France: SPIE reaffirms its ambitions in the industrial sector following the successful creation of its Industrie division

Cergy, 18 March 2021 – The Industrie division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire, a French subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is reaffirming its industrial ambitions following its creation in July 2018. As the green recovery gets under way and French industry is being relocated, the Industrie division is strengthening its position across the country as a smart & agile provider of solutions for high-performance, digital and responsible industrial plants. The division is thereby ensuring its expertise and know-how are at the core of the new economic reality.

Expertise which will help improve industrial performance

The division was created as part of the SPIE France transformation plan. It works on the design, set up and maintenance of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly installations. As a top-class safety partner, the division stands out for its ability to help industrial clients solve complex problems and offers bespoke solutions covering a wide variety of workplace environments.

"Less than 3 years after its creation the Industrie division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire has gained a strong foothold in its strategic markets (energy, automotive and agri-food) whilst continuing to grow its presence in other important markets such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals/petrochemicals or transport/logistics by offering solutions which are suited to the needs of the factory of the future", says Christophe Dormois, Director of Business Development & Strategy at SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire - Industrie division. "To do this, we rely on the commitment and skills of our teams who work through a nationwide network of more than 100 sites."

To tackle issues faced by our industrial clients, the division relies on people with skills targeted in three key fields: HV networks^[1], robotics and industrial maintenance.

Successful projects

Over the last three years, the Industrie division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire has developed numerous solutions to help drive processes for its clients.

The Industrie division intervened to help a client in the agri-food sector who was facing the problem of how to reconcile heavy production throughput with strict safety protocols. To remove these constraints, the division pioneered the use of real-world performance testing involving a collaborative robot, or "cobot" palletiser. The cobot, with a throughput capacity of 8.5 cartons per minute, reduces its speed down to 3 cartons per minute when an employee enters the safety zone. This ability to moderate its throughput helped the client to dispense with much more cumbersome safety devices (wire mesh barriers) and therefore limit the amount of floor space taken up.^[2]

In another major market, the pharmaceuticals industry, the Industrie division was called in to assist with the new veterinary vaccine production unit at Boehringer Ingelheim. The subsidiary was awarded 2 lots and is involved in 4 major lots including the HVAC project which lies at the heart of the client's processes owing to very strict biological containment requirements. This project strengthened the Industrie division’s position as a provider of smart & agile solutions as it involved the installation of a collaborative BIM platform, that allowed all of the project's stakeholders to tackle a complex set of technical specifications in a coordinated way.^[3]

Finally, two more examples in the aeronautical and automotive sector:

The Industrie division was commissioned by the avionics and equipment manufacturer Daher to optimise its production facilities at its site in Tarbes (65) using artificial intelligence. A 5-year predictive maintenance contract has been renewed with the equipment manufacturer.^[4]

With its subsidiary CIMLEC^[5], the division was commissioned by a French automobile manufacturer to optimise its production of utility vehicle floor units with the installation of a new robotic assembly line for the manufacturer's GPEC^[6] in Flins (78). This change of equipment led to a 15% increase in production.

Strengthening and development of new business activities

Energy constitutes a major challenge for most clients of the Industrie division, as they are having to face more and more strict environmental regulations. The division has increased the number of orders it has received in the renewable energies sector. It was in this context that the creation of a new "Naval and Marine Energy Services" department was announced in September 2020, to provide a structure for its services and a vehicle for its position in the strongly growing marine renewables market.^[7] The first offshore wind farm projects are beginning to reach completion in France and the Industrie division has been one of the key players in their development.^[8]

Renowned for its more than 10 years of expertise in the field of photovoltaic maintenance and for its extensive HV^[9] expertise, the Industrie division was awarded a preventive and corrective maintenance contract for the first floating solar energy farm operated by the CNR (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône).

The Industrie division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire is also involved in the energy transition, contributing to reducing its clients' energy consumption^[10] and promoting the use of alternative energy sources such as hydrogen, hybrid energy mixes or energy storage, etc...

"We are the industrial partner who challenges clients to improve their production activities and helps them with their energy and digital transition. We rely on teams whose ambition it is to support clients in the collaborative construction of pioneering smart & agile solutions, in order to improve the performance of their processes", says Frédéric Toussaint, Managing Director of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire - Industrie division.

_{[1] High Voltage Electricity}

_{[2] (See the full press release here)}

_{[3] (See the full press release here)}

_{[4] (See the full press release here)}

_{[5] A player known for its know-how in automation, robotisation and optimisation of production equipment. The Industrie Division of SPIE Industrie & Tertiaire acquired this company in September 2019.}

_{[6] Global Process Engineering Centre: centre for the development and validation of prototypes and pre-series models}

_{[7]Renewable energy from maritime sources}

_{[8] (See the full press release here)}

_{[9] High Voltage Electricity}

_{[10] Through Energy Savings Certificates (ESC), etc.}