With its three world-renowned brands, Peugeot, Citroën and DS, the Group sold 2.9 million vehicles worldwide in 2014, of which 42% outside Europe. PSAPeugeot Citroën is the second largest carmaker in Europe, with 11,9 market share. Furthermore, PSA recorded sales and revenue of €53,7 billion in 2014. PSA Peugeot Citroën has sales operations in 160 countries.

In April 2014, Mr Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the PSA Peugeot Citroën Managing Board, presented the Back in The Race plan for 2014-2018. Beside the financial targets, the Back in The Race plan is built around 4 operational objectives. One of them is to improve competitiveness, especially in Europe. To achieve these four objectives, the Group will also need to continue its cultural shift, developing a real competitiveness-driven culture and a global approach. The improvement of the production plant performance is driven toward quality management system based on lean management.

The LICORNE project, an innovative process of robotic vacuum shaping of PVC material, will give the PSA Group a tool to reach a high quality and more efficient production of its cars. There are more than 60 shaping operations on each car produced which could be monitored by LICORNE in order to certify a premium quality and a better control of our process.

For 40 years, Ringler has been a well-known manufacturer of high-quality industrial vacuum cleaners and extraction devices (located in Waldstetten/ Swabia). The state-certified vacation resort is located in the region of East-Württemberg, about 50 km away from Stuttgart. This is where we produce almost our entire product range. The range goes from mobile small industrial vacuum cleaners, to stationary extraction systems with pipe construction, to dust extractor plants with individually designed collecting units. Our products are characterised by highest quality, long service lives, technical sophistication as well as robust construction.

Ringler extraction systems make an important contribution to keeping production facilities clean, maintaining secure workplaces, preventing air pollution and protecting the environment. On September 1st, 2010, Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co.KG took over our company, Ringler GmbH 

With € 633 million in sales and 5,000 employees in 2014, the CLEMESSY Group has several locations internationally and is recognized as a specialist in performing design, integration, installation and maintenance work as well as improving systems and equipments in the fields of electrical and mechanical engineering. In parallel, CLEMESSY, is involved in fourteen competitiveness clusters: automobile (vehicle of the future, Movéo, ID4 Car), aeronautics and space (Astech, Aerospace Valley), IT (Systém@TIC), nuclear (Burgundy nuclear cluster), energy (Tenerrdis,ÉnergieVie, S2E2 (smart electricity cluster)), food processing (Qu@liMed et IAR ), mechanics (ViaMéca) and pharmaceutical (pharma cluster). Our multi-technical expertise, combined with our strong commitment to R&D, enable us to build turnkey systems and equipment dedicated to numerous industrial processes.

The regular systems and services of CLEMESSY to the automotive industry are very useful to this project: Tests, validation and simulation (R&D or Production Test Benches), Checks (Non destructive / Dimensional / Tightness / EMC Checks Machines), Assembly/Fitting (Gluing / Product Application / Welding / Mechanical Assembly / Screwing / Fluid Systems ; Robotization of functions), Handling/Conveying (Loading / Unloading, Mechanisation, Links between operations), Electrical Equipment

A private, non-profit R&D technological automotive centre devoted to support the automotive industry in its research, development and innovation needs. CTAG is present in all the stages of innovation chain, from initial advanced research to product life.

The fields of competence where CTAG concentrates its activities are: Safety; Manufacturing process and new materials; Environment, Electronics and ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems); HMI, Ergonomics and Comfort; and Innovation Management. The Manufacturing Process Area is the one which is involved in the LICORNE proposal. This area has 2 research lines focused on Cyber physical Systems and development of new efficiency and sustainability Process. CTAG works on design, developing and commissioning of new processes supported by Simulation Tools to Testing their Capacity.

A research laboratory belonging to both the CNRS and the University of Upper-Alsace, UHA, located in the heart of its campus. It is a multidisciplinary laboratory gathering some 200 scientists, teachers, technicians and administration staff. IS2M conducts research of excellence in materials science in the fields of chemistry and physic of surfaces and interfaces as well as in porous materials. IS2M's scientific activity covers a wide domain of not only fundamental but also applied research, ranging from the conception and the optimization of materials and nanomaterials (polymers, carbons, ceramics, oxides, semi-conductors, biomaterials...) to their industrial valorization. Fundamental research conducted at the IS2M is strongly related to projects of a high industrial and development potentials and of a strong socio-economic impact in a large variety of application domains including automobile.