Well, hello, everybody, Good
afternoon, my name is
Convo Magro. And I'm with
Alizent, as Martin said, a
wholly owned subsidiary of
industrial Air Liquide group
So basically, I've been 20 year
 in technology, the first part o
my career as a software enginee
 or as a software guy. And
the second part, almost around 
ine years ago, I jumped into a
ore management truck in my car
er. So I'm the technology guy.
And even though I'm the techno
ogy guy, I'm going to try and
tay away from the knowledge in 
his presentation, because wh
t I wanted to describe here to 
ell you is the story of how
the these transformation and 
ore precisely the operat
ons management system tha
 we implemented in Air Liquide a
large around the office of 
i, how that impacted the organiz
tional aspects of the busine
s, the anatomy of the entities
orking within Air Liquide, wh
t kind of change is needed, wi
hin this, this kind of group to
implement such a digital transfo
mation or industri
l digital transformation.
That's my intention today. So, w
ll let me just give you some co
text some introduction of the lo
al group. We are the world
leader in gases, technology an
 services for basically the in
ustry and healthcare. S
, we have industrial clients an
patients today. And while Air 
iquideis 120 years old compa
y, which was created in
1902 upon an invention, so, we a
e technology company basically 
he group was born upon th
oxygen look function procedure,
and that was created the compa
y so, we are basically a techn
logy company and also we are a g
obal company because if you can
picture this in your head 190
a brilliant guy come up with a
 a method to liquefy oxygen. The
created the company in 19
4. They were opening in Japan as
a trigger in Japan. So we alr
ady know the company and we ar
in our DNA. We are a global c
mpany, okay, an international
ompany. Here you have some numb
rs about the local group. In 20
5, the group took a really b
ld move, and grew their activiti
s in America very, very stro
gly with the acquisition of
air gas, who joined the Air 
iquide family. So which also ha
an impact in how we see ourse
ves these days on how we starte
to see ourselves start in 201
, because for the first time,
hat the changed a little b
t our our map the anatomy of the
activities in the group, and for
the first time in our hi
tory, the biggest activit
 of Air Liquide goes outside
Europe. So that came with the
globalization of the grou
as a whole and also impacted u
 in in many ways. If we zoom i
to Allison's, which is a, as I
said, the one of the teams wit
in Air Liquide a wholl
 owned subsidiary which speciali
es in what has is know
 now as OT, operational
echnology as opposed to actual
y It just it applied to office
, laptops and stuff. So we basi
ally specialized in IoT soluti
ns around assets in our missio
. Or we take around two axes,
asically, the first one as part 
f the Air Liquide group, one
of the teams specializing in
technology within the Air Liq
ide Group, we help deliver to t
e child transformation withi
the group for everything tha
 is related to assets, ma
y asset management, optimizatio
, production and logistics,
every IoT solution around asset
, basically, we are the executiv
branch, if you will relate it 
o that part of the, of the gr
up. And then this is the, thi
 is very peculiar ab
how we develop our activities,
our role within Air Liquide. And
then we have a second mission,
which is also part of our DNA,
which is work with similar
clients that have similar
problems and challenges and
configurations in terms of
volumes and geographies, then
Air Liquide. So basically We work
with external clients not only
with Air Liquide. To prove that what
we do is it's, it's valuable and
and basically to stay ourselves
competitive have this
competitive edge. The basic
premise here been from an
Air Liquide standpoint, if these
guys are able to work with
external clients and at the same
time with us, they bail
basically fulfill two goals.
They are a source of innovation,
which is so finest because we
are profitable and we are proud
of it. And the second point,
they will be forced to stay
competitive. And this is like
the final proof if someone
outside is able to pay for what
these guys do, they will do well
also inside the local group.
