IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC- PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

Transcription

1 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC- PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FINAL REPORT OF THE WORKSHOP HELD ON 24 th -25 th MARCH 2014 IN BRUSSELS Research and Innovation

2 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Directorate D Key Enabling Technologies Unit D.2 Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Biotechnologies Contact: Lorenzo Valles jose-lorenzo.valles@ec.europa.eu RTD-PUBLICATIONS@ec.europa.eu European Commission B-1049 Brussels

3 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Impact of the Factories of the Future Public- Private Partnership Final Report of the Workshop held on 24th-25th March 2014 in Brussels 2014 Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Key Enabling Technologies (NMPB)

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5 Contents Executive summary 1 1. Introduction Objectives Bac kground Methodology 6 2. Impact of the FoF PPP Overview of the FoF PPP Impact Track 1: Sustainable Manufacturing Track 2: ICT for Manufacturing Track 3: High Performance Manufacturing Success Stories Maximising Impact and Successful Innovation Strategy Conclusions and Recommendations Recommendations 21 Appendix 1: Agenda 22

6 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The European Commission and the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) have been successfully working together over the last 5 years in a Public-Private Partnership to produce a coherent and relevant industry-driven research and innovation programme to support manufacturing in Europe. This programme aims to equip European manufacturers with the tools and skills to face the challenges of a global market. The 4 th Factories of the Future Impact Workshop took place on 24 th and 25 th March in Brussels. The EC, EFFRA and representatives of 142 projects funded by the FoF PPP under the FP7 programme participated in the event. The objective of the event was to review the progress being made by the projects in achieving a meaningful impact as well as to foster greater collaboration between projects where that could bring synergies. Project cluster presentations were made in three parallel tracks with 2 major themes being represented within each track. 21 cluster areas in total presented the collective results of their constituent project activities. A major focus of the workshop was on the actual and potential benefits of clustering and project cross-cutting issues, both technical and non-technical, that had benefited from the clustering activity. While specific clusters identified technical cross-cutting issues that were relevant only to them, most of the non-technical cross-cutting issues were relevant to most clusters. Clusters provide opportunities for joint dissemination, joint training development, sharing of end user requirements, standardisation action and development of a common language and terminology. In a change from the previous year, clustering activity was organised around supported areas of research rather than the FP7 FoF Work Programme call topics used in previous years and this appeared to have allowed greater scope for identifying commonalities and synergies between projects. This is also a better basis for cluster building into the future. The second half of the workshop included a panel discussion, which reinforced many of the messages coming from the cluster presentations, as well as featuring success stories of projects that have already had significant impact and outcome. An innovation portal tool was presented by EFFRA which provides a clustering facility which will be useful for putting together future clusters. It is clear that the Factories of the Future part of FP7 has been successful in producing industry relevant projects with a high engagement by manufacturing industry in-

7 2 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP cluding a high proportion of SMEs. Within Horizon 2020 the focus shifts even more to innovation and the relevance of the Factories of the Future PPP becomes even greater. The opportunities presented by clustering to bring about a critical mass of activity could be key to increasing the effectiveness of the innovation and subsequent exploitation activity of these projects. The recommendations arising from the workshop are presented in Section 5.1, but the key points are as follows: Clustering is useful is supporting project innovation action and therefore clustering activities should be planned at the proposal stage. Clusters should also seek links with other European regional and national activities. Clusters should share end customer needs and business models to increase the exploitation potential of their constituent projects Based upon best of cluster activity the EC should encourage successful projects to seek follow-on funding via Innovation Actions. Signposting of exploitation phase funding opportunities is needed. Representatives of technology transfer or VC organisations should be invited to future Impact Workshops.

8 1 INTRODUCTION The 4 th annual Factories of the Future Impact Workshop was held in Brussels on 24 th and 25 th March. All the current projects were represented with presentations in three parallel session covering: Sustainable manufacturing ICT for manufacturing High-performance manufacturing The purpose of the workshop was to share best practice and the benefits derived from clustering, report on cross-cutting themes that have benefits to many or all participants, detail the impact of their projects and outline the added value of performing the project within the context of the PPP. This report details the outcome of the workshop together with the main recommendations regarding the execution of FoF projects and the maximisation of impact. 1.1 OBJECTIVES The workshop followed on from last year s event in examining how the impact of FoF projects could be maximised but also what benefits could be gained from clustering projects with similar themes. The specific objectives were to: Report on cross-cutting issues with multiple project beneficiaries Identify project impacts: highlight targets and metrics Share best practice between projects Highlight the added value of undertaking the projects within the framework of the PPP 1.2 BACKGROUND The Factories of the Future (FoF) contractual Public-Private Partnership PPP (cppp) is a joint initiative between the EC and industry, represented by the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) aimed at assisting EU manufacturers, particularly SMEs, across all sectors to adapt to global competitive pressures by increasing the technological base of EU manufacturing through the

