On Friday March 2, the Pôle Mont-Blanc Industries and the Auvergne Efficience Industrielle cluster were welcomed at the Pfeiffer Vacuum premises in Annecy to announce their merger into a new entity, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Industrie 4.0. This strategic merger will enable the integration of skills in Big data, smart metrology and digitalization support for the high-precision machining and mechatronics industries. This merger is the culmination of a three-year collaboration that has demonstrated the complementary nature of the two structures, with projects such as the prototyping of Data Scientist training for engineers, and joint approaches to metrology in the service of predictive maintenance. With this merger, Aura Industrie 4.0 reaffirms the ambition of both parties to support the region's industrial companies in meeting the new challenges of digital technology, Industry 4.0 and its potential. In addition to leveraging complementary skills, this merger will enable the new entity to expand geographically throughout the new region by pooling resources. The next step is to create an alliance between the three major competitiveness clusters, Mont-Blanc Industries, Plastipolis and ViaMéca, which will combine the strength of a collective in the face of major calls for projects with operational agility over an expanded territory.
A shared vision and method
Industry 4.0, the factory of the future and digital transition are central to the strategy of the Mont-Blanc Industries cluster, which has made them a priority with projects such as Usitronic, for example, or robotics projects for the machining of sensitive aeronautical parts, the subject of several FUI projects accredited by the cluster. For its part, the Auvergne Efficience Industrielle cluster (e-cluster) was set up three years ago in Clermont-Ferrand to promote innovation and efficiency at the right cost, through the pertinent use of data supplied by industry in particular, thanks to its expertise in Big Data and data processing.
Collaboration between the two organizations began with the Mont-Blanc Excellence label, and ties were quickly forged around a shared vision of industry and the projects to be carried out around Industry 4.0, combining know-how linked to Big data with the organization of the digital transition and smart metrology.
This is how the engineer's Data Scientist course came into being under the direction of the e-cluster, with the support of five Mont-Blanc Industries industrial companies, including three managers from Pfeiffer Vacuum. This first-of-its-kind training course is being validated by the Conférence des grandes écoles, and a specialized Master's degree (bac +6) will open in September 2018 at the Sigma engineering school in Clermont-Ferrand.
Work is also underway on metrology and its impact on productivity. They often complement and confirm the spirit of work already undertaken by the cluster's manufacturers, offering them new skills and new prospects for deployment.
Durability and influence
This merger ensures the continuity of the activities carried out by the two organizations, which will retain their respective brands and their own activities. Aura Industrie 4.0 thus becomes a key player in industrial policy in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, implementing the expected administrative simplification and pooling of resources, and extending its influence throughout the region and nationally.
Future alliance and agility
Aura Industrie 4.0 will pursue this approach to building a major industrial ecosystem in the region with its alliance policy, which will enable it to respond at European level to several calls for projects. For example, the strategic alliance forged between Mont-Blanc Industries and Plastipolis in 2016 will be extended to ViaMéca for joint projects that will benefit the region's entire industrial fabric. This approach reflects two key ideas: the strength of the group on the one hand, and the agility and proximity of its structures on the other.
The confidence of banking partners
At the same time, Mont-Blanc Industries' two long-standing banking partners, Banque Populaire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Crédit Agricole des Savoie, have decided to introduce a new zero-interest loan specifically for industry 4.0. Worth up to 150,000 euros, It will concern projects enabling manufacturers to go further in their transformation towards industry 4.0.
" Being a partner banker means working alongside companies to support them in their development. Our job is to work with them to drive change and encourage the modernization of production tools towards the solutions proposed by Industry 4.0. These are the innovations and advances that will enable our regional companies to become more competitive on the national and international stage. "explains Lionel Raymond, Regional Sales Manager Haute-Savoie, Banque Populaire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
" Investing today means preparing for tomorrow. Our role as the leading regional bank is to encourage the efforts of companies seeking to improve their competitiveness and move towards "Industry 4.0". "says Richard Laborie, Deputy General Manager, Crédit Agricole des Savoie.
" It's the fusion of a more vertical organization, the cluster, with a more horizontal organization, the e-cluster, to go further together on the subject of industrial efficiency, data processing, the semantic web and IoT for greater performance. For us, it also means being in immediate contact with industrial partners, benefiting from their data and gaining access to FUI-eligible projects. "concludes Jean-Michel Pou, President of the e-cluster Auvergne Efficience Industrielle.
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