That's the basic theory. So our
digital transformation that was
started in 2015 was relying on
three buyers. assets, basically
our industrial assets from
plants to trucks, to every asset
that we use to leverage our
products and services to make
them rich, our clients, the
customers, our patients are
industrial clients. And it is no
accident that customer is in the
center of disease light, because
this has been also the central
axis of our latest five year
development program in Air Liquide
client and patient is at the
center of everything we do in
Air Liquide, almost every
program. And the last one was
ecosystem, basically how we work
with each other within the
group, how can we become more
agile? How can we deliver
faster, how can we stay
competitive, innovative, those
were the three axes of the
digital transformation within
Air Liquide. And you can think of us,
our team, Allegiant as the
executive branch, as I said, of
the first axis, so whatever has
to be with assets. Once it's
gone through the say proof of
concept phase. Or innovation
face, it comes to us to get
industrialize to reach a global
scale. Then you have some of our
numbers. Well, as I told you, we
work with a number of clients
that are pretty similar with to
Air Liquide. similar challenges,
similar configurations, similar
global layouts. So it's really
it's really the same profile or
similar profiles. You see also
there are footprints which is we
are a small company, we are only
300 guys today, but we have a
pretty decent global footprint
to be able to accompany the
eloquent group and also our
clients in those geographies.
which is which is basically a
part of our mission.
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coach
that was a video just seven
webydo they weren't made before
that he was he now to play but I
didn't really so that's why we
went violently into the video
without even knowing. So let me
zoom in into the story that I
wanted to tell but it's good
also to know the context because
the way we organized and
Allison, the role we play within
the group, it's also part of the
anatomy of how we implemented
this data transformation
creating this global lt operator
in the figure of Allison It was
no accident, it was part of the
of the journey. So please bear
with me if I spent two minutes
explaining you the configuration
of how that is configured. So we
zoom in into the project and the
story that I want to tell you
about and let me give you some
context. Okay, first, but you
can see here in the in the
diagram or the The main business
lines of Air Liquide and when I talk
about operations management
system are talking about the the
operation management and control
system around the primary
production of Air Liquide with, which
happens in this first in this
first business line that is with
the red rectangle, which well,
it's what we call large
industries. So these guys are
the guys that has pipelines for
really big clients that get
their gases through pipelines.
It's also the guys who produce
for the rest of the business
line for the guys who put the
gas in cylinders or transport
gas in trucks for Brock and bulk
delivery. So basically, when I
talk about production, I'm
talking about primary production
for large industries for this
business line within Air Liquide.
Just for clarification, only
these guys were talking about
200 sites today. Operating and
150 more coming in just in the
next couple of years. So they
are they have a really large
operation.
So let's let's just see a brief
history of OSIsoft pi within
Air Liquide, how it was it was
started and what it has become
in the in the latest year with
also this the impact of the
digital transformation. It all
started in 2001. So we've been
using the system now for almost
18 years. In 2001, the main
driver, as you can see there,
for installing pi was okay,
let's have more information. So
we can optimize the energy
consumption, which is, as you
probably know, one of the main
main cost components of gas
production. So let's have some
more information. And with this
information, let's see how we
can optimize energy. That was a
success. It was successful not
only for that, but for for all
also for other things for
standardizing processes. And in
2003. We started the second
phase, which was the
installation of Italian in
Spain. Pretty soon it became a
standard for the Europeans and
it was clear that he was gonna
be deployed as the standard tool
for streamlining operations,
procedures, how we survived and
get information. So we had this
second wave of European
installations. And it became
sort of sort of standard de
facto when in 2009 2008, we
started to deploy the Asia
Pacific and Middle East and
Africa, which are two of the
most important governance
regions within Air Liquide, as you
saw in the previous slides, so
when we started to deploy the
system in Asia Pacific and got
out of Europe, in a way, it was
clear that it was becoming a
standard de facto, and he was
juiced to standardize operations
and really, to create the
blueprint of what operating the
primary production plant was
within Air Liquide. And then in
2015, we have the appearance of
the digital transformation. And
with this digital
transformation, we realize two
things, many initiatives around
operations, many initiatives
around industrial processes. And
we'll realize it's pretty
fragmented. I mean, it's good to
have a global strategy. But how
we're going to implement we
cannot impose things to the
different pnls and subsidiaries
that we have inadequate as
almost any industrial company, I
guess, where you have to get
your production closer to your
client or Air Liquide is a very or
recently decentralized
industrial group. And so you
cannot impose things to the p&l
you have to find consensus you
have to add things to them. So
the first thing is, okay, it's
good that we have a vision is
already a good thing. We have a
bold vision in within the
digital transformation. But how
do we implement these are
deployed on a large scale on a
global scale? That was the first
thing. And then we realized that
we had a number of IT companies
or ot companies to specialize in
different teams, departments,
etc. And we created Allison,
this is the moment where we're
born as the global ot operator
that can accompany the group in
this digital transformation. So
we base merged different teams,
three different companies. And
we created Allison. And the
second thing we realized with
this digital transformation,
because that was one of the
topics in the beginning, on a
technical on the technical
roadmap is that we were cheating
on on on a mountain of data. I
mean, we had almost 15 years of
data. And there was a lot of
value there. We started to run
pocs. And some some of these
folks were really promising. And
we realized there was something
bigger to do around that. So
those were the two realizations.