9 4 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP development and integration of enabling technologies and through encouraging greater innovation in the sector. The PPP operates based on an industry driven multi-annual roadmap that identifies the priority areas for research and development and innovation (R&D&I) calls issued and administered by the Commission. Therefore while there is an ongoing dialogue regarding the scope and content of calls, openness and transparency of the calls is maintained through the use of standard EC collaborative research rules and mechanisms. The FoF PPP was set up in 2008 under Framework Programme 7 (FP7) as part of the European Economic Recovery Plan. A total of 4 calls were undertaken in FP7 resulting in 151 projects under 25 project groupings, as illustrated in Table 1. Most of these projects are still running. EFFRA was set up by leading European industrial companies and the Manufuture European Technology Platform to be the Industrial Association to represent the private side of the PPP. EFFRA currently has some 133 members representing European industry, research organisations and associations. Under FP7 the liaison between the Industrial Association, EFFRA, and the EC was ad-hoc, allowing the arrangements to be put in place quickly. However, with the advent of Horizon 2020 the relationship between the Industrial Association and the EC has been formalised under a contractual Public-Private Partnership arrangement. No projects have yet been launched under Horizon 2020.

10 1 Introduction 5 Table 1: Factories of the Future Project Groupings Project Grouping FoF 1 st Call FoF 2 nd Call FoF 3 rd Call FoF 4 th Call Adaptive Production Equipment Virtual Factories High Precision Manufacturing Smart Factories Digital Factories Eco Factories Cooperative Machines Robots for Post-production Green, Safe & Healthy Consumer Products Towards Zero-defect Manufacturing Nano-phase Components and Coatings Manufacturing Solutions for New ICT Products Innovative Technologies Knowledge Based Tools Total High Performance Manufacturing Technologies Intelligent Production Machines Maintenance of Production Equipment Application Experiments for Robotics and Simulation 6 6 Experiment Assessment for sensor and laser based applications 5 5 Manufacturing for composites and engineered materials Manufacture of highly miniaturised components 4 4 Re-use of modular production equipment 2 2 People centred production and social sustainability 3 3 Innovative design based on collaborative environments 3 3 Mini-factories for customised products using local production 5 5 TOTAL

11 6 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP 1.3 METHODOLOGY The European Commission hosted the Impact Workshop and staff from both DG Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and DG Connect (DG CNECT) participated. Over 140 project representatives attended the event. In order to enhance cooperation links between projects, projects were pre-allocated into one of 6 project clusters, aligned to the PPP Roadmap themes with each cluster presenting in a single session. Unlike the previous year s workshop, where clusters had been organised according to the FP7 FoF Work Programme call topics, this year the clusters were organised around the broad theme areas supported by the projects. This move towards broader focussed clusters appears to have been successful in allowing greater scope for identifying commonalities and synergies while, at the same time, concerns about IPR difficulties were lower within clusters than those reported last year. In terms of moving forward, these clusters based on the supported area for the research can be developed and evolved as new projects associated with the area join the clusters. It was also evident that some of the clusters had benefited significantly from working together over the last year. The objective of the first day sessions was to assess the impact achieved to date by each project and to assess the potential benefits of clustering. In order to facilitate the latter, the EC requested that projects within an allocated cluster get in contact prior to the event to assess the potential and scope for clustering activities and to prepare joint area presentations (see below). Three parallel tracks were run with two related cluster groups assigned sequentially to each track. Within each cluster a number of closely related thematic areas each gave a single presentation. The schedule of the presentations was: Track 1: Sustainable Manufacturing Session 1.1: Session 1.2: Track 2: ICT for Manufacturing Session 2.1: Environmental Sustainability Area 1: Eco Factories Area 2: Maintenance, Repair, Re-use and Adapt Area 3: Innovative Technologies for Casting, Material Removing and Forming Processes Humans in the Workplace Area 1: Workplaces of the Future Area 2: Human Robot Interactions Area 3: Human Machine Interfaces and Training Simulation, Modelling and Forecasting in Digital Factories Area 1: Manufacturing design and Product Lifecycle Management Area 2: Innovative Design of personalised Product / Services and of their Production Processes Based on Collaborative Environments Area 3: Application Experiments for Robotics and Simulation Area 4: Knowledge Based Tools and Integrated Process Simulation at Factory Level

