Industrial automation, a remedy for the pandemic? 

 Industrial Automation

Has  Industrial automation in the long run been loads of resilient inside the face of the Covid-19 crisis? Did robots facilitate keep production going?

L'Usine Nouvelle contacted varied companies labeled "showcases of the business of the future" for a primary assessment ... throughout an assortment.

Supply chain, production, outlets ... If the Covid-19 crisis has brought the business back to the forefront, it's to boot distinguished its vulnerabilities. inside the warmth of the pandemic, then inside the debates around a future relocation of production, the business of the long run, boosted by robots and automatic data analysis, has usually been presented as a miracle answer.

To better understand the potential of business four.0, L'Usine Nouvelle contacted several factories labeled “showcases of the business of the future” to hunt out but the pandemic has affected them.

A useful weapon inside the food business

First observation: robots and industrial automation - by definition proof against Covid-19 - have in some cases created its potential to stay up production. Like food methods, factories with very automatic production square measure able to relish this to remain their heads over water.

“ We have got not stopped production for one hour since the start of the epidemic, boasts François Duquesne, chief of l. a. Normandie. Automation unbroken the plant going. ” set in brandy, the plant labeled by the Alliance for the business of the long run in early 2020 processes and conditions dog and pet food. A production thought of essential to prevent the owners of hungry pets from rushing on merchandise meant for human consumption, already in tension.

Despite tensions over meat provides and (low) absence, the plant continued to produce in quantity. “ alone manual lines, that alone represent hundredth of production, square measure stopped, ” François Duquesne recounts.

"No plant is completely automatic"

But in many cases, manufacturing includes assembly, transport, or even repair operations that human labor and skill keep central. similarly as operative the automatons. this will be the observation created by Delta Dore, a home automation specialist based in Ille-et-Vilaine, labeled “industry showcase of the future” in 2017. Despite a robotic production technique, the group's two factories closed for three weeks to reorganize their production.

“Our robots have helped to a particular extent, but they cannot do everything: no plant is completely automatic and every day there is a tangle - an area jam, a cover should be opened ... - and there is a problem. we'd like people for that, ”explains Pascal Portelli, director of operations for the company. “ there is no company which can be managed entirely remotely and certain key skills can't be duplicated indefinitely,” he lists. If your two specialists are not there as a result of they are sick or need to be compelled to require care of the youngsters, the automaton will not flip ”.

“We are 4.0, but not 100% automatic. The assembly remains a manual activity ”abounds Jean-Claude Reverdell, at the top of Sew Usocome, inside the Bas-Rhin. If faced with the crisis, “ the digital [*fr1] adapts and AGVs will rummage around for parts”, offer difficulties and absence limit the activity of factories, notes the manager, for whom “a connected plant with twenty 5 the fewer operators cannot work ”.

Lean on trial

Paradoxically, the organization entirely geared towards productivity in factories of the long-run has usually contributed to halting production. “ regarding the development of stocks, the crisis was the flower of dangerous students, ” says Romain Serratore, industrial director of Pellenc, a bunch specializing in machines and power tools for agriculture and maintenance of inexperienced areas.

The digitization of its Pertuis plant in Vaucluse - that attained its recognition as a “showcase for the business of the future” in 2018 - contend tricks on it. the company, which manages its stocks of just-in-time elements exploitation digital tools, has robust a “sharp slowdown” due to difficulties in obtaining provides. Conversely, “ we have got a little plant in Italy that buys quarterly… it's never stopped, ” notes Romain Serratore.

In addition to inventory, staff optimization has also posed a problem for some manufacturers. At Delta Dore, lean management around U-shaped islands has turned out to be a handicap. “ This type of island allows versatility, but physically brings together and means that several people will touch the same products at the same time. Sanitarily, this is not ideal and we have therefore departed from good lean practices for better sanitary measures ”, explains Pascal Portelli.

Software victory

Faced with the crisis, software automation and IT - from document sharing to remote access to production tools - have proved their worth more. “ Everyone is aware that a high-end and well-integrated computer system is essential ”, judge Bruno Grandjean, director of the machine-tools company Redex (Loiret) and president of the Alliance Industrie du future, pointing to the role of teleworking and remote maintenance for the continuity of production.

Pellenc also says he is relieved to have made his digital transition. “ Digital has helped a lot, assesses Romain Serratore. We were already at the cutting edge in office automation and the transition to continue working together remotely was seamless. Then, other digital monitoring tools made it easier for us to pick up where we left off. ”

Jean-Claude Reverdell, of Sew Usocome, makes a more moderate observation: nothing replaces the physical presence, especially for maintenance, but “ IT gives good visibility and allows certain remote interventions, for example following an accident ”, he judges.

4.0 has not said its last word

Several companies have also accelerated their transformation. Nutriset, based in Malaunay (Seine-Maritime) and showcase in 2019, has changed its “forced march” digital roadmap, equipping all employees with teleworking tools in one week. And intends to continue, especially on online learning for temporary workers. The crisis was also the trigger for Dagoma, a 3D printer company for individuals based in Roubaix (North). “ We had to exchange by email with our suppliers to know their stocks over two months because our databases were not connected, testifies its co-founder, Gauthier Vignon. It is in the works for the future. ”

Does this mean that automation will be left by the wayside? Nothing is less sure. Admittedly, resilience is " not the main reason for investing in robots ", judges Pascal Portelli, who recalls that the automation of production is very expensive. But faced with the vulnerability of global supply chains, industrial relocation could favor robotization while " in certain industries, such as electronics, there are no other methods to be reasonably competitive ", notes the director of operations. by Delta Dore. An opinion shared by Bruno Grandjean convinced that the crisis is “ the opportunity to return to a more robust organization”, More digital, and more local. If the factory of the future has not proven its strength in the face of the pandemic, it has not said its last word.