When cooperation and digitalization equate to innovation
At John Cockerill, innovation is above all a state of mind, a way of looking at things. In addition to technological innovation, which is essential for the engineering and services activities of the Group, an innovation drive also requires an open-minded approach to all of the company’s activities, the operating methods and processes. In 2021, this saw John Cockerill’s teams step up the number of initiatives (partnerships, international exchanges, digitalization of processes, etc.) designed to tackle their activities from a fresh perspective and thereby improve their immediate and future operational efficiency.
Anne-Françoise Laime, General Delegate for France at John Cockerill, entered into a partnership with Arts & Métiers Business Angels in October 2021 with regard to themes such as industry 4.0, new materials and, of course, the energy transition.
Interacting and collaborating, to create value collectively
The MecaTech and GreenWin competitiveness clusters in Wallonia and Materalia in Lorraine, the CEBEDEAU water research and expertise center, the A-SPIRE European association, the Tweed cluster in Wallonia (Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development), the Arts & Métiers and ParisTech Business Angels, and so on. John Cockerillg has expanded the opportunities to interact and collaborate with the economic and academic fabric in 2021. The objectives: to exchange points of view, to learn collectively, to create value together and to participate in the deployment of economic activities that make sense.
In June 2021, on the occasion of his appointment as chairman of the Mecatech competitiveness cluster, Jean Jouet, Chief Technology Officer at John Cockerill, emphasized this philosophy: “I’m convinced of the crucial role that industry has to play in the development of the economy. The period of recovery from the Covid crisis that we are currently experiencing offers us a unique opportunity to bounce back by thinking differently. So let’s go! ”
Three first start-ups supported by Industrya
In 2021, Industrya, the investment fund launched in 2020 by John Cockerill together with LRM, Noshaq, SFPI and SRIW, supported its first three start-ups that are active in its areas of interest: new materials, energy transition and industry 4.0. French enterprise SupAirVision develops digital solutions for the diagnosis of wind turbine blades. Flemish start-up Deltaray is developing an accelerated X-ray technology dedicated to improving the non-destructive quality control of products on their production line and the speed of the production line. And the Walloon company VOCSsens is developing an environmental camera technology for revealing invisible gas molecules.
Jean Jouet, Chief Technology Officer at John Cockerill: “This way of supporting innovation through an investment fund is very rewarding for the John Cockerill teams. This allows them to listen to more ideas, including sometimes iconoclastic ideas, which we would not have otherwise thought of”.
Industrya will launch a new call for applications in 2022.
John Cockerill at COP26
60%
development teams in 2021 contribute to the environmental transition.
Digitalization to improve operational efficiency
