NATS and Altran: a bond of trust

ALTRAN’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE
IN THE LABS
New materials
that drive us forward
P. 06
IN THE WORLD
NATS and
Altran: a bond
of trust
P. 14
IN THE KNOW
Electric cars:
gaining speed
P. 08
> Marianne Catteau
Consultant for Altran Pr[i]me
altran.com
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014
#30
02 | CONTENTS & CONTRIBUTORS
ALTRAN’S SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014
CONTENTS & CONTRIBUTORS | 03
04 | IN THE AIR
#30
IN THE LABS
Decommissioning at the
heart of nuclear issues
New materials
that drive us forward
P. 06
Altran experts hosted a workshop
during the first edition of the
international World Nuclear
Exhibition.
IN THE WORLD
NATS and
Altran: a bond
of trust
P. 14
IN THE KNOW
Electric cars:
gaining speed
© Altran
P. 08
> Marianne Catteau
Consultant for Altran Pr[i]me
altran.com
Creating value from
machine-driven big data
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
01 77 45 86 86
Publishing Manager:
Martin Bellet
Art Director:
David Corvaisier
Page layout:
Fabienne Laurent
Editorial secretary:
Corporate Editions
Translation:
Corporate Editions
Cover credit:
Jean Chiscano
On the cover:
Marianne Catteau,
consultant for
Altran Pr[i]me
Copyright:
December 2014
ISSN: 1767-9974
Altitude (Paris 2003)
For this final issue
of Altitude, Frédéric
Fougerat, Vice-President
Communications of the
Altran group, wishes
to thank everyone who
contributed to the 30
issues published since
2003, especially editors
in chief David Abrioux,
Nathalie Mailharro,
Benoît Repoux and
Kaling Chan, along with
publishing managers
Jérôme Blanchart, Aurélien
Coustillac, Emilie Tran
Phong and Martin Bellet.
altitude | # 30
EDITORIAL BY PHILIPPE SALLE
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF
EXECUTIVE, ALTRAN
Still growing!
After acquiring IndustrieHansa (Germany)
and Scalae (Sweden) in 2013, Altran
continued pursuing its external growth
policy in 2014, in line with the ambition
outlined in its 2012-2015 strategic plan.
In February, the acquisition of Foliage
reinforced the Group’s positions in the
United States while enabling it to broaden
its expertise in innovative product
development for key industries such as
healthcare and life sciences.
TASS, a Dutch company specialising in
critical and embedded systems for the
semiconductors, consumer electronics and
healthcare sectors, joined Altran in April,
strengthening both its Intelligent Systems
global solution and its presence in Benelux.
A year after establishing a local joint
venture in the fields of connectivity,
electronics and software engineering,
Altran acquired Beyondsoft’s telecoms R&D
services in August, pushing Group staff in
China to 800.
Lastly, Altran announced the acquisition
of Austria’s Concept Tech at the end of
October. This provider of development,
simulation and testing services for the
passive safety of vehicles is a key asset for
the Group, particularly in Germany.
With increased resources, international
reach and expertise, the Altran group can
now count on 22,000 Innovation Makers to
better serve its clients.
06 | IN THE LABS
New materials that drive
us forward
Faced with new economic and
environmental challenges, the
transport sector is placing its
hopes in new materials with
extraordinary qualities.
08 | IN THE KNOW
Electric cars: gaining
speed
As the fight against global
warming continues to make
headlines, electric cars – silent
and non-polluting – have serious
strengths. Increasingly powerful,
they seem poised to drive
traditional combustion engines
out of our cities.
12 | IN THE LOOP
Massey Ferguson and
Altran are sowing the
seeds of innovation
FRANCE
AWARD
Corinne Jouanny, Executive Director
of Altran Pr[i]me and a renowned
player in the field of collaborative
innovation, was named 2014
Woman of Innovation at the
2014 Women in Industry award
ceremony organised by weekly
French business magazine L’Usine
Nouvelle. This prize rewards the
innovative and design-thinking
methods she and her team have
developed for major industrial
clients.
© Thinkstock
Publishing Director:
Philippe Salle
Editorial Director:
Frédéric Fougerat
Editor in Chief:
Benoît Repoux
Editorial content:
Denis Baudier, Martin Bellet,
Pierre Michaud, Aurélie
Nicolas, Benoît Repoux
Contributors:
Florence Barré, Emilie
Bartier, Owen Burdekin,
Julien Clausse, Amel
Meddah, Gabor Pop,
Christophe Temple
Design and page layout:
Altran group subsidiary Cambridge
Consultants’ new office space
in Boston’s Innovation District is
designed to foster the company’s
development and design capabilities.
