The connected and augmented operator: data serving people on the shop floor — Panel discussion at Tech For Industry Show 2026 (Paris Expo Porte de Versailles), hosted by Mercateam with LVMH Beauty, Bonduelle and Aubert & Duval.
We talk a lot about Industry 4.0 and automation, but rarely about people — often the real bottleneck. How do data and digital transform team management and the operator's role?
Three very different manufacturers share their experience: LVMH Beauty (6 factories, moving beyond Excel to assign staff and anticipate needs), Bonduelle (reorganizing hundreds of seasonal workers day by day as weather dictates) and Aubert & Duval (aerospace metallurgy: skills matrices, certifications and qualifications on critical parts).
Then a projection on the augmented operator (Industry 5.0): real-time access to information, versatility, empowerment, an anti-hallucination document AI assistant routing to a human expert, and anticipating retirement waves to preserve know-how.
The guiding thread: technology must help the operator, not replace them.
