Global leader in electricity management and automation, the Schneider Electric corporation, which operates in over 100 countries, has launched a programme of digital transformation on its production sites. The first site to gain from this innovative transformation was that at Le Vaudreuil, in the Norman county of Eure, one of the company’s seven sites in the region. The corporation has been recognised for its approach, receiving the ‘Vitrine Industrie du Futur’ award (or Showcase for Industry of the Future award), given out by the Alliance Industrie du Futur.

The Schneider Electric site in Eure was created in 1975, while its smart transformation was inaugurated on 3 April 2018.

The site carries out three activities for the global specialist in electricity management: the assembling of contactors, the manufacturing of silver electric contacts and the assembling of variable speed drives.

The Le Vaudreuil site has undergone a massive-scale transformation of its processes, using augmented reality, the internet of things, a smart building and connected machines, cobotisation (humans and robots cooperating as effectively as possible), lean manufacturing software, automatic guided vehicles and cybersecurity. The 360 employees have seen their relationship with machines completely transformed. The aims? Productivity gains, increased competitivity and security, reductions in the cost of energy use and the better management in real time of the production line.

100 further sites should be similarly transformed through 2020.

An exclusive report from inside a well-guarded factory.

Music : Bridgeport de Lee Rosevere