It boasts realistic use environments,
such as a simulated operating
room, which enable the team to
gather unique insights that inform
innovative product design. The
industrial-grade facilities allow
faster and more precise product
development to create disruptive
technologies.
© Altran
Altitude #30
INAUGURATION
© P. Marais
96, avenue Charles de Gaulle
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine
France
www.altran.com
[email protected]
Developed by Altran, VueForge™
is a unique end-to-end offer
designed to help clients reap the
benefits of this revolution and
shape the next generation of
connected machines.
INDIA
MERGER
In February 2014, Altran
announced the acquisition of
US-based Foliage, along with
another entity called Vignani
Technologies, located in India,
which has since been merged
with the Group’s local subsidiary.
Client accounts and contracts
have been transitioned to Altran,
as well as offices in Bangalore
and Coimbatore with strong
capabilities in electro-mechanical
engineering and significant
domain expertise in industrial
equipment.
AGCO Corporation and its
worldwide brand of agricultural
and tractor equipment, Massey
Ferguson, have always been one
step ahead of the market. To help
them design and develop the
‘cab of the future’, they called on
Altran.
14 | IN THE WORLD
Altran UK: a bond of trust
Altran UK is currently helping NATS
develop a new workstation for air
traffic controllers.
# 30 | altitude
IN THE AIR | 05
ENERGY
BIG DATA
Decommissioning at the heart
of nuclear issues
Creating value from
machine-driven big data
T
H
he first edition of the international World Nuclear Exhibition took place
in October 2014 near Paris, France. Destined to become the benchmark
event for the global nuclear energy sector, the WNE brought together
500 players who showcased their know-how and innovations, while offering
roundtable discussions, workshops and keynote addresses. Altran was
there too, pushing its MADeN project on methods and analyses for nuclear
decommissioning, an urgent topic in today’s world. The Group’s experts
also hosted a workshop on finding the right compromise between economic
competitiveness and high safety standards in designing a Small Modular
Reactor (SMR). In this case, their expertise relies on both the Design to Cost
method for systems engineering and proprietary software for the simulation
and validation of SMR concepts.
ARIANE 6: READY FOR
TAKE-OFF
It's official: the future European
space launcher Ariane 6 should leave
Earth around 2020. After months of
hesitation, Space Ministers from the
20 European Space Agency member
countries decided on 2 December to
continue development of the rocket.
It will be more competitive than
Ariane 5 to contend with renewed
American space endeavours.
HEALTH
30
Speeding up cancer diagnosis
C
CM
© Thinkstock
THE RANGE POSSIBLE FOR
wireless charging thanks to MagMIMO
technology developed by a team at
MIT. The device produces a magnetic
field that is automatically directed
at a compatible device nearby. The
signal is then increased for recharging
via induction, and can charge a
smartphone in less than 5 hours.
FOOD SAFETY
When chopsticks and food safety meet
© Mercedes-Benz
I
MERCEDES-BENZ, CRUISING
WITH SOLAR ENERGY
Unveiled at the opening of the new
Mercedes-Benz development centre
in Beijing, the G-Code Vision stands
out for its power-generating silver
photovoltaic paint. The energy
produced will power embedded
systems and help recharge the
vehicle’s hydrogen fuel cell.
altitude | # 30
© DOCSTOCK/PHMEDIA/BSIP
© ESA
04 | IN THE AIR
t all began with a hoax launched
on 1st April by the Chinese
web giant Baidu. In a video,
the company presented a practical
invention for a country tainted by
a number of food scandals. ‘Smart’
chopsticks, once plunged into your
favourite dish, indicate if food is
safe to eat. The idea met with great
enthusiasm, and Baidu decided to
turn the joke into a real project.
Connected to a smartphone, these
smart chopsticks are not only able to
warn diners if food is unfit for human
consumption, but also indicate the
temperature of the dish and the
©
B
u
aid
number of calories it contains. Still
in the prototype stage, these Baidu
Kuaizi may well save many lives in
China in the coming years!
ancer has become
one of the leading
causes of death
around the world and
remains difficult to treat.
The scientific community
nevertheless agrees on
one point: the earlier the
diagnosis, the better the
chances of remission. Two
research teams recently
introduced new rapid
screening techniques using
nanoparticles.
Simple and inexpensive,
the first solution – in
development by researchers
at Harvard University
– is designed for rural
populations, especially those
in developing countries. It
entails simply injecting iron
oxide nanoparticles into
the bloodstream and then
urinating on a test strip. If
the strip changes colour, the
test is positive for colorectal
cancer.
