Introducing the technological building blocks of the factory of the future into the production systems of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the ambition of the industrial chair in Reconfigurable, Safe, and High-Performance Production Systems. This chair, running from 2016 to 2022, is supported by Arts et Métiers through its laboratory, the LCFC— the UIMM (Union of Metallurgy Industries and Trades), ThyssenKrupp, the European Union with the ERDF, and the Grand Est Region.
Production systems and factory of the future
Created in 2017, the chair's objective was to introduce the technological building blocks of the factory of the future into the production systems of small and medium-sized enterprises. Led and supported by Arts et Métiers itsLCFC laboratory, the chair received support fromThyssenKrupp, the Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie (Union of Metallurgy Industries and Trades) and the European Union through theERDFand theGrand Est Region.
The chair should enable companies to:
- Greater flexibility to adapt to real-time production demands, with production cycles customized for each customer.
- Simplified quality and maintenance management,
- Improved performance through better consideration of all factors, including human factors.
- Better control of operational risks (e.g., operator safety)
A method: from research to implementation in business
All areas developed within the framework of this chair are addressed as follows:
- Research: development of tools and methods
After an initial analysis of industrial practices, research is conducted to propose tools and methods that will enable companies to evolve towards the factory of the future.
- Technology transfer: validation of tools in microbusinesses and SMEs:
Based on the research results, experiments are conducted in companies. During this phase, an engineer interacts closely with manufacturers and research teams.
- Deployment: events
Coffee breaks, technical workshops, and educational days for companies are organized regularly. Their purpose is to present the chair's advances in various thematic areas, provide training on new tools, promote the exchange of best practices, and disseminate educational scenarios for acquiring these tools.
Find the presentation materials created for these events in a shared space.
4 challenges to overcome
In France, the factory of the future is developing around new technologies, but also and above all around people. Focusing on production systems, the work undertaken within the framework of this chair is structured around four challenges in which people play a central role.
- Challenge 1 - Safe design of production systems: how can safety and performance requirements be integrated into the design phase of production systems?
- Challenge 2 - Adaptability and reconfigurability of production systems: how can we design a production system capable of manufacturing a wide variety of products in a minimum amount of time?
- Challenge 3 - Optimizing non-productive time in production systems: how can non-productive time be exploited, taking into account human factors, changes in pace, reconfigurations, product changes, etc.?
- Challenge 4 - Characterizing the performance of complex and modular production systems: how can data mining tools be used to improve understanding of production system performance?
Tried and tested approaches
"This industrial research chair has enabled us to develop approaches and methods for improving the performance of production systems, which have been tested and validated on concrete industrial issues,"explains Jean-Yves Dantan, professor at the Metz campus.
"This has resulted in the production and distribution of practical guides for implementing pragmatic deployment approaches in microbusinesses, SMEs, and SMIs. These results, demonstrations, and guides from this chair enable microbusinesses, SMEs, and industrial groups to undertake profound changes in order to fully embrace the industry of the future. "
In five years, twenty companies have directly benefited from this technology transfer carried out by a dedicated engineer. Seventeen training courses have been offered to member companies of the UIMM, a partner in the project, so that they can benefit from the tools developed.
Long-term collaboration with companies
"The industrial chair is a suitable solution to this problem because it provides long-term collaboration between a research institution, in this case Arts et Métiers, and companies," emphasizes Ivan Iordanoff, Director of Research and Innovation. "It fulfills two objectives. The first is to conduct fundamental and applied research. The second is to disseminate this knowledge."
For more information, contact: chaire.SdPRSP@ensam.eu
