News 
06/06/2018
« Industrie 4.0 - The Shapers »
On 5 June, almost 200 people came together in Neuchâtel to congratulate the winners of the “Industrie 4.0 - The Shapers” awards
The first “Industrie 4.0 - The Shapers” awards ceremony – organised by ManufactureThinking.ch, Banque Bonhôte and the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura cantons – was a big hit.
The winners each received an iron ingot from the jury to recognise their achievements in relation to “Industry 4.0”.
The awards are the brainchild of Xavier Comtesse from ManufactureThinking.ch, who said: ”We were pleasantly surprised by the number of companies in French-speaking Switzerland that have already begun to shift towards Industry 4.0. The awards allowed us to highlight the figures who are leading this trend: the winners are people in our region who have developed innovations with global reach.”
Christophe Nicolet, CEO of Felco, added: “Our award provides valuable recognition of all of the work done by our company in the last decade. It gives us an opportunity to communicate and discuss best practice in relation to Industry 4.0 with our colleagues and partners. The award highlights our ability to manage our industrial production using the latest technologies.”
Reto Wyss from Vidi-System said: “Our award is an acknowledgement of the effort put in by our whole team. We have won several international awards in the past, but we are delighted that our work has now been recognised at the regional level, especially here in Neuchâtel, which is a hub for micro-technology and cutting-edge manufacturing.”
Fathi Derder, a member of Switzerland’s National Council, said: “It is vital that Swiss SMEs make their voice heard more loudly. It is vital that they set an example and get their message across to politicians in order to ensure a better operating environment, and communicate with other SMEs by sharing their experience. It’s also very important to communicate with our young people, who will be tomorrow’s captains of industry with a fresh perspective on the manufacturing sector and the revolution currently taking place within it.”
Robin Richard, Chief Client Officer at Banque Bonhôte, concluded: “At Banque Bonhôte, we are very pleased to have helped organise these awards, which have put the spotlight on regional business leaders who are at the leading edge of innovation and technologies related to Industry 4.0. Given the success of this first awards ceremony, we are already looking forward to working with our partners on next year’s edition.”
The 2018 winners were as follows: Reto Wyss (Vidi-System, Cognex); Philippe Menoud (IEM); Aude Pugin (Apco Technologies SA); Denis Jeannerat (Willemin-Macodel); Samuel Vuadens et Jonas Hügli (Factory 5); Marc Thurner (regenHu); Peter Stas (MMT); Claude Jeannerat (Micro5); Christophe Nicolet (Felco) and Philippe Menoud (IEM).
The awards jury consisted of Xavier Comtesse, Dominique Duay, Jean René Gonthier, Philippe Grize, Takahiro Hamaguchi, Florian Németi, Edouard Mignon, Elmar Mock, Sylvie Reinhart, Nicola Thibaudeau and Wolf Zinkl.
Some pictures of the ceremony.
