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Schneider Electric Innovation Summit Paris 2018: Research Report
Schneider Electric Innovation Summit Paris 2018: Research Report
Chris Leong
Executive Vice President,
Global Marketing, Schneider Electric
KC Sullivan
President, CNBC International
Introduction
Evidence of the fourth industrial revolution is CNBC Catalyst sent two analysts to the
all around us. Schneider Electric Innovation Summit in Paris,
on 5th and 6th April 2018. They attended
The key technologies powering Industry 4.0 keynote presentations, liaised with Schneider
are entering the home, the office and engineers and participated in product
the factory at an accelerating pace. Artificial demonstrations.
intelligence, mixed reality, and the internet
of things are reshaping business processes, In addition, the analysts filmed interviews with
unlocking opportunities and encouraging new 15 key customers of Schneider Electric during
business partnerships. the event, and explored critical factors that
enable successful digital transformation across
A rich ecosystem of tools, organizations and Building, Industry, Infrastructure and Data
experts is paving the way to a healthier Center.
workplace, efficient businesses and a greener
planet.
• Building
• Industry
• Infrastructure
• Data Center
Buildings Re-Invented
Building
Connected buildings blend the physical and For example, reports can easily be viewed on
digital worlds and create a wealth of smart phones, while predictive maintenance
opportunities through data collection and avoids manual inspection and can reveal faults
analysis. The data is fed into intelligent, real- that might otherwise go undetected. Action can
time dashboards that provide a rich picture of be taken before there is a power outage, and
how the building is performing. energy wastage can be prevented because
faults can be quickly identified and resolved.
The benefits of connected buildings include: The result is a significant saving in both time
• smart ventilation systems that improve and money.
health and safety
• smart lighting that saves energy With a new, efficiently-operational macro view
• smart garages that tell you where of the building, the role of the facility manager
to park becomes a key strategic asset. The manager
• more productive use of space through is proactive rather than reactive – and able
initiatives such as hot desks to focus on integrating facilities into other
business areas.
Facility managers are the main beneficiaries
of this revolution. They gain a comprehensive
and highly revealing view of a building,
enabling them to play a more strategic and
proactive role. They have immediate insights
on a building’s performance and can access
all the operational information they need.
42% of guest complaints come from room Beyond increasing operational effectiveness,
related issues. Higher efficiency in hotel the connected hotel creates a more
and room management will increase guest personalized experience for guests. This is
satisfaction and reduce complaints. We spoke crucial in an age when people expect
to John Conlon, Head of Engineering and the same tailored and digitized service that
Facilities and Edwin Duijvekam, Director they receive from innovators such
of Engineering, Marriott International. They as Netflix and Amazon. Guests at Marriott
explained how smart buildings promote International are given a mobile key that acts
innovation and efficiency in the hospitality as a digital gateway to their personalized
sector. profile. Rooms are prepared according to
preferred room temperature and stocked
The facility team at the hotel is now working with products to a guest’s personal tastes.
with portable devices such as laptops Curtains and blinds are automated, check-in
and tablets, focusing on diagnostic work is done via face recognition and fingerprints,
alongside performing checks and improving and a partnership with Alexa allows added
energy efficiency remotely. A mobile building functionality and personalized experiences.
management system (BMS) is invaluable as
staff no longer have to sit behind desks and
can move around the hotel and attend to the
comfort of guests. The facility management
team will play a strategic role by helping
the hotel achieve its sustainability goals and
implement a more effective BMS.
Intuitive Industries
How can we digitally improve the end-to-end
productivity of industrial automation in
production? From AI to data aggregation, hear
from Schneider Electric experts about the
predictive potential of digitization in industry.
2 million
Schneider Electric
software licences across
100k+ sites worldwide
4 trillion
Industrial transactions
processed and stored by
Schneider Electric daily
Industry
Self-aware machines powering the fourth Openness underpins both creativity and agility.
industrial revolution are here. But making the Open standards give industry leaders the
most of them requires creativity, agility and reassurance that the data generated by their
openness. connected systems is their own. The data is
not buried in silos and is portable. This helps
Being creative means focusing on people and to build an ecosystem of partners, suppliers
their needs. This can be challenging because and experts who can share data wherever
industry has tended to be very product-centric. possible and work collaboratively.
However, by engaging with stakeholders at
every stage of digital transformation, industry It also affords greater continuity, from
can learn to be more people-centric. design and build (Capex) to operation and
maintenance (Opex), and creates new
Agility involves moving away from waterfall- levels of efficiency throughout the asset and
based project management. In an industrial operations lifecycles. The most compelling
setting, it means decreasing time to market, benefit is the opportunity to move to a service-
while also building something credible that based business model. This helps companies
can scale to meet global demands. Invention develop unique selling points and competitive
starts with many small initiatives that combine advantages, rather than being a commodity
to build mass and momentum. supplier competing on price alone.
