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Factory 4.0: digital in the steel industry /P
FACTORY 4.0: DIGITAL IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY
Following machine-tools and robots, it is now time for digital technology to take its place on the factory floor. AI, augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT)... Technology is pushing back the limits, from design to production and sales. Do we need to turn the way we work upside down? The answer comes from Dunkirk, where the steelmaker ArcelorMittal has begun to considerably transform its main European site.
450 hectares, 3,700 employees*: every year, six to seven million tonnes of steel slabs leave the ArcelorMittal plant in Dunkirk to serve the group’s other plants, but above all to supply the production sites of players in the automotive, industrial and packaging sectors. A historic and emblematic site that is gradually entering a new era, explains David Glijer, Director of Digital Transformation at ArcelorMittal France. «Our ambition is to become the leader of 4.0 steelmaking in France and Europe, hence the launch in 2019 of a major plan divided into three main branches, dedicated respectively to our customers, our business and our employees. Our goals? Improving operational performance by integrating new technologies at every level of the company. «The challenge is to move from computerisation to digitalisation: augmented reality, big data, IoT... This transformation should enable us to achieve results in terms of reliability, quality and environmental performance, but also to reduce our costs and improve our competitiveness, and therefore our commercial performance. It is also a way of aligning ourselves with our competitors, particularly those in China.
WHEN AI COMES INTO PLAY
The initiative may come as a surprise: the steel industry is not the first sector that one would instinctively associate with digital technologies. Wrongly, explains David Glijer: «We are still industrialists, but we have to deal with an enormous amount of information 24 hours a day: each line may have up to 200 sensors collecting an incredible amount of data every second. AI then comes into play, for example processing in real time the data
WITH 154
ROBOTS PER 10,000 EMPLOYEES, FRANCE’S INDUSTRIAL BASE IS ONLY HALF AS AUTOMATED AS GERMANY’S AND FIVE TIMES LESS THAN THOSE OF KOREA OR SINGAPORE
(SOURCE : INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ROBOTICS).
10 %
OF FRENCH COMPANIES HAVE NOW INCORPORATED AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLICATION, HALF LESS THAN IN THE UNITED STATES.
linked to the volumes of gas produced by a site in order to better manage its recovery, thus reducing the use of flaring and CO2 emissions. There are already many concrete examples. The group uses virtual reality to train its employees in safety drills, with «hazard hunting» exercises in factories simulated by virtual reality. Quality control, for its part, relies on augmented reality: on a packaging line, an operator equipped with an augmented reality helmet can carry out a final conformity check before shipping to the customer. Even the glasses are connected, allowing internal or external experts to carry out certain maintenance operations at a distance but in real time.
A TRANSITIONAL ACCELERATOR
Leading this major transformation requires a major training effort, but also the availability of suitable places to test, explore and exchange with other players, hence the inauguration in Dunkirk of ArcelorMittal’s first Digital Lab**. The group intends to turn this 2,700 m² space, located in the city centre, into a laboratory by focusing on three major themes: safety, energy and the environment, which are fundamental issues for the company. “We are aiming for a 35% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2050,» David Glijer reminds us. Digital technology is one of the main levers we possess in order to achieve this. «For this
David GLIJER
Head of digital transformation for ArcelorMittal France.
purpose, ArcelorMittal is betting on openness and exchange. Set up with the support of local, regional and national public authorities, the site is designed as a training centre for employees, a conference venue and, more extensively, as a vast ecosystem dedicated to digital innovation. The Digital Lab brings together other major industrial companies (Suez, Engie, etc.) as well as start-ups such as Ultiwatt, that is working on virtual reality, Immersion for augmented reality or autonomous vehicles with EasyMile. Last but not least, the “grandes écoles” and research laboratories in the region and elsewhere: the Arts & Métiers, the Université du Littoral Côté d’Opale (Ulco) and the École Polytechnique... And there is no shortage of concrete projects: since its inauguration, ArcelorMittal officialised the creation of the 5GSteel consortium with Ericsson and Orange Business Services, which will use one of the first industrial 5G networks in France. In Dunkirk and Mardyck, and later in Florange, it will enable the deployment of projects that require ultra-fast mobile connectivity: mobile maintenance, autonomous vehicles, etc. The revolution has only just begun.
