Technical Innovation Day at Saint‑Gobain Research Compiègne: A Strong Partnership Driving Industrial Progress
On March 10th, 2026, Saint‑Gobain Research Compiègne hosted a full‑day Technical Innovation Day in collaboration with Konica Minolta Sensing Europe and its group companies. The event brought together experts from across Saint‑Gobain to explore how advanced inspection, measurement, and automation technologies can respond to real‑world industrial challenges.
The initiative served as a platform to strengthen collaboration between R&D teams, industrial stakeholders, and technology providers, fostering open discussion around deployment constraints, performance expectations, and innovation opportunities at scale.
A Full‑Day Program Focused on Applied Innovation
The Technical Innovation Day combined six expert presentations with hands‑on workshops, providing participants with both strategic insights and practical demonstrations.
Agenda highlights included:
- 09:00 - Welcome & Coffee
- 09:30–12:30 - Six technical presentations
- 12:30–14:00 - Lunch
- 14:00–16:00 - Workshops & booth discussions
Workshop sessions enabled the Konica Minolta teams to explore Saint‑Gobain‑specific use cases, discuss process constraints, and assess the feasibility of deploying these technologies across different production environments.
Key Technologies Showcased
During the morning sessions, experts introduced cutting‑edge solutions spanning multiple areas of industrial inspection and measurement:
- Colour & Appearance
Precise measurement of small, curved, or complex materials, addressing specialty use cases where standard colour measurement tools fall short.
- Optical Quality
High‑resolution photometric imaging for evaluating glass and displays, focusing on brightness, contrast, uniformity, ghosting, and distortion. Demonstrations were provided by Radiant Vision Systems.
- Light Measurement (UV to NIR)
Instrument Systems presented advanced spectroradiometric solutions enabling characterization of optical materials and products from ultraviolet to near‑infrared ranges.
- Hyperspectral Imaging
Specim demonstrated how hyperspectral technology transitions from laboratory analysis to industrial deployment, supporting sorting, detection, process optimization, and coating inspection.
- Intelligent Automation & Cobotics
Konica Minolta’s Advanced Automation Solutions (AAS) showcased robotics‑enabled inspection workflows that digitize quality control and reduce manual effort at scale.
- Smart Vision Systems for Automotive Production
EINES Vision Systems presented applications such as inline defect detection, augmented reality workflows, human pose recognition, and traceability systems.
Technology Partners Driving Innovation
A diverse group of Konica Minolta Group companies and partners contributed to the day’s discussions and demonstrations, including:
- Konica Minolta Sensing Europe
- Radiant Vision Systems
- Instrument Systems GmbH
- Specim (Spectral Imaging Ltd.)
- Advanced Automation Solutions (AAS)
- EINES Vision Systems
Each partner brought domain‑specific expertise, offering Saint‑Gobain participants a comprehensive overview of available technologies supporting quality, efficiency, and industrial performance.
A Successful Collaboration with Clear Outcomes
The event gathered 20–25 Saint‑Gobain participants, facilitating productive exchanges around current challenges and future opportunities. Konica Minolta emphasized the strong spirit of innovation and collaboration observed throughout the day, while Saint‑Gobain highlighted the value of aligning technological capabilities with concrete manufacturing needs across the Group.
Key takeaways included:
- Clear potential for deploying vision, sensing, and automation solutions in multiple production environments
- Strong R&D–industry alignment on inspection and quality‑control priorities
- Identification of promising directions for future co‑development initiatives
Strengthening Innovation Across Industries
The Technical Innovation Day underscored the importance of long‑term partnerships when addressing complex industrial challenges. With powerful sensing technologies, advanced automation capabilities, and expertise spanning multiple fields, Konica Minolta and its group companies continue to support Saint‑Gobain in shaping the future of high‑performance materials and manufacturing excellence.
About Saint-Gobain
As a world leader in sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services tailored to the residential, non-residential and infrastructure markets. Its integrated and innovative solutions deliver sustainability, performance and comfort to its customers. The Group is guided by its mission statement: “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.
- €46.5 billion in revenue in 2025,
- 162,000 employees, a presence in 80 countries
- Committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
To find out more about Saint-Gobain, visit www.saint-gobain.com
