First published 2020 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley 8 Sons, Inc.
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© ISTE Ltd 2020
The rights of Jean-Pierre Dal Pont and Marie Debacq to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020940663
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A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-442-1
Foreword by Laurent Baseilhac
Without doubt, we have entered a new era. The upcoming change seems so significant that there is already talk of a digital revolution. In this context, many questions arise:
1 – What is the future of the process industry and the future of the talented women and men who are its artisans?
2 – Will we lose this level of excellence in the field? Or, on the contrary, will we cultivate it by reviving professions and vocations in terms of the challenges we see today?
3 – Is digital technology a winning bet?
4 – How are industries preparing for their digital transformation? What are the risks involved?
There are so many thought-provoking new challenges.
Jean-Pierre Dal Pont, Marie Debacq, and their co-authors set out to retrace some industrial trajectories that show that, at different times, industry professionals have had the capacity to overcome the challenges of their time (production, productivity, adaptation to consumption patterns, etc.). The challenges differ today, with societal and environmental markers becoming more and more significant. We understand, through the book, that the answers must probably be sought once again in terms of process engineering technologies, as well as in our ability to renew our management models implemented at the industrial level.
I am sure that readers will share this sense of urgency to tackle all the challenges of the new world. In doing so, we are cultivating a field of expression for our present and future talents and we are working on setting the conditions for a possible reindustrialization.
But let’s not go too far, at the risk of betraying the minds of the authors who, at this stage, seek first to provoke the awakening of consciences; they then agree to give us a few solutions, but above all encourage us to pave paths beyond the narrow boundaries that we often draw out of habit in our professions; all this of course without denying the fundamentals that constitute its foundation.
Dear readers, industrialists, academics, students, and future actors or architects of our process industries, I invite you without further delay to dive into this complete, well-documented work, embellished with top quality industrial testimonies where the authors’ inextinguishable passion for their industry is evident.
This is a way to no longer doubt the meaning of our profession, a tremendous burst of energy that writes the industrial history of our next decade.
Laurent BASEILHAC
Processes Director, Arkema
Digital Manufacturing Manager
Foreword by Vincent Laflèche
When Jean-Pierre Dal Pont asked me to write a foreword for his book, I accepted it with enthusiasm.
Not just out of friendship. We have known each other and have had the opportunity to collaborate for over 15 years. We share the same belief in the importance of strengthening links and exchanges between industrialists, researchers and teacher-researchers, between private research, academic research, and higher education.
As Deputy Director, then Chief Executive Officer of INERIS (Institut national de l ’environnement industriel et des risques), then Chairman of BRGM (Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières), and, since 2016, Director of the École des mines de Paris, I have placed the development of research in partnership with companies at the heart of my strategy, while ensuring that our upstream research activity, funded by public subsidies, constantly feeds the scientific excellence of our teams.
The École des mines de Paris adopted its strategic plan in 2017. A member of the new PSL university (Université Paris sciences et lettres, which from the outset has been among the top 50 of the best universities in the world and the top French university), the school puts scientists and engineers in an environment as close as possible to a research activity. Over 75% of the school’s activity is dedicated to research and only around 25% to teaching. Its ambition is to prepare general engineers capable of making a significant contribution to meet the major challenges of the 21st Century. Ecological transformation, with a particular focus on energy transformation, is clearly a strategic focus. The second area of focus is the digital transformation of companies, with a resolute positioning of project ownership for the school. Since the start of the new school year in September 2019, all our engineering students have common core subjects from the first year, which prepares them for Big Data processing, so as not to use words that sometimes go out of fashion quickly, such as deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Ensuring the scientific excellence, in particular mathematical excellence, of our engineering students clearly remains a lasting strategic marker.
The “resolute project ownership” approach means that these tools will subsequently be used in engineering projects, in contact with and paying close attention to industrial partners. The school has a long history of Big Data in geoscience to optimize drilling, whether oil or geothermal. The school was also recognized for the contribution of AI in the detection and treatment of cancers as part of its work with the Institut Curie, which is also a member of PSL. The challenge for our graduates is not only to
