Do automation and digitalisation concern all sectors?
Caroline Muller: Yes, exactly. Initially, for this series of discussions on the subject, we had targeted the manufacturing industry, but digitalisation encompasses many things. That’s also why we called the sessions “automation and robotics.” Robotics is really about replacing production process with robots, but automation is about replacing routine tasks with something else. This can be software and there are many digital solutions.
Is this a cross-disciplinary subject?
Absolutely. We can digitise in all sectors of activity. Businesses often ask themselves where they should start. This can be, for example, in administration--as Vincent Sommer D'Yvoire, from kShuttle International explained--with customer orders. Digitalisation requires a change of mentality, a change of point of view, a clear strategy and vision. For more traditional companies, this can be frightening for employees, who fear losing their jobs.
So employees need to be supported?
Yes, in this transformation, we need to support both management and employees. The whole team has to be involved. After administration, there’s also the digitalisation of measurements, for example, as Dirk Treinen from Luxforge presented. Then there’s the production side, with Jean-Marc Pirotte from Soudoplast, an SME with 20 employees. SMEs are, of course, also concerned. The robot makes it possible to avoid dangerous tasks. CTI Systems and Serge Heinen presented automated warehouses. Finally, Jean-Marc Leber, supply chain manager at Auchan Luxembourg, showed the pilot project currently underway to digitise and automate logistics across the group’s Luxembourg shops.
How does Luxinnovation help these companies?
We are the first person who goes to see the company to understand its needs. We visit the production site, the workshop, we ask a lot of questions and we ask the company what its challenges are. Sometimes they haven’t even identified their needs. We also give them examples from other companies. Then, after this inventory of needs, we redirect them to the right people, to the right experts, in financing, in digitisation like the Digital Innovation Hub, in Fit4 programmes. We also do private-private or public-private matchmaking. There are simple things to put in place.
Like what, for example?
Like administration, customer orders. There’s also a lot of open-source software that doesn’t cost much but is very useful. There’s still a lack of awareness of what exists for businesses.
So digitalisation doesn’t necessarily mean job cuts?
Exactly, we’re replacing certain processes with robotics precisely to avoid errors, drudgery and danger. And additional controls are being introduced, and employees have to be trained to carry them out and to use these new tools. But this transformation is necessary because we’re still wasting a lot of time doing things manually.
This article was originally published in French.
