Our discoveries at Global Industrie 2025 in Lyon

From 11th to 14th March we were in Lyon to participate in this annual trade show celebrating French manufacturing. Hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors crammed into the expo centre each day. French Prime Minister François Bayrou and his Industry Minister Marc Ferracci came to honour those who can say ‘Made in France’. Why was the European Remanufacturing Council there?

We worked alongside ADEME to promote remanufacturing, inviting visitors to follow a ‘parcours’ (pathway) through the show to meet a pre-selected group of 11 businesses that offer remanufactured products. Each day, Régis Dando and David Fitzsimons took groups to meet companies such as Schneider Electric, Kaeser, Kuka, Ratmo and Still. Each business offered us well briefed senior staff who explained which products they remanufactured and how and why they did so.

Cofiem impressed everyone with their in-depth knowledge of electronics remanufacture, but perhaps the greatest surprise was meeting the team from Cordon CMS. No one we met prior to the pathway tours had heard of Cordon CMS, who occupied a modest stand between Halls 5 and 6. But we quickly learnt how the company had built up a large-scale business by taking back consumer equipment for third parties; consumer equipment that includes wi-fi boxes and even a new model of vacuum cleaner. The senior management team were on hand to explain how they experimented, started small, and learned how to refurbish, remanufacture and reuse. Theirs is a fine example of using value-retention as the key element of a successful business model. Had they made mistakes along the way? Of course they had.

Our own experiment was to promote remanufacturing inside a manufacturing trade show. Too often in the past we have talked only to those who are already convinced of the merit of remanufacturing – by positioning ourselves inside a Circular Economy event or a specialist remanufacturing trade show such as ReMaTec in Amsterdam. This was a much harder endeavour. Many visitors knew nothing about remanufacturing.

So what did we discover at Global Industrie 2025?

1. It worked! We discovered dozens of French manufacturers who take back their products for remanufacture and wanted to tell their customers about it.

2. ADEME (especially Anne-Charlotte Bonjean) were perfect hosts. They attracted many visitors to their stand, partly because they were launching new pro-business initiatives.

3. The ‘parcours’ (pathway) worked well, even if we occasionally lost some guests from the back of the group due to the crowds. Apologies to those concerned!

4. The selected businesses each displayed a sign informing visitors that they were part of the remanufacturing ‘parcours’ and - from the largest (Schneider Electric) to the most artisanal (Powertrans) - they prepared themselves well.

5. Now we need to ask, are there similar trade shows celebrating the future of manufacturing in other European countries?  If you can answer this question, do get in touch. This is a format we should definitely repeat.

List of companies offering remanufactured products selected for the Global Industrie 2025 parcours : • COFIEM • CORDON CMS • E-SERVO • EMAG SALACH GMBH • FAGOR AUTOMATION • KAESER • KUKA AUTOMATISMES • POWERTRANS • RATMO • SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC • STILL

Image: Régis Dando speaking at the start of the parcours from the ADEME stand. (©ERC 2025)