The Life Sciences
department of Google X
is working on another
solution: a pill containing
nanoparticles which
circulate in the body and
attach to cancer cells. The
information gathered is
then transmitted to an
electronic bracelet worn by
the user. This promising
solution could also be useful
to prevent cardiovascular
disease.
ow many devices will be connected by 2020?
30 billion? 70 billion? While forecasts may vary,
it is clear that this number will be very large. The
scope of connectivity has expanded, and the ‘Internet of
Things’ in the consumer market has now developed into
the ‘Internet of Machines’ in the industrial world. Cars,
aircraft, trains, medical devices, manufacturing robots, etc.
are becoming increasingly connected and providing access
to their data.
The key to successfully exploiting the potential of
machine-driven big data is to combine technology, usage
and business models in an efficient manner. All industries
are being disrupted in one way or another and the need for
innovation is huge: the development of new applications
and services is still in its early stages. Developed by Altran
through its Intelligent Systems global solution, VueForge™
is a unique end-to-end offer designed to help clients
reap the benefits of this revolution and shape the next
generation of connected machines.
During the InnoTrans 2014 event in Berlin, the Railway
teams at Altran organized two client workshops on Modelbased Systems Engineering and Connected Train Global
Services. The conclusions pointed to four main value
propositions for VueForge™ in this industry: predictive
maintenance, passenger experience, interoperability and
energy management.
More: http://intelligent-systems.altran.com/core-offers/
vueforge.html
Online
HOW TO
Altran subsidiary and
product development expert
Cambridge Consultants
shares a ‘Top 10 issues’
guide to help you create a
successful connected device. goo.gl/o7JwgF
THE i PROJECT
Discover the season
2 laureates and their
innovative projects. From
motion capture to energy
management, there’s
something for everyone!
goo.gl/ZvrsW7
SPRINTER!
It may soon be possible
to leave Usain Bolt in the
dust with Keahi Seymour’s
bionic boots. They have
already made running up
to 40 km/h a breeze.
goo.gl/hsGyDP
# 30 | altitude
IN THE LABS | 07
06 | IN THE LABS
New materials for the fighter jet of the future
FACED WITH NEW ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES, THE TRANSPORT SECTOR IS
PLACING ITS HOPES IN NEW MATERIALS WITH
EXTRAORDINARY QUALITIES
ALAN
JEAN-MARIE
Scientific Expert,
Research & Innovation,
Altran France
THE FUSELAGE
and wings are made from a carbon-matrix
composite and reinforced with carbon
nanotubes. Resilient and lightweight, this
material allows for weight savings of more
than 10% for the aircraft.
© D.R.
TRANSPORTATION
THE PETALS
making up the nozzle
are made of a ceramicmatrix composite, which
can withstand very high
temperatures while
improving the engine’s
acoustic performance.
“COMPOSITE
CHAINS NEED
A SUSTAINABLE
DIMENSION”
that drive
us
GIDDY
for graphene!
Discovered a mere 10 years ago,
graphene already stands out
as the most revolutionary
material of the 21st century.
Thanks to its numerous physical
qualities (see Altitude No. 29),
this single-layer hexagonal
sequence of carbon molecules
opens up amazing possibilities.
The construction industry would
be transformed by a material with
200 times the breaking strength
and one-sixth the weight of steel.
Electronics would also benefit
from graphene's incredible
conductivity, which could be used
to create new generations of
transistors 150 times faster than
silicon models. Finally, it could
also contribute to the birth of
next-generation batteries capable
of being recharged in a matter
of seconds.
INSIGHT
1892
French engineer François
Hennebique patents reinforced
concrete, the most widely used
composite material in the world.
forward
R
educing energy consumption has become
the number one priority
for the transport sector
in response to both economic and environmental concerns. Optimising aerodynamics
or improving fuel efficiency are no longer
enough: what makes the difference is the
new materials used. Planes, trains and
automobiles all have a common enemy:
mass. The heavier the vehicle, the more
energy it requires to move. The current
leaders in this lightweight race are highperformance composite materials with
an organic matrix, generally made from
thermosetting polymer resin and carbon
fibres. Fifty times lighter than steel and
10 times lighter than aluminium, they are
starting to appear in aircraft fuselages.
Airbus and Boeing thus chose to develop
their latest aircraft – the A350 XWB and
the 787 Dreamliner – around these composites. In the auto manufacturing sector,
these innovative materials have long been
reserved for sports cars. The emergence
1939
Luxembourg metallurgist
William Justin Kroll develops
the industrial process used to
produce titanium.
