The industry of the future: challenges and innovations

The French government also supports its industrial strength through a recovery plan that allows SMEs and ETIs to “benefit from cash support concurrently with their investment in the transformation towards the industry of the future. The aid takes the form of a grant for the acquisition of an asset listed as fixed assets and assigned to an industrial activity in French territory. The amount of the aid and the list of eligible assets are defined by decree and by order.”

What does adopting new technologies mean for companies in the industrial sector?

Simply put, a return to competitiveness on the international stage will occur if companies in the industrial sector prioritize creating maximum value.

Automation, robotics, or other types of innovations based on AI represent these new technologies that will enable the production of more, better, faster, in a more sustainable manner and under better conditions (safety…).

If the industry of the future encourages rethinking strategies and business models, it does not necessarily imply overhauling all existing processes, training all resources, or spending significant amounts of money.

AI can allow, among other things, particularly through the collection and processing of data, to facilitate or automate time-consuming processes or tasks that were previously imprecise, thereby giving resources time to handle more value-added tasks, with greater operational efficiency and more meaningful outcomes.

AI-driven solutions are available today on the market and do not require drastic changes. They will provide their users with more visibility and predictability regarding their production, or further help streamline communication and share key data.

As an example, Oplit, a production planning solution that helps manufacturers increase the profitability of their operations by boosting their production targets, works with LISI, a company holding the showcase label for the industry of the future that integrates new technologies at several levels within the company to solve various issues (CSR, quality…). These are the initiatives that the industry of the future aims to standardize. 

What does adopting these new technologies mean for people?

Modernizing equipment will still have an impact on employees and their training needs. While not all resources will need intensive training, some key positions will require skill enhancement, and teams will need to be trained in the new tools available. It will then be a matter of leveraging the knowledge of human resources to optimize the use of these technologies.

These changes necessarily involve disruptions, even minimal ones, but we can see in this need for training a very positive sign that humans remain indispensable and cannot be replaced anytime soon.