CRIQ and Festo sign agreement to advance Industry 4.0 in Quebec

Denis Hardy, President & CEO, CRIQ (front right) and Roger Hallett (front left) during the official signing ceremony. Plus: Phillippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec, and Dominique Anglade, Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation/Minister responsible for the Digital Strategy.

Munich, Germany – During the economic mission to Germany organized by Quebec’s Ministry of Economy, Science, and Innovation, Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ) and internationally renowned company Festo signed an agreement to help speed up introduction of the principles of Industry 4.0 and smart factories in Québec’s manufacturing sector.

Smart factories — a core element of Industry 4.0 — are characterized by continuous communication between the various tools and work stations of supply and production lines.

Under this agreement CRIQ now enjoys access to new specialized resources and to some 30,000 avant-garde automation technologies tried and tested in over 175 countries. The Festo team will collaborate with a research team from CRIQ that specializes in robotization, artificial intelligence, telematics, numerical control, production systems organization, and Big Data management.

Ultimately, this collaboration will give rise to factory technology showcases that other companies can look to for inspiration, and will breathe new life into Quebec’s industrial sector.

“This partnership is a clear commitment by CRIQ to the digital shift our Quebec companies are undertaking, and it speaks to the importance we place on the modernization of industry in our research activities,” noted Denis Hardy, President and CEO of Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec.

For his part, Roger Hallett, President and CEO of Festo Canada, stated that “Festo is delighted to have signed this collaboration agreement with Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec. In our ever-changing environment, our partnership will ensure the competitiveness of Québec’s manufacturing sector thanks to the adoption of the principles of Industry 4.0.”

For more information, visit www.festo.com.