1958
of more resilient – and more affordable
– composites could lead automakers to
incorporate them into passenger cars
sooner rather than later. For the first time,
BWM has used carbon fibres in structural
components of the i3, an electric model
marketed to the general public. The rail
sector, which has long lagged behind
other transport players, is also taking a
keen interest in composites. Alstom's Ultimat demonstrator has made it possible to
reduce the mass of a train body by 25%.
Meanwhile, the European project Shift2rail
is currently drafting a generic standard for
the use of these materials on railraods.
Virtually miraculous features
The only drawback is the difficulty of recycling these thermosetting materials (see
box opposite). In the age of eco-design,
this constraint could be a dealbreaker for
industry, tarnishing manufacturers' image
and making it difficult to comply with new
standards. A growing number of manufacturers are thus looking into composite
materials with a thermoplastic matrix,
American physicist Roger
Bacon produces the first
carbon fibres.
1984
American engineer Chuck
Hull invents the first laser 3D
printing system, known as
stereolithography.
THE INTERNAL
STRUCTURE
is made from a titanium
alloy: highly shock
resistant, some components
are manufactured using 3D
printing.
THE POLYCARBONATE CANOPY
is manufactured in a single piece for
greater visibility. Capable of withstanding
a bird strike, it is covered in a golden film
to reduce the radar signature.
which are cooled rather than heated to
be moulded into their permanent shape.
They need only be reheated for recycling.
Other materials are also on the starting
block in this race for lightweight transport. One example is titanium aluminide, an alloy set to be used as of 2105
in the vanes of the low-pressure turbine
in CFM International's future LEAP aircraft
engine. In addition to their light weight,
these alloys offer greater resistance to
extremely high temperatures (750 °C), an
essential feature to enhance engine performance.
When it comes to thermal resistance, composites are once again
setting new records.
Next-generation
ceramic-matrix composites can withstand
temperatures greater
than 1,600 °C. They
will soon be tested on the European IXV
atmospheric re-entry demonstrator.
When combined with carbon nanotubes,
composites' qualities are even more
astounding: during the latest Farnborough
Airshow in England, U.K.-based BAE Systems presented a prototype of Survivor, a
fighter jet capable of "healing" mid-flight
when hit by enemy fire.
© Antoine Levesque
New materials
A new kind of manufacturing
All of these new materials must rise to
one more challenge: industrialisation.
Manufacturers are thus turning to a procedure invented... 200 years ago! Updated
by the aeronautics industry, today the Jacquard loom can be used to weave carbon
threads, producing 3D composite parts
with greater resistance to delamination.
To enhance their mechanical properties
even more, these parts are then placed in
a mould, where they are injected with a
polymer resin in vacuum at very high temperatures. Next-generation aircraft will
feature this procedure,
known as RTM (Resin
Transfer Moulding),
which is also sparking interest among
automakers.
Another more recent
innovation: 3D printing.
Also known as additive
manufacturing, this process makes it possible to produce parts of different volumes
using a digital template, for instance by
aggregating metal powders with a laser.
Built on one piece, these parts are less
fragile than assembled items. Still in its
earliest stages, will additive manufacturing one day let us build our own custommade car?
Ceramic-matrix
composites resist
temperatures greater
than 1,600 °C
Recycling composite materials
used in aeronautics is particularly
complex. Why?
Today, thermosetting-matrix
composites make up 50% of some newgeneration aircraft. These materials
are unique in that they are insoluble in
chemical solvents and have no fusion
temperature. Moreover, manufacturers
incorporate several components
and additives into composites, such
as flame retardants, making them
particularly difficult to recycle.
Nonetheless, for environmental,
economic and health reasons, it
remains essential to recover these
items at the end of their useful life.
What is Altran's expertise in this
domain?
We are part of the SEARRCH project,
which aims to develop tools and
methods to assess recycling chains for
these composites. The technological
choices we expect to offer will take
account of sustainability criteria, a
major factor in terms of differentiation.
Sustainability issues even have
an impact on how these materials
are designed...
Right. Altran coordinated the
European project ECOSHELL, which
was successful overall. Among other
achievements, this programme made
it possible to develop an "organic"
composite material made of linen fibres
and a biosourced matrix that meets the
requirements of the automobile sector.
Altran also undertook to model the
mechanical constraints this material
could withstand to ensure that it is
suitable for use in vehicles, particularly
the CITI-Zen concept car.