12 1 Introduction 7 Session 2.2: Cyber-physical Systems and Networked Factories Area 1: Data Management and Communication in Smart Factories Area 2: Networked Factories Area 3: Customer-centred Supply Chains Track 3: High-Performance Manufacturing Session 3.1: Mechatronics and Adaptive Manufacturing Area 1: Plug and produce components for adaptive production systems Area 2: Robots for Smart factories: Cooperative Machines and Open Architecture Control Systems Area 3: Zero-defect Manufacturing Area 4: Adaptive System Integration of Automation Equipment Session 3.2: Advanced Manufacturing Processes including Exploiting New Materials Area 1: Micro and Nano-scale Manufacturing Area 2: Advanced Manufacturing Processes including Exploiting New Materials Area 3: High Precision Production Technologies Area 4: Additive Manufacturing Area 5: Manufacturing Processes for Products made of Composites ort Engineered Metallic Materials Each area presentation was put together by the group of projects belonging to that area that addressed the scientific and technical goals of the projects in the area; the expected or achieved impact of the supported area at both area and project level; identified technical and non-technical cross-cutting themes; and the synergies and benefits of clustering. The second day started with presentations from Clara de la Torre and Max Lemke, from DG RTD and DG CNECT respectively, providing an EC view of the impact of the FoF PPP to date. This was followed by the EFFRA view from its Chairman, Maurizio Gattiglio. A presentation of four success stories, projects with high impact and outcome, was given next which was followed by a panel discussion on maximising impact and successful innovation strategies. The day was concluded with an overview by EFFRA of their projects Database/Innovation Portal followed by closing statements from EFFRA and EC representatives.

13 2 IMPACT OF THE FOF PPP This section provides an overview of the impact of the FoF PPP as an instrument followed by the summary conclusions of the cluster presentations. 2.1 OVERVIEW OF THE FOF PPP IMPACT Both the EC and EFFRA have been monitoring the outcomes of the FoF PPP over the last 5 years. In addition, the final assessment of the 3 European Economic Recovery Plan PPPs also reported on the benefits brought by the PPP instrument during FP7. These benefits are: Increased large industry participation (~24% up from and FP7 average of ~17%) and increased SME participation (~25% up from an FP7 average of ~17%) Stimulated industry response to define a strategy Promoted demonstrators which facilitate technology uptake and brought projects closer to market Improved success rate in calls and lower time to grant whilst maintaining transparency, fairness and accessibility Balanced participation of members and non-members of industrial associations Balanced distribution of funding between different countries 2.2 TRACK 1: SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING The six clusters of projects presented in this session covered a total of 31 projects. The range of technology and application areas covered: Eco Factories with the aim of helping factories become more resource and energy efficient, reduce waste and increase the level of recycling. The technical approaches included process simulation and modelling, product lifecycle assessments, development of new sustainable manufacturing technologies, improving the green performance of existing manufacturing techniques and advanced control algorithms for manufacturing. The main impacts were reduced energy consumption (up to 40%), reduced CO 2 emissions (up to 85%), reduced scrap (up to 50%) and reduced costs (up to 30%).

14 2 Impact of the FoF PPP 9 Maintenance, repair, re-use and adaptation examining methodologies and tools for sustainable predictive maintenance, innovative renovation and repair of production equipment, innovative re-use of modular equipment and the use of plug and produce devices for system adaptivity. The main impacts were reductions in renovation and repair costs (up to 20%), increased re-use of production components at end of life (between 80% and 100%) and overall cost reductions due to re-use of modular equipment (of around 30%). Innovative technologies for casting, material removal and forming processes investigating new process technologies, improved materials, reduced energy consumption, recycling and reduced emissions. Expected impacts included the efficiency of material use (up to 20%), reducing process chains from raw material to finished parts and increases in the performance, capability and functionality of new products using high added value materials and engineered materials. Workplaces of the future investigating the integration of European factories with their social environment, the sustainable use of human capital and worker s knowledge, new methods for enhanced cooperation between human operators and production systems and new personalised approaches to safety and ergonomics. The expected impact of this area included increases in productivity (over 20%), reduction in costs related to accidents and occupational diseases, an increased pool of potential workers through widening individual s skills profile, reduction of environmental impacts and increased attractiveness of working environments. Human robot interaction investigating safe and intuitive working between humans and robots to maximise the utility of worker s knowledge and flexibility alongside the power and precision of a robot, novel methods of programming and teaching robots, improved planning of collaborative tasks, safe navigation of logistics robots in human inhabited workspaces and standardised safety certification. The expected impacts were an increased use of robot installations in SME manufacturing, decreased production cycle time by automating processes, increased productivity of workers, higher employment as more manufacturing will remain in Europe, promotion of equal opportunities due to less physically demanding jobs and improved working environment and new concepts for adaptable and changeable systems using standard components. Humans in the workplace aiming at highly intuitive and interactive manufacturing applications, more attractive manufacturing environments, particularly for younger employees, more motivational and engaging working situation with, for instance, game based approaches and elimination of screen and paper based instruction to lower the cognitive workload. Expected impacts of this area included shorter new product introduction times, reduced product switch over times (by 10%), increased effectiveness of manual work (by up to 30%) and increased number of young people entering manufacturing. A common theme of all the projects in this track was making Europe a more attractive base for manufacturing and increasing the long term sustainability of manufacturing in Europe through addressing cost, resources and skills issues Cross-cutting issues Technical and non-technical cross cutting issues identified by projects in this track are shown below in Table 2.

