• The AEI Packaging Cluster prepares a new batch of proposals for collaborative projects with which to advance on the path towards Industry 4.0
• On April 28, the projects of the second call for 2022 end, in which 27 companies and entities have participated, with a budget of 1.2 million euros. The projects are: Bowser, DDM, Layertech, PETinject and Smart Battery Case

On April 15, the call for aid from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to support Innovative Business Groups (AEI) for this year was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) 2023. The financing line has a budget of 54 million euros destined to support the competitive improvement of small and medium-sized Spanish companies, in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The purpose of the subsidy is to promote projects and studies that incorporate digital technologies for the digital transformation of the companies involved, in terms of: industrial research, experimental development, innovation in organization or innovation in processes. As of April 15, 20 business days are established as the deadline for submitting proposals.

The Packaging Cluster - an entity accredited as an Innovative Business Group with extensive experience in this line of public financing - is already preparing various initiatives in collaboration with its associated members, companies from cross-sector sectors and other AEIs. In the last call, the second in 2022, the five 5 projects presented were approved with the involvement of 27 key industry agents and a budget of 1.2 million. On April 28, the period of execution of these 5 initiatives ends.

Completion of the projects financed in the last call

+ DATA-DRIVEN  MAINTENANCE, DDM

In this case, DDM or Data-Driven Maintenance, has explored a new way to advance in the digitization of SMEs through the pilot test in Cellografica Gerosa of a plant data management and analysis system with which to be able to predict breakdowns with the support of Artificial Intelligence. This is an experimental development that will make it possible to standardize production data and make decisions in real time. The companies Cellografica Gerosa, Dribia and TAI Smart Factory, and the AEI Packaging Cluster have formed part of DDM.

+LAYERTECH

With Layertech, the previous study has been obtained, which has made it possible to determine the technical feasibility of the separability of materials and of the technology for the measurement of the barrier lacquer for a future application in a planned second phase. The initiative has sought to find a solution that allows the separation of the different layers of multilayer materials, effectively, thus facilitating their recycling. Layertech, made up of an industrial symbiosis of companies in the value chain, promoted by the AEI Packaging Cluster and AEI Clúster Food+I, with IFLEX, Moses and Tecnopackaging, constitutes a success story that can be extrapolated for the packaging industry.

+ PETINJECT

BertIA, Industrias Plásticas Triana, KUKA, Molmasa, Tepsis and VM Systems, under the coordination of the Packaging Cluster, have participated in the PETinject project. A business collaboration that has worked to find an integrated system that allows the manufacture, by injection, of post-consumer recycled PET containers for the food and cosmetics sector. The tests have been carried out at the IP Triana facilities and the solution will represent a commitment to generate an automated, much more sustainable alternative.

+ SMART  BATTERY CASE 

Research led by the Advanced Materials Cluster of Catalonia, with the companies Compoxi, Cooling Photonics, Rotimpres and Solar Box, and the Packaging Cluster, which has led to the development of a prototype battery box for the naval industry. The result is a new battery box that is more efficient, lighter, resistant, monitored, economical, with a high power density and a longer useful life. This project will promote a more sustainable energy model, promoting electromobility.

The projects have been financed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism through the aid program to support Innovative Business Groups (AEI), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, in order to improve the competitiveness of small and medium companies.