INSIGHT
altitude | # 30
# 30 | altitude
08 | IN THE KNOW
IN THE KNOW | 09
AUTOMOTIVE
AS THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING CONTINUES TO MAKE
HEADLINES, ELECTRIC CARS – SILENT AND NON-POLLUTING –
HAVE SERIOUS STRENGTHS. INCREASINGLY POWERFUL, THEY
SEEM POISED TO DRIVE TRADITIONAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
OUT OF OUR CITIES. ARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES FINALLY COMING
INTO THEIR OWN?
Electric cars:
gaining speed
© Thinkstock
280,000
electric car sales worldwide in 2014
altitude | # 30
KARIM BORTAL
Senior Business
Manager, Smart
Technologies, Business
Strategies and Sales,
Altran Germany
© Altran
I
n the last two years, electricpowered engines appear to
have gained momentum. One
positive sign, car manufacturers are increasingly likely to
offer 100% electric models in
their catalogues. These vehicles are
no longer auto-show prototypes, as
was long the case, but cars suited to
everyday life. Renault is setting aside
a large advertising budget to promote
the Zoé and its urban quadricycle
Twizy. In addition, Tesla Motors just
inaugurated a 930,000-m² factory in
the United States where it will produce
up to 500,000 batteries per year. They
will equip the manufacturer’s high-end
electric saloons, offering 500 kilometres of autonomy. Another example is
the new BMW i3 (see ‘In the labs’), to
which Altran contributed. Because parts
of this vehicle are made from carbon
fibres, which are lighter and thus have a
lesser environmental impact, the manufacturer had to fundamentally change
the way production was organised.
Altran helped plan the final assembly
line and pre-assembly of the engine
“While hybrid cars will be necessary
for long trips for some time, electric
cars should quickly take hold in urban
areas for short trips such as commuting to and from work. Users are already
reasoning less in terms of vehicle and
more in terms of e-mobility. This means
that the electric car will become more
of an intelligent and connected object,
part of a wider and increasingly global
network. Depending on the route, local
transport network, traffic and car-sharing supply, users will be offered personalised solutions taking account of
a number of parameters: preferences,
availability of charging stations, as
well as the cost and time required for
recharging. Managing this entire ecosystem requires handling a significant
amount of data. With its expertise in
the automobile industry and big data,
Altran is positioned as a key player in
developing these new technologies.”
INSIGHT
and transmission. Group experts also
worked on the high-voltage batteries, power electronics and the range
extender.
CENTURY-OLD TECHNOLOGY
This excitement is certainly a milestone in the already long history of the
electric vehicle. Many are surprised to
learn that the electric car was born at
nearly the same time as cars featuring
the traditional petrol or diesel combustion engine. The most famous of these
pioneers was called La Jamais Contente
(The Never Satisfied), and was the first
vehicle in history to reach 100km/h in...
1899! Since then, the electric car has
never completely disappeared from the
automotive scene, but was long perceived as a mere technical curiosity. It
has returned to the limelight from time
to time – especially when prices per barrel soared during oil crises – before once
again disappearing into the shadows
when prices realigned with consumer
purchasing power.
Today, urgent action must be taken
against global warming. Countries all
# 30 | altitude
10 | IN THE KNOW
IN THE KNOW | 11
EMOC: ELECTRIC AND
MODULAR
Eager to show the auto industry
its ability to develop innovative
solutions, the Altran Excellence
Centre in Barcelona designed a
small versatile electric vehicle
that is at once economical,
environmentally friendly, durable
and can be easily transformed to
meet major mobility needs. Its
name is eMOC, for "electric modular
car". A connected vehicle, it offers
advanced navigation, intelligent
energy management, infotainment
systems, 4G connections and Wi-Fi.
> François de La
Calle, Head of Research
How will we get around 10, 20 or 30
years from now? That’s the question
that e-Cockpit is trying to answer.
This Research & Innovation project is part of
Altran France’s Ground Transport & Mobility
field launched in 2014. The initiative has led
to an environmentally friendly, economical,
compact, intelligent and highly modular
vehicle. Users may choose between electric
and combustion engines. Similarly, the car
can be adapted to the number of passengers
by changing the rear module.
> Virginie Toussaint,
Today, electric vehicles represent
between 0.5 and 1% of the market.
This figure could reach at best
between 5 and 10% of new vehicles in 2025
according to some estimates. Growth is
mainly driven by China, where reducing
CO2 emissions has become critical. As long
as we see decreasing battery costs and
increased infrastructure development,
electric vehicles should gradually take
hold in large urban areas, where they can
greatly improve quality of life.
