WEBINAR: How can the EU harness the power of Industrial Automation?
25 June, 11:00-12:00 (CET)
Background
During the last years, industrial automation has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing manufacturing processes across the globe. European industries have embraced automation to streamline operations and drive innovation. However, despite significant progress, there remains untapped potential in harnessing the full power of industrial automation across diverse sectors. To overcome existing barriers (e.g., integration into existing manufacturing processes), it is necessary to better understand the potential of industrial automation (both for industry and workers) and promote better collaboration between industry, policymakers, workers, and the research centre to address those issues jointly.
Objectives
This event’s aimed at fostering a dialogue on:
- Role of policies, investments, and skills development initiatives in enabling widespread adoption of automation while addressing concerns related to workforce transitions.
- Strategies to maximize the benefits of industrial automation in Europe.
- Barriers to adoption of automation in manufacturing.
- The role of automation as a catalyst for sustainable growth, resilience, and competitiveness for the manufacturing sector in Europe.
The speakers explored key challenges and opportunities while presenting best practices for harnessing automation’s added value in industrial processes.
AGENDA
11:00-11:05
Opening Remarks
Filip Geerts, Director General, CECIMO
Speaker Bio
Filip Geerts is the Director General of CECIMO. He specialises in the management of corporate and governmental affairs departments of companies, national and EU trade associations, and non-profit organizations. He was the deputy-director for the largest Belgian association for the technology industry, the public and regulatory affairs manager for IBM (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and the secretary general for numerous European trade associations. He has degrees from INSEAD Fontainebleau and Singapore, the London School of Economics, Vlerick, the College of Europe, The Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, and the Catholic University of Leuven in commercial engineering.
11:05-11:15
KUKA Presentation
Kirill Safronov , Head of Technology Research, KUKA
Speaker Bio and Presentation
Speaker Bio:
Kirill Safronov earned his doctorate in Informatics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2009. During his PhD study, he had worked in computer vision, image processing, and robot manipulation. After graduation, he joined Vision Tools Bildanalyse Systeme GmbH as a computer vision expert. In 2014, he moved to KUKA Corporate Research, participating in numerous research and industrial projects. In 2022, he became Head of Technology Research, responsible for acquiring new research projects and developing novel technologies for the KUKA group. His expertise spans computer vision, 2D/3D image analysis, camera and 3D scanner calibration, object localization and recognition, visual SLAM, mobile manipulation, distance calculation, and collision detection.
11:15-11:25
Fagor Automation Presentation
Javier Arenas, Director of the Technical Research Centre, Fagor Automation
Presentation and Speaker Bio
Speaker Bio:
Javier Arenas completed his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 2005, followed by a Master’s degree in Automatic Control and Robotics at the University of the Basque Country. With a career dedicated to R&D, he joined Fagor Automation in 2011. In 2022, he assumed the role of Director at its Technical Research Centre.
11:25-11:35
GF Machining Solutions Presentation
François Duval, CECIMO President & Managing Director, GF Machining Solutions
Presentation and Speaker Bio
Speaker Bio:
François Duval has over 20 years of experience in the machine tool business, including leading the French trade union SYMOP’s machine tool manufacturers and importers group. He started as the Managing Director of Cinetic Machining, eventually merging it with Metrap to form Fives Machining. He later became the VP of Business Development for Fives’ Metal Cutting & Composites division, gaining experience in additive manufacturing. With a global career that includes Eastern countries, China, Asia, and Australia, he now serves as the Managing Director of GF Machining Solutions France since July 2020.
11:35-11:45
European Commission Presentation
Yves Paindaveine, Senior Expert, European Commission, DG for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Presentation and Speaker Bio
Speaker Bio:
Senior Expert in the European Commission, DG CONNECT/A4, Digital transformation of industrial ecosystems. Yves has been working in the policy fields to foster the uptake of digital technologies since the Digital Agenda for Europe in 2010 and has been driving digitalisation initiatives and supporting industry to succeed in a digital and data economy. Education: Electronics Engineering. Computing Sciences Engineering. Both from Polytechnic School (UCL, Belgium).