15 10 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP Table 2: Track 1 Cross-cutting Issues Technical cross-cutting issues LCA methodology and boundaries Business case methodology Common/shared demonstrators Shared monitoring framework Common Key Performance Indicators Synchronised standardisation activity Common vocabulary and terminology Joint exploitation of non-prime markets Coordination of dissemination events Common methods of failure prognosis Common approaches to cloud services Shared life extension techniques Shared metrology and mechanical testing Best practice on nano-particle mixing Framework for linking social sustainability to economic sustainability Common vision of an attractive factory Enabling safe human/machine interaction with common workspaces Interoperability/common middleware Semantics supported data exchange Augmented reality technologies for assistance/ training Game based training methodologies Consolidation of games, teaching factory and social media into an integrated training solution Added value estimation methodology for interaction technologies Real-time information management User identification and tracking technologies As might be expected there was greater commonality of identified non-technical cross-cutting issues than of technical ones Non-technical cross cutting issues Joint publications (e.g. on methodology) Joint workshops and seminars Shared/linked web presence Shared white paper addressing core issues for decision makers/common research vision Development of joint training material Production of joint guidelines on eco-efficient factories Production of joint Eco-factory logo Share best practice in exploitation approach and business model development Joint discussion with early adopters (although potential source of conflict) Exchange of requirements from industrial partners between projects Access to lower TRL results for integration in DEMO projects Joint approach to investment community Joint lobbying for standardisation and legislation on eco-factories Joint approach on gender issues Development of library of safety concepts ELS issues and user inclusion Identified and stable communication channels between projects with the desire for cross-project publications, events and promotions being common to almost all areas.

16 2 Impact of the FoF PPP Synergies and benefits of clustering The identified synergies and benefits of clustering were identified as: Avoidance of repetition of common elements Potentially wider audience for results / faster industrial take-up Gaining a different point of view on similar processes Complementarity of certain project results Potential for greater influence on standardisation activity Potential for greater influence on regulatory bodies Greater visibility from a common communication / dissemination strategy Results closer to needs of industry by sharing industrial partner / end user requirements Greater potential for tracking emerging trends and solutions 2.3 TRACK 2: ICT FOR MANUFACTURING The 7 clusters of projects presented in this session covered a total of 48 projects. The range of technology and application areas covered: Tools for virtual prototyping and comprehensive, integrated modelling and simulation of complex products and processes leading to accelerated product design and manufacturing with shorter time to market and improved accuracy and reliability of simulation techniques for manufacturing processes. Collaborative design tools supporting rapid design and shortened product development times which will result in cost reductions by reducing lead-times in product/process development and higher customer involvement during the whole product lifecycle leading to more market responsive manufacturing. Simulation and high performance computing tools for SME manufacturers providing increased industrial competitiveness in terms of costs, innovation capability and time to market. This particular cluster featured open calls to bring SMEs into the project by conducting small scale experiments. Collaborative and adaptive process planning for SME manufacturers. This knowledge based process planning is expected to yield reduced cycle times and higher productivity. Cyber-Physical Systems and networked factories providing access to key manufacturing data and enabling integration of processes from design to product retirement and across geographically remote manufacturing sites. Such systems will underpin greater agility and ability to respond to customer needs as well as increased efficiency and sustainability. Networked factories supporting collaborative industrial models and facilitating the re-use of manufacturing information throughout the supply chain. These approaches are expected to yield efficiency gains due to automated communication and data exchange with suppliers, clients and partners as well as provide greater scalability, interoperability, flexibility and data security. Customer-centred supply chains aimed at small series production and responsive manufacturing capability. These

17 12 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP approaches are expected to yield 40% greater customer needs reactivity together with cost savings of around 30% due to improved scheduling and more robust manufacturing methods Cross-cutting issues Technical and non-technical cross cutting issues identified by projects in this track are shown below in Table 3. Table 3: Track 2 Cross-cutting Issues Technical cross-cutting issues Technical cross-cutting issues Data integration and system/data interoperability Providing demonstrators Collection and management of product life-cycle data Real-time monitoring of product development and manufacturing operations Harmonisation of technical requirements Common/shared architecture approaches Middleware choices Visualisation technologies Data security needs Common software tools Common approaches to monitoring of machines and processes Eco-manufacturing optimization Efficient customisation methods Customer needs and requirements elicitation Synergies and benefits of clustering The identified synergies and benefits of clustering were identified as: Greater efficiency of common dissemination activities Sharing of application scenarios leading to the identification of wider markets Providing a critical mass of success stories to interest end customers Shared experience on, and joint promotion of, open calls Non-technical cross cutting issues Non-technical cross cutting issues Post-project commercialisation IP ownership issues Joint dissemination/tech transfer Joint promotion of best practice Reference benchmarks Identification of new exploitation opportunities Shared user feedback Shared new business models Licensing issues, particularly open source Gaining critical mass of success stories Common roadmaps Cross-promotion of projects on web sites Shared training platforms Development of a common reference model for end-to-end factory processes Cross-validation of results Collecting common knowledge and understanding of health and safety issues for specific technologies Greater visibility of project results through shared promotion Developing a consensus view on short term innovations and future trends Joint monitoring of standardisation efforts Defining a common semantic base The potential of running projects to enhance demos with results from completed projects Shared exhibition space