& Innovation for
Automotive, Infrastructure
and Transportation, Altran
France, Ile-de-France
region
© Tesla Motors
© Altran Spain
Marketing Manager for
Automotive, Infrastructure
and Transportation, Altran
The Tesla Model S can run for 500 km thanks to a new generation of Li-ion batteries
> Luc Debraine,
over the world are expected to take
major decisions in this regard at the
next global climate change conference
to be held in Paris in November 2015.
Responsible for 15% of emissions of CO2,
the main greenhouse gas, land transport
and especially the automobile must contribute to the overall effort.
A “GREEN” CAR
From this point of view, electric cars
present a major advantage: their
engines do not release a single gram
of CO2. These vehicles’ carbon footprint thus seems particularly favourable, insofar as measurement is based
on emissions. If we take into account
the method of producing electricity
– nuclear, gas, coal, hydro, etc. – the
calculation becomes a bit more complicated. Nevertheless, the electric
car does seem to be the only credaltitude | # 30
€2
Cost of electricity required for recharging
the battery of an electric car
ible alternative to the mobility needs
of an ever-growing urban population.
City dwellers will represent 75% of
the global population in 2050. A decisive advantage, as many big cities are
beginning to face alarming rates of
toxic particles harmful to the health
of their inhabitants.
One final plus, these cars are completely silent. More and more urban
centres are beginning to offer selfservice electric cars, such as Paris,
Montreal, and soon London and
Indianapolis.
CONSTANTLY IMPROVING
PERFORMANCE
Despite its importance, the ecological question alone cannot explain the
renewed interest in electric propulsion.
Today manufacturers are on their way
to overcoming a number of technical
shortcomings that have hitherto stalled
commercial development of these vehicles. For years, lead batteries limited
autonomy to around 80km. These cars
can now run for close to 200 km – up to
500 km for the Tesla Model S – thanks to
a new generation of Li-ion batteries. The
arrival of hydrogen fuel cells may offer
even greater possibilities.
Another key point: charge time. Some
manufacturers such as Renault have
developed special outlets that offer
quick recharges – around 30 minutes.
Other manufacturers rely on express
battery exchange stations (quick drops)
where users can swap their batteries
for a fully charged unit in just minutes.
These many features require adapted
infrastructures, and government support. To simplify the commute of electric
car users, Altran teams have developed
an interface called Powerline Communication that verifies the compatibility of a
vehicle with a charging station.
The question of cost still remains.
While an electric car may be more expensive at the outset than a traditional combustion vehicle, its operating costs are
much lower. An electric motor can run
for a million kilometres, recharging the
battery requires little electricity – around
20 kWh or less than 2 euros –, and maintenance is reduced by around 60%: no
regular oil changes, no dirty exhaust
system, no belts to replace. These many
arguments make electric cars increasingly attractive to consumers.
journalist and author
of ‘Les voitures
électriques, un futur
pour l’automobile’, Favre
edition, 2009
Which approach will most
effectively stimulate the
market for electric vehicles?
Will increasing the number of charging
terminals in the streets spur sales of
electric cars? Or is it best to wait until
electric cars start selling before building
new stations? Norway seems to have found
an answer to these questions. After making
significant investments in an infrastructure
network for electric cars, the country has
seen a sharp increase in sales.
ALTERNATIVE VEHICLES FOR THE CITY
OF THE FUTURE
Altran can help its clients – manufacturers, suppliers and public
authorities – develop sustainable mobility solutions that rise to current
challenges in terms of health, safety, and the environment. Today,
promoting development of public transport and soft mobility (walking,
biking) is important but not enough to combat the problems of urban
traffic, air pollution and increased CO2 emissions. It is now necessary to
reduce the environmental impact of each vehicle and optimise mobility. In
this regard, Altran has a wide range of skills acquired in telecoms, media
and energy, and – of course – its extensive experience in the auto industry.
INSIGHT
# 30 | altitude
12 | IN THE LOOP
IN THE LOOP | 13
INTERVIEW
Massey Ferguson
the
and Altran are sowing
seeds of innovation
DRIVEN BY A PIONEERING SPIRIT, AGCO CORPORATION AND
ITS WORLDWIDE BRAND OF AGRICULTURAL AND TRACTOR
EQUIPMENT, MASSEY FERGUSON, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ONE STEP
AHEAD OF THE MARKET. TO HELP THEM DESIGN AND DEVELOP
THE ‘CAB OF THE FUTURE’, THEY CALLED ON ALTRAN.
How did your collaboration
with Altran come into being?
