The funding will contribute towards its ambitious JPB Villaroche 2025 project – an initiative valued at more than €30 million that will see the company establish an advanced factory of the future adjacent to its current facility.
“Essentially, JPB Villaroche 2025 embodies our vision for the future via an advanced Industry 4.0 enabled platform that integrates innovative manufacturing technologies designed to ensure we maintain our drive to innovate and diversify for decades to come,” explained JPB Système’s CEO, Damien Marc.
Located at the heart of an aerospace manufacturing hub that comprises a cluster of associated companies – including JPB’s customer, Safran aircraft Engines – the new facility will occupy part of a larger 40,000m2 site, which will, if needed, offer the potential to expand the infrastructure in the future.
Although the new digital factory will primarily serve as the company’s principal manufacturing base, the wider plan for the premises is much more far-reaching and they will be built to achieve several distinct objectives.
These include driving JPB’s heritage self-locking systems into other application areas within aerospace itself, as well as exploring new opportunities for the solutions across other market sectors like mobility, nuclear, oil & gas, and maritime. The building will also serve to spearhead the company’s product diversification programme, most notably its innovative KeyProd production tracking solution, designed to empower manufacturers seeking to embrace intelligent manufacturing and the Industry 4.0 revolution.
Indeed, from a manufacturing perspective, the facility’s own automated production lines will be underpinned by the disruptive innovations that enable the Industry 4.0 concept. These include robotics and advanced 3D printing technology that, it is hoped, will see JPB eventually realise its own certified 3D printing process to create final flight-ready metal parts.
The facility will also offer a befitting environment in which to conduct business and enable knowledge share with internal and external stakeholders, including other innovation-driven manufacturers and start-ups. Additionally, it will serve as a base to welcome educational establishments by – quite literally – offering a window to the world of advanced manufacturing to inspire the engineers of tomorrow.