18 2 Impact of the FoF PPP TRACK 3: HIGH PERFORMANCE MANUFACTURING The 9 clusters of projects presented in this session covered 63 projects. The range of technology and application areas covered: The development of self-optimising, portable plug-and-produce components for adaptive manufacturing systems that will support higher precision and reliability. Expected impacts included increases in productivity of up to 30% combined with reductions in energy consumption of up to 20% and reduction in overall machining costs of 10%. Specific achievements included an increase of 200% in material removal rate using Magneto-rheological materials and an improvement of 25% in surface roughness finish through the use of chatter-free piezoelectric and magnetic actuators. Cooperative machines and open architecture control systems to transform traditional production lines to non-hierarchical agglomerates of autonomous and mobile manufacturing units with intuitive interfaces, leading to higher utilisation of production equipment. This approach is expected to reduce waste and scrap while increasing the throughput and process capability of the manufacturing systems. Zero defect manufacturing through efficient simulation and in-process monitoring of, and adaption to, dimensional fluctuations. The expected impact is in the reduction of losses and increases in efficiency of the manufacturing process. Adaptive system integration of automation equipment to allow scalable extension of capabilities through the addition of new components and automatic reconfiguration of the system functionality. The expected impact is an increase in the overall equipment efficiency, providing reduced costs and reduced time to market and which will promote more flexible, project-based collaboration between component suppliers. Micro and Nano-scale manufacturing to develop new product capabilities. The expected impact is in the production of new or more efficient products (e.g. lighting and solar power cells) together with supporting the manufacture of cost-efficient customised products. This area will also support innovation in European manufacturing for the production of high-throughput nano-structured components. Advanced manufacturing processes including exploiting new materials through innovations in laser-based manufacturing. The expected impact is a cost reduction and increase in power efficiency in industrial laser applications. High precision production technologies for the manufacture of high precision 3D parts in standardised and flexible process chains. The expected impact is in terms of reduced manufacturing costs, the support of mass customisation and the enabling of local manufacturing. Additive manufacturing supporting product customisation, local manufacture, transportable factories and highly flexible manufacturing. The expected impacts are an increased ability to follow market/customer dynamics, a reduction in time to market and associated costs and reduced environmental impact compared to traditional larger factories. Manufacturing processes for products made of composites of engineered me-

19 14 IMPACT OF THE FACTORIES OF THE FUTURE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP tallic materials. This cluster is examining systems to monitor and optimise the process parameters, develop new methods for joining and assembly and develop characterisation and testing techniques. The cluster is also looking at recycling of the materials and product repair technologies. The expected impact is the ability to manufacture products with lower weight, greater stiffness and improved conductivity performance than is possible with conventional materials. It is expected that raw material usage and energy consumption will be reduced by at least 20% and there will be a reduction in wastes and emissions of at least 30% Cross-cutting issues Technical and non-technical cross cutting issues identified by projects in this track are shown below in Table 4. Table 4: Track 3 Cross-cutting Issues Technical cross-cutting issues Greater application coverage Cooperating mobile machines with open control architectures Exchange of experience on primary hardware, e.g. motors, drives and, sensors Implementation of joint benchmark scenarios and metrics Shared common vision of a European Zero Defect manufacturing Paradigm Sharing of industrial needs and requirements Shared/combined demonstrators. Common communication platform Common information exchange protocols Particle contamination control in thin film device manufacture Inline metrology tools Simulation and manufacture of glass wafers Quality inspection Micro injection moulding technology Automation standards required for in-plant minicarriers and software Efficient processes for plastic composite production Additive manufacturing methods for engineered metallic materials Coating/curing technologies Process simulation Non-technical cross cutting issues Common dissemination activities Shared exploitation strategies Shared/coordinated standards knowledge/activity Health and environmental aspects Shared business models Establishment of competence centres for end users/customers becoming aware of technologies Collection of requirements from different industrial sectors Business models for personalised goods related to close-to-user factories. Common end-user training development Gender issues Access to risk venture capital Exchange best practice in gaining access to market.

