Industry of the future

Today's manufacturing industry is facing a new challenge. This is forcing companies in the sector to undergo major transformations, with the aim of satisfying consumer demands, complying with regulatory requirements and remaining competitive and efficient. This means optimizing their production or supply chains, adapting their logistics, improving their procurement, implementing new monitoring and maintenance processes... These are just some of the challenges facing the industry of the future. Behind this term lies a considerable number of technological innovations, in a wide variety of fields.

The term "Industry 4.0" is regularly used to underline the undeniable contribution of digital technology to this new industrial revolution. Because to best meet customer requirements (more products, customized and delivered as quickly as possible), production lines need to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability. To this end, computer modeling can be extremely useful, enabling different configurations to be tested. Similarly, Big Data processing and artificial intelligence approaches can provide new insights for manufacturers. As for the Internet of Things, it is set to gain further momentum with the rise of 5G, a trend that inevitably brings with it questions about premises connectivity, system interoperability and data security.

Companies also need greater agility within their manufacturing processes. New techniques, such as additive manufacturing, aim to combine flexibility, productivity and customizability. This is a major innovation, but one which still needs to be fine-tuned, for example in terms of the materials available, to meet the high demands of manufacturers.

But the industry of the future must also rise to the challenge of ecological transition, which will be at the heart of its evolution. Companies must therefore integrate environmental issues into their core business. How can they optimize resource and waste management? How can we reduce energy consumption while maintaining productivity? How can we reduce particulate emissions from our plants? How to integrate a "life cycle" approach?

In this multi-dimensional context, the Carnot Télécom et Société numérique is positioned as a key player in supporting industry in its transition. The multi-disciplinary and complementary skills of its researchers enable us to provide relevant, operational and concrete answers to the challenges of the industry of the future. These include digital solutions (computer modeling, artificial intelligence, data science, etc.), as well as major advances in research into innovative materials and new manufacturing processes.