Group of French-speaking research laboratories in the field of mechanical manufacturing

The Manufacturing'21 network was created in 2001 at the initiative of colleagues from different laboratories working on relatively connected or complementary subjects and facing the same scientific and technological challenges in the field of mechanical manufacturing.
The first seminar brought together around twenty people from 8 different French laboratories. Since then, the group has been meeting once or twice a year for three days of meetings and has continued to expand. Today, the group is composed of teams from 25 French-speaking laboratories and continues to structure itself to foster a common reflection on the study of mechanical manufacturing processes and procedures. The objective of Manufacturing'21 is to bring together French research teams working on optimizing manufacturing processes through modeling and experimentation.
From 2016 to 2020, the Manufacturing'21 group established an Internal Commission of the French Association of Mechanics (AFM). Since 2020, the Manufacturing'21 group has been co-hosting, with the GIS S-mart, the GST "Factory of the future" group of the French Mechanics Association (AFM).

• Federate research activities in the field of mechanical manufacturing (particularly machining)
• Organize biannual thematic seminars: List of M'21 seminars
• Host national conferences: Manufacturing'21 conferences list (formerly MUGV)

• Tool-material interactions modelling
• Mechanical behaviour of polyarticular structures
• Digital factory
• Innovative and sustainable processes

The first one is linked to the idea of its creation, which is to promote the meeting of doctoral students among themselves and with teaching-researchers from other laboratories. The aim is to facilitate their integration into the French scientific community of research in mechanical manufacturing. These meetings allow them to express themselves, without constraints, in front of a specialist audience. The group does not replace thesis supervision but allows the student to confront his scientific orientations with other doctoral students, as well as to share with them his difficulties and the solutions implemented. The idea remains the exchange and sharing between doctoral students of their viewpoints and experiences.
Manufacturing'21 is also a space for discussion aimed at fostering synergy among French research laboratories in mechanical manufacturing. Since the formation of the group, several collaborations between members have emerged. We want to enhance this collaborative work to address the new research issues in this field. Due to the evolution of techniques, the topics covered have a short lifespan. It is therefore necessary to take the time to confront each approach in order to envisage future research directions. Moreover, the complexity and scope of the domain studied mean that this theme cannot be covered by a single laboratory. Diversity of approaches is necessary, and the pooling of results is a factor in the progress of the entire group. At the international level, the objective of Manufacturing'21 is to establish a French line of thought equivalent to that of major German and American universities. Furthermore, we seek to develop the excellence and scientific recognition of the young teams forming it, in order to increase French representation in major conferences or international scholarly societies.