20 2 Impact of the FoF PPP Synergies and benefits of clustering The identified synergies and benefits of clustering were identified as: Greater efficiency of common dissemination activities Development of a common platform to sell and to develop new components The potential for running projects to benefits from the experience of completed projects Prevention of overlaps and unnecessary work Shared business/end user contacts. Invitations to common workshop Creation of a broader base of interested users through pooled contacts Cross-fertilisation of ideas on product-centred advanced manufacturing platforms Greater impact of standardisation Common exhibition space/booth Cross-linking of project web-sites Potential for further impact by hybridizing technologies within the cluster Sharing common resources such as software licenses or on-line platforms

21 3 SUCCESS STORIES Four success stories from different topic areas were selected to present their achievements and impact to date. The end applications ranged across knowledge-based toolsets, robotics, 3D printing and laser welding. The projects were at different stages of realisation, although all had achieved significant impact to date. Development of an integrated lithography-based additive manufacturing system which will, for the first time, facilitate the processing of photopolymer-based materials for the factory of the future. Coordinator: TU Vienna Phocam was aimed at addressing two major limitations of additive manufacturing technologies using those of insufficient mechanical properties and low resolution. The key achievements of the project have been the ability to fabricate silicon nitride and aluminium oxide ceramics with up to 99.6% of their theoretical density, thus addressing the materials strength problem. Secondly the project managed to achieve fabrication of millimetre to centimetre sized objects with 100nm feature resolution. The project also created the world s smallest 3D printer. The system also has relatively high writing speeds of up to 5000mm/s. A Company, Lithoz GmbH, has been spun out from TU Vienna to exploit the technology. This company now has 13 employees and completed its second level financing in The company sells both the machines and the materials. Further developments of the technology are aimed at dentistry and a long term industrial-academic partnership has been set up by TU Vienna to investigate this new application. Parallel cable robotics for improving maintenance and logistics of large-scale products. Coordinator: Tecnalia Cablebot is aimed at large, heavy object handling in maintenance, manufacturing and logistics. It is a cable driven, parallel robot that can cover a large workspace with a very

22 3 Success Stories 17 low footprint. The part carried by the robot is controllable in a full 6 degrees of freedom and the control can be either fully automated or manually controlled. As the actuators are outside the workspace then it is easy to provide protection for sensitive of hazardous environments. Four lab scale demonstrators (at TRL 3) were built to demonstrate the concept on a variety of hardware systems. A large scale demonstrator (TRL 5/6) was also built. This has a footprint of 15m*11m*6m, a payload of 500kg and a mean repeatability of 3mm. An exploitation strategy seminar was organised in May 2013 and the first version of the business plan was developed at the end of has also been demonstrated successfully for the solar cell application and will be demonstrated on the battery application in July The project has also developed and demonstrated a weld monitoring system for in-process control of the welding and an eddy current and digital radiography system for post-weld inspection. The Apps4AME aims to develop engineering applications for advanced manufacturing engineering. It is aimed at 4 sectors: the food industry, automotive, tooling and ICT providers. Coordinator: Fraunhofer IPA QCoala is a project nearing completion. It is aimed at the quality control of Aluminium laser-welded assemblies, particularly car batteries and thin-film photovoltaic cell interconnections. Coordinator: TWI QCoala set out to develop a dual-wavelength laser platform for welding thin-gauge aluminium and copper. The purpose was to establish a capability for high speed, low cost and high quality joining of two green products: electric car batteries and thin-film photovoltaic interconnections. The purpose of the dual-wavelength laser is to take advantage of the green laser s absorption by copper and aluminium to initiate the weld process and an infrared laser to produce a controllable result. This laser system has been developed and already commercialised by Rofin. The system The Apps4aME project has set out to produce a set of engineering applications and an integrating architecture to support the shift from mass production to on-demand production. The project addresses the problem associated with the difficulty of conventional IT systems adapting to support the application needs of changing situation. While all the required data is within the system, getting it in the form required can be difficult and/or time consuming. In the Apps4aME paradigm, tablet and smartphone devices are ubiquitous in the shop floor environment and aim to speed the design to manufacturing process by providing appropriate information to each domain in the design-to-manufacture process. The project will provide new knowledge-based methods, technologies and tools to model simulate, optimise and monitor planned and existing manufacturing systems. Five specific apps are being developed to show case the approach. These are truck allocation, temperature planning, temperature analysis and a production planning cockpit.