> Thierry Lhotte: We were looking for
guidance in our innovation process
to create the cab of the future. Altran
had already been working with our
Engineering Department for many
years, particularly in technologies for
transmissions and hydraulic systems.
They were thus familiar not only
with the Massey Ferguson brand and
products, but also with our history
and culture, which are fundamental
aspects for us.
> Olivier Picard: We had already
worked with many companies on
creative projects. Today’s tractors
clash with the old-fashioned image
many people have of agriculture;
when it comes to embedded
technology, they can hold their own
against cars and planes. Moreover,
the challenges they present in
terms of modularity, reliability and
competitiveness are quite similar.
What did Altran contribute to
your design process?
Thanks to Altran, we managed to create something
very ambitious and completely new
> Thierry Lhotte,
Vice President Marketing
EAME, Massey Ferguson
Helping AGCO teams dare to pursue new ideas
was one of our main goals for this mission
> Olivier Picard,
Co-creation Solution Director,
Altran Pr[i]me
> Thierry Lhotte: By casting our
business in a new light, Altran
experts led us to ‘think outside the
box’, helping us develop innovative
solutions. After considerable
preparation, we organised two
‘brainstorming’ sessions that
produced very positive results. We
took chances, leaving behind the
prejudices and common knowledge
that sometimes curb imagination.
Their expertise in leading these
sessions was vital.
> Olivier Picard: In just a few
years, the tractor cab went from a
simple ‘windscreen’ to a veritable
control tower. The driver became
at once a pilot, a chemist and a
mechanic: he must be connected
at all times, managing a number
of parameters. Technological
advances exist, but they were
simply following one another with
no real link. Being a general service
company and working with other
cutting-edge sectors such as the
aeronautics industry let us take a
step back, combining these new
tools and experimenting with new
man-machine interface concepts.
What are your main
achievements?
are currently analysing the feedback
we gathered and will be ready to
present several models of the cab
of the future by the end of the year.
It will be a veritable revolution for
agriculture!
> Thierry Lhotte: Indeed, we
managed to create something
very ambitious and completely
new without sacrificing our identity.
It was quite a feat, since users had
to feel the Massey Ferguson style.
We wanted to avoid confusing or
unsettling them. That is why we
focused quite a lot on simplicity,
ergonomics and comfort without
changing everything: you never
want to be too far ahead of your
time!
> Thierry Lhotte: Altran teams
were very active during our Vision
on the future event, organised every
two years to bring together
6,000 current and prospective
clients from all around the world.
We took advantage of the presence
of these agricultural machinery
users to test the ideas that emerged
during our brainstorming. The
Altran teams helped us co-facilitate
a driving simulation workshop
in a virtual cab to gather users'
impressions. Altran's capacity for
adaptation is such that clients
probably could not tell whether they
were talking to a Massey Ferguson
employee or an Altran consultant...
> Olivier Picard: Many farmers,
young and old alike, were surprised
and impressed during the tests. We
AGCO, INVENTING THE
TRACTOR OF THE FUTURE
AGCO Corporation is an American
high-tech agricultural machinery
manufacturer based in Duluth, outside
of Atlanta, Georgia. It includes the
brands Massey Ferguson, Challenger,
Fendt, GSI and Valtra. With high
growth and nearly 20,000 employees
worldwide, the group's 2013 sales came
to $10.8 billion. In France, AGCO is
based primarily in Beauvais where it
manufactures Massey Ferguson tractors:
85% of production is exported all over
the world. With a long-standing history
of innovation, the brand was the first to
introduce electronic linkage control and
an optimised hydraulic circuit in tractors.
INSIGHT
© Nicolas Götz
Innovating while upholding the brand's fundamentals
was a real challenge
> Thierry Lhotte, Vice President Marketing EAME, Massey Ferguson
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# 30 | altitude
14 | IN THE WORLD
IN THE WORLD | 15
AERONAUTICS
BIO
BIO
© Georges Blonsky / CAPA Pictures
1992 Electronics
& Electrical
Engineering
degree– University
of Loughborough
/ joined NATS /
Chartered Engineer
2002 Engineering
manager key to the
operational launch
of the Swanwick
Air Traffic Control
centre
2007 Lead for
iFACTS integrated
project team (NATS,
Altran, Lockheed
Martin)
2009 Head of ATC
Systems, Procedures
& Training for the
Swanwick ATC
centre
2013 General
Manager of
Customer Solutions,
NATS
MARK FLANIGAN General Manager of Customer Solutions, NATS
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With Altran, we are
creating our nextgeneration workstations
F
or the past 10 years, a true bond of trust has united
NATS and Altran. This partnership has been enormously
beneficial for us, particularly from a design and methods
perspective. We are currently working on an advanced Air
Traffic Controller Interface to create a world-leading user
experience that will translate into exceptional service for our
customers. For this project, Altran Pr[i]me designers apply
a consumer-led, user-centred design approach to improve
the user experience, mitigate human error, and reduce the
workload per flight.
