Konecranes today announced plans to create a data science laboratory in Lyon, France, part of its continuing drive to digitalize products, services, and operations to tap the benefits of the industrial internet. Konecranes has 20,000 connected devices across the world and digital life-cycle records from over 600,000 customer assets; it firmly believes that value creation from data will transform the material handling industry.
The Konecranes Data Science Lab will open in April 2019, and is being built in cooperation with Business France and Invest in Lyon. Operations will ramp up steadily over the coming months.
“Digitalized processes and connected products generate massive amounts of data that have improved what we offer our customers. However, we’ve now reached a point where we can mine even more data to allow us to create new business models and give greater value for our customers. We chose Lyon because the city provides an excellent combination of advanced data research capabilities and an industrial focus. This combination will help us to develop new material handling solutions. We’re looking forward to establishing this new center of excellence in France,” says Juha Pankakoski, Executive Vice President, Technologies at Konecranes.
Turning data into actionable insights requires data scientists and researchers that understand both data science and manufacturing and heavy industries. It’s a very specific mixture. Given that Lyon is France’s center for manufacturing and heavy industry, a hub for machine learning and Industry 4.0 development activities, with one of the largest universities in France, it was a natural choice for the lab, which will serve all Konecranes business areas.
“Konecranes chose France to establish its new Data Science Lab. This decision proves that France is an attractive destination for foreign investments in R&D, notably in the fields of AI, Machine Learning and Industry 4.0. Thanks to its important ecosystem gathering high-quality infrastructures, fast-growing companies and a large pool of talents, France has a central position in these fields of innovation,” says Axel Berggren-Lagercrantz, Business Development Manager at Business France.
The announcement has been welcomed by many in the city of Lyon.
Jean Charles Foddis, Executive Director of Invest in Lyon, says: “As the capital of France’s most important industrial region, and the second digital hub in the country, Lyon is the perfect home for the new Konecranes Data Science Lab. This project completely aligns with the Greater Lyon’s strong involvement in the digitalization of industries.”
“The University of Lyon, with its 6,800 researchers and 140,000 students, welcomes the Konecranes Data Science Lab and the cooperation opportunities offered by the University’s strong positioning in the field of digital transformation and AI applications,” says Khaled Bouabdallah, President of the University of Lyon.
