Reindustrialising France? Perspectives, realities and key drivers

"Relocate, go green, produce better"... Three words found in every political speech about reindustrialisation in France. But on the ground, how many French factories truly deliver on the promise when it comes to combining industrial sovereignty, ecological transition, and sustainable competitiveness? Behind the slogans, operational reality raises questions about the industry's ability to turn these ambitions into measurable impact on the economy, jobs, and the environment nationwide.

A. Reindustrialisation in France: National Ambition Facing Realities

Quite recently, reindustrialisation has become a national leitmotif, driven by a strong political will to reposition France among the major industrial nations. France aims to "make the factory a source of pride again," by promoting know-how, innovation, and the modernisation of the industrial fabric. This shift puts industry back at the heart of priorities, also seeking to strengthen economic sovereignty, address environmental challenges, and create sustainable jobs across the country. Public debates and successive plans place reindustrialisation at the core of recovery strategies and the transition to a more sustainable economy. This ambition is reflected in the multiplication of support schemes for industrial investment, incentives for relocation, and the emergence of innovative sectors such as hydrogen or batteries. For industrial leaders, this dynamic requires constant adaptation to new regulatory demands, rapid integration of advanced technologies, and upskilling of teams to ensure competitiveness and agility in the French production network against European and global competitors.

Yet, despite 300 factories opened since 2017 and 130,000 jobs created (Le Monde), the industrial share of GDP remains around 10%, far behind Germany (21%) or Italy (16%). This gap between stated ambitions and real numbers highlights the challenge of sustainably turning around the industrial sector in France. Job and site creation has yet to reverse the structural trend, while European competition remains intense and technological, energy, and social challenges are mounting. Added to this is growing pressure on innovation, equipment modernisation, and the transition to a low-carbon industry. Industrialists face massive investment needs, while having to deal with shifting regulations and high societal expectations. This situation underscores the importance of French reindustrialisation based on concrete solutions, long-term planning, and continuous upskilling to build a truly competitive and resilient industrial ecosystem.

The political discourse on reindustrialisation in France is strong, but the figures remain modest: in 2024, only 89 net factories were actually created, according to the Ministry of Economy's barometer, highlighting the ongoing industrial challenge. (Economie.gouv)

The fact is, France does not lack ambition... but rather continuity. Each five-year term launches "its own" industrial plan without ensuring transmission to the next. As a result, industrial leaders move forward cautiously, lacking 10-year visibility. This strategic instability hampers the mobilisation of major investments, complicates long-term planning, and limits the adoption of breakthrough technologies on the ground.

B. Europe: Between Cooperation and Competition

The European Union strongly influences reindustrialisation in France through its policies on energy transition, innovation, and regulation. This dynamic creates both opportunities and constraints, with increased competition between states to attract investment and talent, as well as a regulatory framework that evolves rapidly. French industrialists must navigate between value chain cooperation, resource pooling, technological differentiation, and anticipating standards to secure their supply chain and optimise their competitiveness within the European industrial fabric. This reality requires adopting a strategic vision, able to integrate European requirements while preserving the agility and responsiveness needed to seize new industrial and environmental growth opportunities.

In this context, Brussels speaks of "strategic autonomy" and "Clean Industrial Deal," but each country pulls the blanket their way. Behind the declarations of intent, national strategies often clash over the means to be deployed. Some states favour massive and immediate support for their industries, while others move forward through stricter regulatory frameworks or targeted incentives. This fragmentation complicates the creation of a coherent European industrial base and intensifies internal competition. (Teneo)

For example, Germany massively subsidises its industries via direct aid, while France relies on more complex schemes (calls for projects, labelling, etc.). This difference in approach creates competitiveness gaps within the European Union and forces French industrialists to be agile to access financing quickly and accelerate their transformations.

 Finally, the Franco-German axis, supposed to be the engine of European reindustrialisation, faces deep differences on energy, nuclear, investment policy, and views on industrial subsidies. This lack of alignment slows the implementation of common industrial strategies, impacting the ability to launch structuring projects and build strong industrial sovereignty within the European Union. (IMF)

Europe shows a desire to strengthen its industrial coherence, but the diversity of national strategies makes policy coordination complex. To foster reindustrialisation France, stability in regulations must be established, and visibility on energy policy provided, with the goal of facilitating industrial investment, avoiding an excess of fragmented or temporary schemes.

C. On the Ground: Where Policy Meets Factory Reality

In theory, reindustrialisation is based on three pillars: competitive energy, training, and simplification. These axes aim to guarantee affordable and reliable access to energy—a sine qua non for maintaining site competitiveness and attracting major industrial investments. The development and promotion of skills, through initial and ongoing training, are essential to empower teams able to integrate new technologies and anticipate sector shifts. Finally, streamlining administrative procedures would help accelerate the establishment of new factories and the modernisation of existing sites. This overall approach would create an environment conducive to innovation, productivity, and growth of French industrial sites, while promoting a more resilient and sustainable reindustrialisation France.