We spoke to the team at Dow Corning about Dow Corning reduced Capex by 50% and
how they improved their operational the speed of implementation resulted in two
efficiency, reliability, safety and profitability with extra days of production, leading to faster time
EcoStruxure Plant, part of Schneider Electric’s to profit. By looking ahead and proactively
open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system upgrading to new technology, the team
architecture and platform. improved their operational efficiency, reliability
and safety. This enabled additional Opex
Dow Corning’s site in Carrollton, Kentucky, is savings by reducing unplanned downtime
one of the largest silicone materials (and thus lost revenue), ensuring business as
production facilities in the world. usual. In short, they were able to improve the
overall performance of operations and drive
The firm wanted transparent upgrades with the additional throughput and profitability.
aim of maintaining the human-machine
interface so that, in addition to producing
faster results, the upgrade would provide a
more seamless experience for Dow Corning’s
operators and engineers.
Infrastructure
The energy sector is facing significant On both the supply and demand side,
changes. The global appetite for electricity going digital is the key to future success.
is growing, there is a concerted move Smart grid and microgrid technologies can
towards renewable and decarbonized energy unite producers and consumers, enabling
sources, and many people and businesses distribution utilities to boost efficiency
are embracing the prosumer revolution – while meeting the needs of energy-hungry
producing and consuming their own electricity. consumers.
With 24/7 availability critical for businesses
and the general public, some organizations The future of electricity is sustainable,
are now turning to microgrids. renewable, and increasingly decentralized –
and the technology to make it work is here
Microgrids can provide better efficiency, today.
reliability, sustainability and resilience. But, for
electric distribution utilities, that means more
complicated network management which is a
threat to existing models. However, electricity
companies can turn disruption into opportunity
if they choose to facilitate new energy
systems.
Data Center
If data is to be the fuel of the fourth industrial A robust and scalable digital infrastructure, in
revolution, it needs a strong foundation for the cloud and at the edge, is crucial to meet the
growth. This is essential in order to power increasingly sophisticated demands of users.
transformation. High-performing data centers Companies must provide a reliable, on-demand
combined with sophisticated edge computing digital service that moves seamlessly between
are unleashing the potential of the fourth devices and ensures the highest levels of
industrial revolution. Of course, there is no cybersecurity. An investment in a best in class
universal approach when it comes to data data center is also an investment in
and computer systems, as every company cyber-security. Both ‘security by design’ and
has unique requirements. Decisions need to ‘privacy by design’ must guide the development
be made whether to send data to the cloud, of data architecture and consumer relationships.
process it on local servers, or handle it on
edge devices. With edge, bandwidth-intensive With the right data strategy, businesses can
content can remain close to the user or data anticipate customer needs and gain insights
source and is inserted into a logical point within that will help them to innovate and evolve.
a larger cloud computingarchitecture.
We spoke to Ricardo Abad at the Paris Ricardo says that whatever the sector, there
Innovation Summit. Ricardo is the Managing is a common requirement for successful
Director of Quark, one of the leading providers transformation. Namely, the willingness to
of data centers in Spain and Latin America. adapt and innovate, especially among more
established businesses, where change is not
Ricardo told us that one of the benefits of always a natural a step.
attending the Paris Innovation Summit was to
see the new solutions from Schneider Electric,
and to share information and insights with
European competitors.
Although the technology powering the fourth Ultimately it is about preparing the workforce
industrial revolution can be complicated, the for a new type of business environment.
benefits are simple. These are sustainability, Models are changing from selling products
cost-savings, faster production, reduced to selling products as services. This is a
downtime, improved diagnostics, improved subscription-based model that enjoys less
health and safety, and increased customer volatility in revenue streams. This allows
satisfaction. greater opportunity for long term planning.
It entails a new skillset that focuses on
These advances are framed in the context of a selling outcomes and developing long term
wider debate around the future of employment. customer loyalty.
But from smart city planners to strategic facility
managers, there are a wealth of data-driven But education starts with yourself. Most of the
jobs being created. As such, forward thinking industry leaders we spoke to felt there was still
organizations will be investing in the education work needed to get their own house in order.
of the workforce and proactively tackling the Although the technology is there, the story
future skill scarcity. of the fourth industrial revolution is still in the
process of being written.
This means encouraging creative thinking to
help define the services and products that will
help you stand out from the competition. It
means nurturing emotional intelligence to help
people build rich, diverse and collaborative
ecosystems. And it means developing
strategic mindsets so that people on the front
line can contribute to the longer-term vision.
Our research uncovered a strong appetite for Everyone we spoke to was at a different
digital transformation. The concepts behind stage in the digital transformation journey.
Industry 4.0 elicit excitement, ambition and In addition, all were clear that it is a journey
a strong hope for the future. But there are every business needs to make.
also barriers. The impact of automation on
employment worries some business leaders,
and the lack of a clear return on investment
concerns others.
Planning
Implementation