23 4 MAXIMISING IMPACT AND SUCCESSFUL INNOVATION STRATEGY The panel discussion centred on the experience of the panellists in achieving real-world impact and on their thoughts on the elements of a successful innovation strategy. To help focus the discussion each panellist was asked to make an introductory statement based on four questions before the debate was opened up to the general audience. The four questions were: 1. Have you established links with other projects? How have they added value to your own project? 2. How has your project addressed IPR, patenting and contribution to standards? 3. Has your project started a spin-off company? What were barriers/benefits? 4. What would be your recommendations with regard to making the FoF programme and the call topics more likely to generating exploitable results? The participating panellists and their respective projects were: Jokin Muñoa Dynexperts Francis Wray Fortissimo Marcello Colledani Zerodefect Cluster Dominic Gorecky VISTRA The moderator was José-Lorenzo Vallés. Among the points made by the panellists during their opening statements were the need to establish a clear ownership of results from the outset; the fact that results don t need to be a breakthrough to be exploitable, simply just useful; that clustering is useful for dissemination and requirements collection but that it can present some additional sources of conflict for exploitation if not handled well. In the general discussion a series of topics were discussed starting with clustering. Again the idea that clusters are useful for

24 4 Maximising Impact and Successful Innovation Strategy 19 sharing end user requirements was voiced. A suggestion was that a cluster of clusters event could be organised to present to end users the breadth of topics being addressed. The idea expressed was that by presenting a wide range of possible manufacturing improvements to end users they were likely to pick up on something that was relevant and of high priority to their own organisation. Such events would also tend to attract a wider range of end users. In terms of IPR, patents and standards a danger was foreseen that the narrow focus of a single project was possibly not appropriate and that projects should not try and replicate the role of standardisation boards within the project. It was felt that a roadmap on how standards should be developed would be a useful resource for all projects and therefore should be a candidate for support by the PPP. The view was expressed that the standards development community was not very open and that the EC could assist in helping projects to have influence. One suggestion was that small follow-up standardisation projects could be funded for successful projects, particularly as the exact requirements for standards are rarely known at the start of the project. However, a word of caution was sounded in terms of disrupting the current standards arrangements as large companies, who invest much time and effort in standards, could be upset if the playing field is skewed against them. In terms of spin-offs and exploitation one strong message was to engage marketing and sales people from the start, not bring them in when the product / service idea had been fully developed. The view was expressed that where industrial partners existed within a project it was against their interests to aim to set up a spin-off. However, this was countered as many end users do not want to be involved in the manufacture/development and sales of a product or service and even where they do then a joint venture company can be an interesting vehicle. The lack of funding for setting up spin-off companies was discussed and it was agreed that it is more difficult in Europe than is the case in the USA. Nevertheless, it was pointed out that many mechanisms for accessing funding in Europe do exist, including parts of the H2020 programme, and that what was required was good signposting to these funding sources for projects. A difficulty in setting up a Europe-wide start-up was discussed and various approaches were suggested, although it was also stated that all start-ups are initially local. It was pointed out that industry is not interested in technology per se, but in solutions. For this reason exploitation could be greatly assisted though the establishment of Demonstration and Pilot Centres where a range of technology solutions could be demonstrated in context. In this regard the link to Member States is important both as a potential source of funding for such activity but also because centres have to be physically located somewhere.

25 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This fourth impact workshop marks the transition of the FoF PPP from FP7 to H2020. This was marked with evidence of real results and a still growing community of active researchers and engineers pursuing the industry defined multi-annual roadmap. It is also clear that the objectives of the FoF PPP are well aligned to EC industrial policy. A significant focus of the workshop was on the potential benefits of clustering. The general conclusion was that clustering can bring significant benefits but that potential commercial conflicts have to be carefully handled both in terms of the structure of the cluster and the topics addressed by the cluster. However, valid topics are not fixed for all clusters and cannot be predetermined. The areas of common agreement on the benefits of clustering included: Joint dissemination: There is significant added value in getting a critical mass of success stories to show various approaches to introducing manufacturing improvements. Such joint actions can be either sector-focussed of function-focussed. White papers: The production of white papers covering broad areas wider than a single project can help in influencing decision makers in companies and policy makers. Standardisation actions: The joint action of a cluster may be more relevant to deriving inputs to standards than a single project alone. Training actions: Both within and even between clusters there are common sets of technologies that have similar core training requirements Avoiding unnecessary overlaps and duplication of efforts. Sharing of end user requirements: Multiple end user requirements can help better define the commercial and technical targets of a project. Joint exploitation: Although this can be a challenge, if sufficient synergies exist between projects in a cluster then joint exploitation may be beneficial. Development of a common language and terminology. It was, however, notable that despite much discussion on clustering and collaboration the

