Renault and Google Cloud join forces to accelerate Industry 4.0 transformation.

Published: Fri, 10 Jul 2020 by Rad

Groupe Renault and Google Cloud announced a new industrial and technology partnership to accelerate the digitization of Groupe Renault’s industrial system and of Industry 4.0 transformation.

Automaker Renault said it will use Google Cloud's analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence services on a wide range of initiatives to make the company more efficient.

A recognized contributor to Industry 4.0, Groupe Renault has been developing its own digital platform since 2016 to connect and aggregate industrial data from 22 Group sites worldwide (representing 76% of vehicle production) and more than 2,500 machines.

This program's objective is to enhance a data-driven culture that is an essential part of Renault employees' daily professional lives, in operational as much as in decision-making processes.

"The automotive industry has innovation in its DNA, and there is immense potential for digital technology to have a significant impact on production. We are proud to be partnering with Groupe Renault to help revolutionize the future of automotive manufacturing and power the next generation of supply chain excellence."

Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud

Deeper ties between the two companies follows a decision Docker Inc. made earlier this year to make the Docker Compose specification available as an open source project on GitHub. Docker Inc. at that time disclosed it was working with AWS, Microsoft and others to extend the Compose Specification to better support cloud-native platforms such as Kubernetes and Amazon ECS.

Renault could use the help. In May, Renault outlined a plan to cut costs by 2 billion euros over three years. In addition, 2019 sales volume fell 3.4% and the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt Renault more. Renault also has a sometimes-messy alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. Renault and Nissan have been strategic partners since 1999 with Mitsubishi joining in 2016. Mitsubishi is also a Google Cloud customer.

Google is working to catch up with cloud rivals in big manufacturing contracts, pitching gains in efficiency and automation to cash-strapped firms. Its business ranks third in Europe behind leaders Amazon.com Inc - which has a deal with Renault's rival Volkswagen AG - and Microsoft Corp.

It's trailing in fifth position in France, according to Synergy Research Group. Synergy estimated Google's global cloud share at 8 per cent in the first quarter, about half of Microsoft's size and a quarter of Amazon's.

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