, from training to testing, stamping and fibre installation,” said Erick Rousseau at the time, commenting on this cooperation.

More recently, in June 2025, at the Paris Air Show, Pinette PEI and Daher subsidiary KVE announced a partnership to offer an integrated solution for thermoplastic composite forming and welding.

This partnership combines the expertise of both companies to offer a comprehensive solution with a high degree of integration, automation and supervision.

Photos : Pinette PEI