26 5 Conclusions and Recommendations 21 subject of open development models and approaches was largely missing from the debate. When it comes to putting together clusters, it was identified that the EFFRA innovation portal could be very useful in identifying potential operational clusters and as such could become a key tool in the process. 5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the presentations from the cluster groups and the subsequent discussion, the following recommendations have been formulated: 1. Consideration should be given to the planning of clustering activities at the proposal stage. Clustering is seen as useful and has been a success and yet no current project had made allowance for the additional time needed to perform such activity. This may be quite specific cluster planning if appropriate or simply the provision of appropriate time and effort to ensure that resources are available. 2. Clusters should not be considered as fixed and rigid. Clusters will have a useful lifetime but as both technology changes and projects mature, it may be more beneficial for different arrangements of clusters to be formed. The EF- FRA Innovation Portal will have a useful role in defining clusters making this process more efficient. 3. Clusters should seek to link to other European activities as well as to regional and national activities, particularly for demonstrator and pilot related activities. This will also enable clusters to seek to take advantage of other European (e.g. structural), regional and national funds. 4. Clusters should consider sharing of end customer needs and business models. This will provide a wider range of potential markets for the exploitation phase. 5. Potential IPR problems should be considered when first forming a cluster. These should be a major factor in deciding whether a cluster is viable as well as the structure and content of the cluster. 6. The EC should consider follow on Innovation Action funds based on the best of cluster, i.e. not funding single project continuations but amalgams of cluster activity and partners that have the most exploitation potential. a. The EC should also consider funding a small standardisation project to help with getting visibility of FoF PPP project perspectives into the standardisation process. 7. Projects should involve sales and marketing functions in FoF projects. Innovation projects go well beyond traditional research and development project scope and require the input of other disciplines and skills, particularly sales and marketing. 8. Signposting of funding opportunities is needed for taking projects into the exploitation phase, particularly if the startup route is followed. This signposting would be beneficial for most FoF projects and therefore it is recommended that the EC consider funding such activity, possible as part of a Coordination and Support Action. a. Representatives of technology transfer and funding organisations should be invited to future Impact Workshops to interact with project partners. 9. More preparation time should be allowed prior to future Impact Workshop to help inter-cluster discussion.

27 APPENDIX 1: AGENDA Preliminary Agenda Workshop Impact of the Factories of the Future PPP March 2014, Brussels, Belgium 24 March 2014, Monday Venue: Centre Borschette, rue Froissart 36, Brussels (Metro Schuman ) 13:30-14:00 Registration and welcome coffee 14:00-14:30 Getting Together in Preparation of the Parallel Sessions 14:30-18:00 Parallel Sessions: Presentations on the Impact of FoF PPP Projects (by Supported Area) Aim: To assess the impact achieved and the potential benefits of clustering (Coffee break between the sessions 16:00-16:30) Track 1: Rapporteur: Chair: Session 1.1: Session 1.2: Track 2: Rapporteur: Sustainable Manufacturing (Room AB-4A) Rosemary Gault, University of Sheffield Sebastien Mortier, EC Paolo Calefati, Prima Industrie Spa Damien Bornas, EC Environmental Sustainability Humans in the Workplace ICT for Manufacturing (Room AB-4B) Christian Albrecht, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum Erastos Filos, EC

28 Appendix 1: Agenda 23 Chair: Session 2.1: Session 2.2: Track 3: Paolo Pedrazzoli, Technology Transfer System Srl Rolf Riemenschneider, EC Simulation, Modelling and Forecasting in Digital Factories Cyber-physical Systems and Networked Factories High-Performance Manufacturing (Room AB-4C) Rapporteur: Christian Wögerer, Profactor Gustaf Winroth, EC Chair: Jon Agirre, Tecnalia Neophytos Neophytou, EC Session 3.1: Mechatronics and Adaptive Manufacturing Session 3.2: Advanced Manufacturing Processes including Exploiting New Materials 18:30 Networking Cocktail with Welcome Address by the Directors 25 March 2014, Tuesday Venue: Chair: MADOU Auditorium, Place Madou, Brussels (Metro Madou ) Plenary session José-Lorenzo Vallés, Head of Unit, DG RTD 8:45-8:55 Welcome and Objectives of the Workshop 8:55-9:20 Factories of the Future and Horizon 2020 Clara de la Torre, Director Key Enabling Technologies, DG RTD Khalil Rouhana, Director Components & Systems, DG CNECT 9:20-9:35 Impact of the FoF PPP Viewpoints of Industry Maurizio Gattiglio, EFFRA Chairman 9:35-9:50 Feedback on the parallel sessions from three rapporteurs 9:50-10:30 FoF Success Stories Projects with high impact and outcome Cablebot, Phocam, QCOALA, APPs4aMEs 10:30-11:00 Coffee break 11:00-12:00 Panel discussion: Maximising Impact and Successful Innovation Strategy Moderator: Lorenzo Valles Participants: Dynxperts, Fortissimo, Zerodefect Cluster, VISTRA 12:00-12:10 Projects Database/Innovation Portal Chris Decubber, EFFRA 12:10-12:25 Rapporteur s Summary & Conclusions 12:25-12:35 Statement from the Private Side of the FoF PPP EFFRA representative 12:35-12:45 Statement from the Public Side of the FoF PPP EC representatives