In practice, SME industrial leaders highlight three main obstacles slowing reindustrialisation France: slow or heavy administration, cost of capital, and labour shortages. These difficulties slow the implementation of innovative projects, complicate access to the financing needed to modernise sites, and limit the ability to recruit or train the talent required for large-scale industrialisation. To overcome these barriers, concrete solutions, a methodical approach, and organisational agility are needed to strengthen the competitiveness of French industrial SMEs.

When it comes to qualified labour shortages, the example of the Battery Valley (ACC, Verkor, Envision) in Hauts-de-France—a showcase of industrial sovereignty and a symbol of reindustrialisation France—faces difficulties recruiting the 30,000 technicians and engineers essential to the success of its gigafactories (Wikipedia). This challenge persists despite massive investments and strong strategic ambitions for the nation’s industrial future.

Without anticipation in training and the attractiveness of industrial careers, reindustrialisation France will remain incomplete, hampered by a shortage of operational skills on the ground. Developing talent is what determines the long-lasting success of new sites and their ability to adapt to growing technological and environmental demands.

D. Industry 4.0: A Real Lever, Often Misunderstood

Too many factories think digitising means buying sensors. In reality, industrial digitalisation goes much further: it means interconnecting equipment, centralising and exploiting production data, automating processes, and implementing intelligent supervision across the entire site. This transformation not only secures strategic decisions through real-time analysis, but also synchronises flows, optimises stock management, and improves traceability throughout the value chain. With a high-performance digital platform, every key indicator becomes accessible, making it easier to anticipate deviations, proactively identify bottlenecks, and reduce hidden costs. This approach strengthens the resilience of factories against market fluctuations and logistical disruptions. Reindustrialisation France depends on integrating these tools and methods, enabling industrial leaders to manage their operations with agility, maximise productivity, and ensure measurable impact on overall performance.

 According to McKinsey, 70% of industrial data remains unused. French factories already have connected equipment, but often lack advanced analytics and a true culture of measurement and reliable data exploitation to inform every strategic and operational decision. Investing in these skills accelerates reindustrialisation France on solid foundations, transforms raw information into performance levers, and enables proactive anomaly detection.

The "smart factory" does not exist without "smart management". Digital tools, advanced automation, or artificial intelligence only make sense if they support a clear and ambitious industrial vision. It is strategic coherence, the ability to align people, technology, and processes, that turns data into real performance, anticipates risks, and ensures effective scaling. This management discipline is essential to unlock the full potential of reindustrialisation France and guarantee durable, measurable impact.

E. What Industrial Leaders Must Do Now

Diagnose their competitiveness with clarity: deeply analyse all production flows, map critical processes, precisely measure real and hidden costs, assess product stability and quality, monitor energy efficiency, detect value losses, and identify improvement opportunities. This approach also involves regularly benchmarking performance against the best in the sector, integrating demand variations, and assessing teams’ ability to quickly adapt to changes in the French and European industrial market, while anticipating risks tied to technological disruption or supply chain tensions.

Align business and industrial strategy: harmonise vision, investments, resources, and operational goals to build reindustrialisation that is sustainable, coherent, profitable, competitive, and able to integrate innovation, environmental performance, and scaling in the French and European market. This synchronisation supports rapid decision-making, reduces the risk of gaps between ambition and operational execution, and maximises the efficiency of industrial transformation. By aligning strategic and industrial priorities, companies anticipate sector shifts, secure investments, and adapt organisations to meet the demands of reindustrialisation France, while strengthening agility against international competition.

Simulate before investing: digital twins and industrial flow models enable leaders to analyse the impact of each strategic decision before committing capital. With these tools, it's possible to assess investment profitability upfront, identify risks, compare scenarios, anticipate bottlenecks, and visualise the effect of every innovation on capacity, lead time, or productivity. This approach significantly reduces uncertainty, facilitates rapid decision-making, and secures industrial transformation in France. By virtually simulating site evolution, companies gain agility and maximise investment effectiveness in reindustrialisation France.

Train teams in data skills: it's the 21st-century asset, essential for exploiting flows, anticipating needs, and securing strategic decisions. Mastering analysis, visualisation, and interpretation of industrial data optimises operational performance, accelerates team upskilling, and boosts site competitiveness. This expertise also drives continuous innovation, early anomaly detection, adaptation to emerging technologies, and ensures durability in the face of reindustrialisation France challenges.

Conclusion “Reindustrialise, yes. But intelligently.”

Reindustrialisation in France is not just a patriotic slogan: it is an economic, social, and strategic requirement to guarantee independence, resilience, and long-term competitiveness of the national industrial fabric against global and European shifts.

Producing in France (or in Europe) is possible if we design agile, efficient, and profitable factories, able to quickly adapt to market changes, integrate technological innovations, control costs, and optimise environmental impact while ensuring industrial competitiveness over the long term.

This is exactly what Dillygence builds alongside its clients: sustainable industrial models where economic performance and environmental impact are no longer in opposition, thanks to smart integration of technologies, resource optimisation, and support throughout every phase of industrial transformation.