Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing

The main objective is to transfer to industry innovative solutions coming from research and exploiting the potential of smart specialisation in order to promote new efficient and high value-added supply chains.

Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing

Advanced Manufacturing is a key sub-area proposed for cooperation in the framework of the Industrial Modernisation Platform. The Specific topic is “EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING” (ESM), a pilot born in the framework of the Vanguard Initiative and promoted by the regions Lombardy and Catalonia.

The focus is on technologies, methods and tools which aim at:
 
  • Increasing throughput, quality, environmental and social sustainability of manufacturing activities while reducing costs;
  • Reducing emissions, energy, resources and materials consumption,
  • Increasing the inclusion of humans in factories -  Vision: Manufacturing should become efficient and sustainable to enable European reindustrialization and to preserve the environment and the planet’s resources. Manufacturing efficiency and sustainability are two challenges to be addressed in a synergic way and systemic view.

Main objective: Providing industry with innovative solutions from research and exploiting the potential of smart specialisation to promote new efficient supply chains with added high value.

The idea is to conceive and develop a European network of infrastructure and pilot plants in key-manufacturing areas, where companies can test innovative solutions before the industrial uptake.

Potential Impact: By exploiting and valorizing available research results, ESM European pilot plants have the potential to support innovation of companies in breakthrough technologies and applications that require manufacturing efficiency and sustainability.

This approach will increase the competitiveness and development of European value chains, exploiting synergies and complementarities of different regional specialisation.

The ESM Vanguard pilot is aimed at overcoming the barriers limiting innovation and transfer of research results to the European industry through the development of an European synergic network of pilot plants accessible to companies in a logic of Smart Specialisation. Each Region will develop and operate pilot plant nodes coherent to regional industry and competences, offering European companies a “one-stop shop” for the industrial uptake of new technologies and innovative business model.

Thematic working areas

  • De- and remanufacturing, led by Lombardy (IT)
  • Smart and adaptive manufacturing, led by Lombardy (IT) and South Netherlands (NL)
  • Advanced sustainable surface and coating manufacturing technologies on polymer materials, led by Catalonia (ES)
  • Digital and virtual factory, led by Lombardy (IT), South Netherlands (NL) and Tampere (FI)
  • Energy-flexible and resource-efficient factory operation, led by Saxony (DE) and Norte (PT)

List of regions involved

Contact details of the leading regions

Giacomo COPANI
Technical Coordinator, AFIL - Intelligent Factory Lombardy Cluster, Italy
Joan GUASCH
Technical Coordinator, EURECAT, Catalonia, Spain

Contact details of DG REGIO

Related documents

Monitoring reports containing a management report and a progress report prepared by the lead regions are available here:
Monitoring report ESM July-December 2020
English
(327 KB - PDF)
Download 

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