By Juan Pedro Tomás
French IT firm Atos recently launched its “Factory of the Future” project in Angers, France, the company said in a release.
With this new factory, Atos said it aims to improve the quality of life at work for its employees, while meeting the “highest technological requirements” demanded by its customers.
Atos has been based in Angers for 60 years, where it produces and tests its supercomputers, quantum simulator, high-end servers, cryptology and cybersecurity products and technologies.
Atos also noted that the “Factory of the Future” project will create around 100 skilled jobs and will have a total cost of 60 million euros (US$68 million). The construction of the new facility will take approximately five years and is expected to begin at the beginning of 2023.
The technologies developed in this factory are used by Atos’ customers from all over the world – such as the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Météo France, the French national supercomputing agency GENCI and European research universities – to carry out weather forecasts, model automobile crash tests and leverage genomics for personalized medicine, the company said.
The new factory, Atos added, will require several phases, including digitalization, cybersecurity and safety, connectivity (IoT), robotics, “cobotics” — described as “human-robot collaboration” — and collaborative engineering. The French firm said that the project will double the current production capacity while improving productivity by 30 per cent.
Atos also said it plans to decrease the site’s carbon footprint right from the design phase. By rebuilding on its own industrial site, this project is part of the “zero-net artificialization” (ZAN) process. In addition to what Atos said is an eightfold increase in green spaces and the solar panel roof, the plant will be supplied with electricity from renewable energy sources. The design of the site will also allow for the reinjection of “waste heat” from the construction of its servers and supercomputers into the urban heating network.
“By investing significant human and financial resources, Atos will build a modern and innovative facility that will meet the challenges of digital development on a regional, national and international scale. This large-scale project will enable us to meet the growing needs of our customers in high-tech areas such as supercomputing, servers and cybersecurity products, and tomorrow’s quantum computing. In this way, the Atos Group is reaffirming its contribution to the reindustrialization of the region and its commitment to the creation of skilled jobs, in line with its 60-year presence at the Angers site,” said SVP of supply chain and manufacturing at Atos, Vincent Sarracanie.