At that point. We also managed
to convince the Americans who
were running a sort of homebrew
technology, and we managed to
convince them to join the
standard program, becoming a
global really a global program
within Air Liquides. Of course,
that was the perfect timing
because at that point in time,
we also signed the a one of
those enterprise agreement that
our friends at OSIsoft are so
willing to talk about, but
but here we had them I would say
that the well coming back maybe
to McDonald question in the
beginning, he was an enabler for
us because we actually asked
proxy Allison. And that's part
of our role, we can take maybe
credit for that, for that our
chain within Air Liquide, we act
as a proxy. And having the
enterprise agreement allows us
to have some standards through
which we can create packages for
customization for regional
customization. And it liberated
us of negotiating with these
guys who can be really tough,
like every two other weeks. So
that was really an enabler for
us. It enabled us to packetized
voice in a in a different way
that enabled a global scale
deployment with customization
for regions. And the second
thing I would say is it also at
least part of the potential of
not having to think about the
licensing or the license, you're
going to start and you're gonna
install for a user. And anytime
you create a new application or
a new dashboard, or really to be
able to generalize a new feature
isolation and mechanisms and
stuff like that. So well, for
us, it was so juicy, perfect
timing enterprise agreement, the
transformation, the Americans
becoming on board the project,
and it becomes global, it
becomes really, really global.
So now it's a global solution.
It's a worldwide solution
adopted by all the Air Liquide flash
industries. And it represents I
like to think of it like that
physical implementation of the
operating procedures, basically,
how we look at it, how we travel
to data, which kind of
dashboards and KPIs we use, to
traverse of data, to analyze
data and in the long run.
So I said I was going to try and
stay away from technology. So
this is very, very light, even
though it looks like a
technological slide, okay. I
don't want to talk about
technology, because really, it's
not the important thing here.
The solution today is is
complex. It's not only OSIsoft
pi, but there is a number of
satellite applications and
models that go together with a
package plus all the support
services which are adapted to
the different regions Last one,
the hardware, just to give you
an idea on these four first
layers that you see there, the
data capture, where we see well,
connectivity with the VCA. So
the automation, the
connectivity, the hardware part
of it, when we deploy something
in a plant, you can visit any
plant of Air Liquide anywhere in
the world. And the hardware will
look at the same, I mean, you
can go to the right where the
OSIsoft pi, local instance is
installed. And you will see the
same color in the wire, the same
type of rack, the same type of
installation. I mean, even my 10
year old can do the maintenance
on that and can do support that
really simplifies things. So we
have always had this like
ambition of poverty, find the
thing, so we can customize it
for different regions. And that
was part of the challenge. And
that was part of the, let's say
keys of finding consensus with
all the different regions while
adapting to it. For us has been
absolutely key. Since the
beginning or almost the
beginning I'd say 2009 we had
the wonderful idea of
centralizing everything Every
piece of data that was coming
from the local OSIsoft buys into
a central server. And we've been
running two instances now three.
