LITMIR.BIZ

      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:

      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