PERMAECONOMY: TOWARDS A BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
Permaeconomy is simply the application of permaculture principles in the business world,» explains Emmanuel Delannoy, associate consultant with the specialist firm Pikaia. Permaculture remains to be defined...Born in Australia and Japan in the 1970s, the term, which initially meant «permanent agriculture», was based on principles of design and action inspired by living beings, designed to imagine and manage sustainable and responsible agricultural systems. A meaning that has since expanded: «over time, permaculture has become a broader technical and ethical conceptual framework that can easily be applied to the field of economics and management, with the same objective: to manage human production systems in a sustainable manner. And thus promote the transition of companies towards resilient models, consistent with the concepts of the circular economy or the economy of functionality and cooperation.
RAPIDLY VISIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS
The good news is that things are speeding up, says the consultant. «More and more decision-makers want to move from reflection to action, and the legislator has supported this movement with the concept of the mission-driven company. It recognises that economic players have a raison d’être that goes beyond mere financial performance, and towards a notion of social worth. Unlike the efforts made in favour of the climate, the results of which, unfortunately, will be measured only in the long term, the resulting transformations are rapidly visible, adds Emmanuel Delannoy: «in a given territory, it is enough for just a few thousand consumers to change their consumption or mobility habits and to start supporting players involved in a permaeconomy approach, in order to observe the first concrete effects.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.PIKAIA.FR
Emmanuel DELANNOY
Associate consultant within the specialised firm Pikaia.
THE LIVING AS A ROLE MODEL
While the observation of nature is not a recent phenomenon, the study of the faculties of living beings is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for scientific and technological research. By taking advantage of the 3.8 billion years that have elapsed since the appearance of life, can we reconcile human activities with environmental conservation? Olivier Scheffer, Director of Development at Ceebios*, provides an update.
WHAT IS BIOMIMICRY?
Humankind has long studied and been inspired by nature, and one needs only to think of the way Leonardo da Vinci observed the flight of birds in order to imagine his flying machines. In the 1960s, the biophysicist Otto Schmitt** gave a first definition of biomimicry: «the examination of biological phenomena in the hope of generating ideas and inspiration for the development of life-like physical or biophysical systems». Since the 1990s and thanks to the work of the biologist Janine Benyus, biomimicry has evolved. It is no longer a question of exploiting nature, but of opting for sustainable management of its resources. The core idea remains the same: it is still about studying the functioning of living organisms in order to generate innovations that imitate natural processes, but by also integrating the ecological imperative.
CAN WE RECONCILE AN INDUSTRIALLY EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY VIRTUOUS BIO-INSPIRED APPROACH?
This is obviously the Holy Grail and some are succeeding. L’Oréal has made biomimicry a strategic axis of its development. In the field of hygiene, the R&D teams are exploring ways of avoiding the overuse of liquid soap. We have worked with them to study what nature offers as an example of dry cleaning and L’Oréal has just patented a product, the «cat brush», whose nanostructure reproduces the very particular surface of cats’ tongues that possess remarkable self-cleaning properties. We are also working with RTE on bio-inspired antifouling solutions to prevent the deposit of algae or other materials on their offshore wind turbines. We are working with the CNES on subjects such as in-orbit recycling and satellite swarms. Aeronautics,
THE LIVING AS A ROLE MODEL
biology, chemistry, architecture, engineering, urban planning, design...All sectors are concerned, from the structure of materials to the balance of an entire territory.
LARGE GROUPS HAVE RESOURCES THAT SMES AND SMIS DO NOT POSSESS. CAN THESE COMPANIES MAKE THE LEAP TO BIOMIMICRY?
One of the fundamental principles of Ceebios is to cooperate with an ecosystem of partners and clients of all sizes. In the building sector, for example, we work with the agency In Situ Architecture. They only have two partners, but they have been using the biomimetic approach for years. They have recently developed a double skin system capable of regulating the thermal effects of solar radiation on a building. Their solution is based on the properties of the hornbeam leaf, which was chosen because the ratio of its folded to unfolded surface is optimal. Its folding requires very little energy. The agency was inspired by this to then go on to imagine a fabric folded and stretched on ribs that deform according to the temperature, without sensors or motors. This system reduces the building’s energy consumption by about 10%.
Olivier SCHEFFER
Development director at Ceebios.
« One of Ceebios’ core principles is to cooperate with an ecosystem of partners and customers of all sizes. »
CAN BIOMIMICRY BE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION IN TERMS OF ORGANISATION OR MANAGEMENT?
Yes, the imitation of forms and functions is accompanied at a more complex level by a study of ecosystems and processes, i.e. the capacity of living organisms to constantly optimise the flow of matter or energy. At this stage it is no longer a question of examining the characteristics of a turtle’s shell, for example, but of understanding how it interacts with its environment. Shared governance is a good example of how a human organisation can be inspired by nature: circles of twelve to fifteen people who selfregulate and manage their evolution by resolving tensions autonomously and then synchronising with other teams.