Our solution will also streamline the training and validation
process for air traffic controllers, which is always a costly
phase of any safety critical deployment. A big challenge for
our team is striking the right balance between automation
and human intervention, which requires a mastery of human
factors and a deeper understanding of the psychology of
control. This product – developed using NATS’ custombuilt SPACE innovation hubs – really could become the new
standard in the field of air traffic control.
Finally, again with Altran UK and Altran Pr[i]me, we are
creating commercial products from previously developed
tools, to make them available for purchase and deployment
throughout the world. A great example of this initiative is
iFACTS, a suite of trajectory tools that is currently delivering
exceptional safety, service and environmental performance
in the UK, and is now being developed into a virtualised,
service-oriented app for ease of integration by future
customers.
The team we put together
does outstanding work
BIO
JONATHAN
HAMMOND
Consultant
1990 Mathematics
and Computer
Science Degree –
Oxford University /
joined Praxis (Altran
subsidiary as
of 1997)
1998 Systems
Engineer on a rail
safety project
2005 Systems
Architect for
a NATS project
2014 Began
work on the NATS
Human-Machine
Interface project
for air traffic
controller
workstations
© Jean Chiscano
A team of Altran Pr[i]me designers is at work on
this project, which will be deployed across NATS
operations. In addition to guaranteeing a high level
of security, the new workstations will be more
ergonomic, more effective and less costly to maintain.
F
or the NATS Strategic Human-Machine Interface
project, we use an innovative design process
that places users at the heart of the system.
This process has a threefold focus: understand the
needs, propose new concepts, and test the concepts
with users. I am in charge of connecting designers
and users. We proceed with successive prototypes,
aiming for an initial launch in 2018. The most
exciting part is incorporating into NATS Altran
Pr[i]me’s vision of design as a tool for innovation.
In this respect, we are guiding the client through
a true cultural transformation.
2010 Licence
I, Sciences and
Techniques of Sport
and Physical Activity
–University of Lille
2011 Master 1 in
Engineering and
Ergonomics of
Sport and Physical
Activity: Products
and Services
Design– University of
Valenciennes
2012 Master 2 in
Innovation, Design,
Engineering – Ecole
Nationale Supérieure
d'Arts et Métiers
2013 Joined Atran
Pr[i]me as a Human
Factors Consultant
M
y main role is to provide the Altran Pr[i]me design
team with my knowledge and understanding of NATS.
After some 10 years of collaboration with this client,
I have significant insight into the organisation’s environment
and concerns. The new Human-Machine Interface project on
which this team is working is particularly ambitious: it aims
to develop an air traffic control toolset that can not only be
used throughout Great Britain, but will also offer a much more
integrated and effective design than the mixtures of different
legacy systems currently in use. The challenge is all the greater
considering that NATS controls two million flights per year in
one of the world’s most congested air traffic regions.
ALTRAN UNITED KINGDOM
Altran UK has a long and distinguished track
record of delivering leading-edge projects
for major clients and partners. This Group
subsidiary has offices in Bath, Bristol, London,
Slough and Warwick, and is particularly
renowned for its work in the aerospace and
defence sectors, having developed many
award-winning technologies and engineering
solutions for clients including NATS, Airbus,
Thales and BAE Systems. Altran UK has also
been a technical partner of Lotus F1 Team
since 2013.
© Georges Blonsky / CAPA Pictures
A long-standing partner of NATS (the UK’s air traffic
control operator with clients in over 30 countries),
Altran UK is currently helping to develop a new
workstation for air traffic controllers as part of a
project entitled Strategic Human-Machine Interface.
I ensure that the
product has an
ergonomic design
© XXXXXX
A bond
of trust
MARIANNE
CATTEAU
Consultant
More:
www.altran.co.uk
INSIGHT
# 30 | altitude
DESIGN WITH LOVE BY EGUE.FR
D
are
to innovate!
*
Are you an Innovation Maker ?
Whatever your job is, wherever you are,
THE i PROJECT is open to each and everyone at Altran.
—
From 24 November 2014 to 15 February 2015,
submit your innovative projects!
Apply now on the Altran intranet:
Go to https://directv2.altran.com/ and click on THE i PROJECT logo
(*Employees of the Altran group)