So we have in the same format,
Europe, Asia, back, and
Americas. Well, sorry, Europe,
Africa, Middle East Asia, back
in Americas, there is the third
that we recently installed with
the Americans getting homework.
And that was a beautiful idea,
because that enabled us to also
run a lot of proof of concepts
and tests with the data
analytics, having all the data
in the same place gives you a
very good global perspective of
what is your level of maturity
when it comes to data
standardization between not only
regions, which would be the
macro view, but also on a micro
scale between the front
implants. That was really a
wonderful idea. In terms of
application, I said, it's not
only OSIsoft pi, or this treat
that comes along with OSIsoft
pi, but also a number of
publications that we created
around to transform the OSI By
in what I will call if you allow
me the terminology and scalar
for our operations. So based on
that data, we have application
of tops on top that are
providing notifications, alarms,
notifications, escalation of
those notifications to all the
different operators and managers
within plants. And there is a
jerky around that we also have
created the ledger for remote
controlling the plants, which
enables to tweak certain
variables not all of them of
course, but to tweak certain
variables of the plants
remotely. And especially we have
a seat a suite of advanced
analytic applications or data
analytics applications, not only
talk about the the predictive
maintenance, but also one which
we call a BP which is an
optimization application. And BP
stands for best economical point
where just an analyst in the in
the remote operation Control
Center can can analyze or run
these BPF Find the best
economical point of a plant. And
with the suggestions that you
get from that application, you
use the remote control
application to implement them
remotely is is as advanced as
that. So, if we look at the
organizational impact of that I
had to choose because they told
me I have to get this down to 10
minutes, which I'm not going to
do. I'm pretty, I'm pretty sure
okay, I'm okay.
Well, in my first rehearsal, it
was like 40 minutes, you know.
But well, I had to choose when I
created this presentation, and I
have chosen two notions that I
think are very good insights are
pretty interesting to any
industrial player in the market
or in the industry. The first
one is the notion of a control
tower. This exists in many
different industries. If we look
for instance, in our in our own
sector, if we look at the
pipeline's activity we have in
the coast within Texas and
Louisiana. We have more than
3000 kilometres of pipeline and
we are serving hundreds of
clients in those along those
pipelines in that kind of
business is regulated is heavily
regulated, I scalable. You can
centralize everything has this
control tower. It's pretty
normal. Okay, it's business as
usual, no innovation there. It's
been like that for the last 25
to 30 years. But in our business
where plants are scattered all
across the world, in different
regions in different countries,
where our experts are only in
one place, because he's those
brilliant guys who know about
the rotary rotating equipment,
or those guys who know how the
thermodynamical process
happening inside a compressor
are those guys are those guys
are really, really scarce. So
how do we leverage them on a
global scale? Well, I cannot
take any credit for this. This
was the business vision. It's my
colleagues in the industrial
management that take credit for
all these because they really
had a bold vision that they
created these these notion
enabled but the technology but
really the vision was created by
the by the business. They This
notion of the control tower of
what we call the remote
operation center where they have
analyst. This is, I'm a
technology guy. But really, I
still am still fascinated by
this notion. They have the
analyst layers into three
different layers, the guys
working in the short term in the
mid term and in the long term,
and they are all of them
leveraging the tools that we
have installed that we have
deployed the suite of
technological tools that they
have at hand, to optimize
operations remotely, meaning
that the guys that used to be
really scarce and that you
barely access from time to time,
now they are working day to day,
adding value, discovering new
things, exploring new ways to
create value for the company,
which to me is pretty amazing.
And the second layer, the more
operational layer, the less
start start trick technology
level. If I can if I can say
like that is the operational
part. I mean, thanks to a
technology in which we just to
give you an idea we created in
this application that we have PI
Vision for visualizing
information, we not only
generated the number of
dashboards and visualization
screens that the people uses on
a regular basis as a standard
way to look at operations,
meaning that they have become a
much more data driven team. It's
not only that, but we created a
library of symbols, for
instance, extending the
capacities of the PI Vision and
OSIsoft pi. So they can create
psychotics with their own
language with their own
vocabulary with their own
symbols, and look offense in the
role in their own particular
way. And based on that, on that
sort of, I would say, Air Liquide
toolbox that we created for
them, they are creating what I
call a physical implementation
of their industrial processes.
