Published in September, an Ifri report underlines the key importance of the digitization of companies in the context of the reindustrialization of France. Do you agree with the statement?
Yes. Without industry 4.0, there will be no reindustrialization of France. I hope that our country, which has lagged far behind in the industrial field for the past thirty years, will seize the opportunities that come its way. We have strong digital skills, even unique to certain topics. French industry must now rapidly incorporate digital solutions, otherwise the delay already incurred will be irrecoverable.
What are the remaining obstacles to this digitization?
Some of them are generational. Once a certain age has been reached, the manager of an SME or an ETI will not necessarily see himself pushed to integrate new technologies, a field that he does not master at all, in these internal processes. When new generations take over existing companies, I am very hopeful that the latter will be willing to play a much bigger role in this area. Second point: IT, digital technology, requires resources, proper organization and often dedicated teams. This set is a problem for SMEs that are primarily focused on their core business and sometimes lack funding. Changing their processes is a real challenge for them. The ETIs, for their part, have more of this capacity for change. They can, in fact, allocate resources to the digitization of their business.
The Hexagon group is a specialist in simulation software in the industrial field. What about the advent of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies?
This is a new topic that we are active on. Personally, I strongly believe in the future of augmented reality. Through special glasses, it will be possible to superimpose images or information on the real environment. This technology is quite easy to assimilate in terms of learning and bearable for a user, because it is not completely disconnected from reality (which is still the weak point of virtual reality). We are considering integrating augmented reality for educational purposes into training sessions in our HxGN Machine Trainer. In this way, if a student or a student is blocked at a point, he will be able to benefit from assistance through the use of glasses that will be able, for example, to tell him which button to press.
How are the new environmental requirements integrated?
There are two levels of responses. First of all, the use of our products will save energy, materials, etc. This affects all of our simulation tools, our CAE (virtual car crash test, etc.) solutions, or even NCSIMUL (machining path development to avoid machine crashes). Finally, it is worth mentioning the Machine Trainer which, for its manufacture, requires less material (400 kg) than a real CNC machine (between 2 and 3 tons of material). Regarding its running cost, the Machine Trainer only needs a 220 V outlet to run its electronic components, the computer and the two screens to train the pilots of the machine. A real CNC machine, on the other hand, requires a lot more power than running a computer, and a lot more material to associate with the learning process.
What developments are expected for the HxGN Machine Trainer?
In order to attract young people to the industry, this is a fundamental theme, we plan to associate Serious Games with our Machine Trainer. It is a lever that will allow us to attract more talent to our professions, which are often ignored. We should demonstrate it at the next Paris Air Show where we will be present as part of the “L’Avion des Métiers” forum.
This content was produced with SCRIBEO. The BFMBUSINESS editorial team was not involved in the production of this content.
Source: BFM TV
