6. Our advice

Statistical methods can be frightening, as they can give the impression of working with uncertainties. The best way to create certain bases is, as mentioned above, to start from existing technical and economic data, preferably archived in the form of databases according to the principles of "Capitalization of know-how", which is, after the company's assets, its most precious asset.

Statistics is a highly complex field of mathematics. However, when we apply them to concrete cases, we quickly realize that we can do so without any in-depth knowledge. One of France's most eminent statisticians used to say to his students: "From two I calculate a mean, and from three a standard deviation! In other words, it's better to use the data we have than to do nothing at all.