So instead of generating piles
of documentation like this, it's
organic, it's a screens is tools
that we can leverage on a day to
day basis. And that's what we
can look at. I give you here a
picture of one of the control
centers. This one is in is in
Leon that I have visited myself
a number of times And it's well,
it's, as I said, it's pretty
cool is a Star Wars sort of
feature. Okay, it's really
advanced.
Well lesson learned or lessons
to learn or conclusions for this
presentation. The first one, the
true transformation is the
transformation of the
organization. I mean, I'm the
technologist in the team in this
team, and we think Air Liquide. But
honestly, technology is
absolutely secondary here. And,
in fact, sometimes I have, I
have meetings with colleagues or
with external clients that are
we are discussing a project. And
when we get to the second or
third meeting, and we have a
good level of, let's say, a good
relationship, I always say the
same thing. If you don't have a
bold vision, from the business
side of things, it is better
that we we part ways we stopped
talking, we'll remain friends,
but you're gonna carry me with
you into your failure. Because I
mean, not only technology and
digital tourism, it's just not
enough. is doomed to fail. And
you really need to have a bold
vision on the business side of
things. What do you want to
achieve? What do you want to do?
And well, he goes all the credit
to my, to my business colleagues
with inadequate because they did
have a bold vision, and we just
weren't the vehicle for that
vision. This is more about
people and less about
technology. I mean, all that,
that I have tried to synthesize
the remote Operations Control
the new tools, the new screens,
the new dashboard, these
procedures that become tools
rather than documents and stuff
like that, or documents to
follow. All that means unskilled
workforce, in tools that they
didn't know maybe how to use in
just five or 10 years ago. It
also means a new anatomy of the
companies. I mean, they need to
re concentrate certain skills or
themes, create new entities, new
groups. It's really a lot of
transformation. And it's all
about people, so people need to
embark into that, to be able to
get value from the from the
tools. And that's how you become
a data driven organization is
not because you have a lot of
data lakes and stuff like that,
or 100 OSIsoft by instances per
blind, that you're going to
become data driven, you become
data driven with your people is
hungry for data, and their
standard procedures rely on
data. And there is a huge change
management process. And then two
more points, and maybe I can
take some credit for these last
two, at least as Allison, our
team capacity to plan meaning,
you need to have that bold
vision that we were talking
about, do you need to be able to
plan sit back, generate the
vision, generate the roadmap,
plan for the long run these kind
of technologies, even in the
midterm, they just don't work. I
mean, it's good to have a long
term vision even if you have
tactics to attack on the day to
day on the on the midterm and
the short term, but you really
need to be able to generate the
vision, have a capacity to learn
and here's what I think I said,
I can take some credit because
we are a vehicle of the global
strategy within Air Liquide while
being the guys who implement in
front of the subsidiaries in
front of the regions in front of
the pianos, adapting that global
vision implementation to their
own local needs. And that is a
gap I breached that need to
exist at some point. And that is
my fourth lessons learn, which
is capacity to act, you need to
decompose the factors in that
plan in that roadmap and make it
happen on a local basis and on a
day to day basis. Meaning that
you need to be able to decompose
into those factors and find
consensus on a global scale, by
also contributing to fulfilling
the needs of the local guys of
every PnL. It cannot be an
imposition. In my case, I'm
based out of Paris and we always
have this joke, as you can
imagine in the local group. So
when they see your comment in
the United States, they say
okay, differential comment,
okay, now they are going to
impose their rules and stuff
like that. It cannot happen like
that. I mean, there is no
transformation, real
transformation that can happen
like that. So you need to bridge
some gap there between the bolt
strategy, the global plan, the
things that happened at
corporate level, and how do we
the tactics on how do we
implement that with the local
guys that needs to happen. And I
think that's all I wanted to
say. Thank you very much.
