For years now, the Science & Technology Park has boasted high-level expertise in electronics, computing and mechanical engineering. The convergence of these three areas of expertise has led to innovations in production engineering and mecatronics, maximising industrial processes and increasing their reliability. PSA Peugeot Citroën, which has a production plant employing 10,000 people in Rennes, has been instrumental in spreading its expertise in quality and performance management among industrial companies in a wide range of sectors throughout Brittany (agri-food, electronics, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals etc.) to help them improve their results.

Areas of expertise

• Mechanical engineering
• Materials
• Mecatronics
• Robotics
• Vision
• Prototype building

Highly innovative equipment

• A centre for rapid prototyping and high-speed machining

The rapid prototyping centre is equipped with design, production and inspection resources that allow fast product development through the building of a prototype. Teaching, research and industrial enhancement are the centre’s three purposes.

It was set up in September 2001 within the Ecole normale supérieure de Cachan – Antenne de Bretagne, the Breton branch of a leading engineering college.

• A laser welding test centre

The purpose of the laser welding platform in the Institut Maupertuis is to increase the efficiency of component assembly processes and to improve their resistance while reducing the quantity of metal used.

The platform, which is the only one of its kind in France, enables vehicle and equipment manufacturers to test new assembly processes during the pre-production phase.

• Material specification equipment

The Materials department in the Ecole Louis de Broglie (engineering college) provides support for companies in the specification of materials and the development of test structures. In particular, the college has one of the very latest scanning electron microscopes. The areas of study and research are industrial surface treatment processes and the definition of polymers and alloys.

Innovation support agencies

• Brittany Production Engineering Cluster

The Brittany Production Engineering cluster aims to improve corporate performance by the use of production engineering and to develop industry through innovation and progress.

Set up in May 2000 by three leading colleges (ENS Cachan – Antenne de Bretagne, Ecole Louis de Broglie and Ensai) and two industrial companies (PSA Peugeot Citroën and Legris SA), the cluster includes players from the worlds of industry, education and research.

• Institut Maupertuis

Institut Maupertuis is a research and implementation centre specialising in innovative technical systems in production engineering and mecatronics. It was set up at the end of 2003 by a number of industrialists with the backing of Rennes Métropole, the “County” of Ille-et-Vilaine and Brittany Regional Council. Its aim is to increase the competitiveness of companies in Brittany by making use of the expertise available in technical centres, educational establishments and research facilities throughout the region.

The Institut coordinates projects submitted by industrialists and develops the use of mecatronics and new assembly processes.

• Performance 2010

The Performance 2010 Association has, as its members, stakeholders from the automobile sector in the Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes regions i.e. vehicle and equipment manufacturers, product and service suppliers, official agencies and training centres. Its aim is to develop quality and performance, technical innovations, human resource management etc.

Performance 2010, which was set up in 1994, played a decisive role in bringing all the industrialists together and contributing to the recognition of the Top-of-the-Range Automobile competitiveness cluster.