Smart Manufacturing

Finland: West Finland

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

The Smart manufacturing DIH serves manufacturing industries in digitalization and co-creation. The focus is on boosting renewal and innovations in Finnish machine and manufacturing sectors incl. microelectronics. Examples of activities are e.g. cutting edge research services with access to European networks; co-creation and ecosystem building for companies; testing and piloting of solutions for SME`s; small series fabrication for microelectronics. Services are offered by key partners SMACC (Smart Machines and Manufacturing Competence Centre), Micronova and DIMECC (Digital, Internet, Materials & Engineering Co-Creation). However, the ecosystem is open and new partners are joining. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Industry Hub South

Netherlands: North Brabant

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

The Smart Industry Hub South is a non-profit collaboration between economic development agencies, branch organizations and knowledge institutes in the south of the Netherlands. Through this cooperation all parties active in the field of Smart industry coordinate their activities and can act locally where needed, regionally if possible and connect nationally. As one Hub we communicate efficiently towards companies, who can find easier access to initiatives, shared facilities and fieldlabs. We bring together existing initiatives and organize new events together. 

Focus themes: smart manufacturing and smart maintenance/services

Aim: to extend the reach of Smart Industry projects, fieldlabs and facilities in the South of the Netherlands (Noord-Brabant and Limburg). More companies in manufacturing and maintenance that start digitizing their production processes, products of services. 

Activities towards the digitalisation of SMEs: We act as one network, so that SMEs with questions get the right information and get refered to the right expertise. We try to move SMEs from inspire, to experiment and then implement. We start with inspiring and informing SMEs about the possibilities of digitization by organizing large scale events. Interested companies can go a setp further and really experiment with new techniques. These SMEs we refer to fieldlabs and knowledge institutes. There are financial incentives available at this stage. Then we hope companies arrive at the last stage of implementation. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Industry Centre (SmartIC)

Estonia: Estonia

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

The vision of the SmartIC hub is to ensure that Estonian manufacturing SMEs, big or small, can fully benefit in innovations in the field of ICT and robotics and thus improve its business and production processes and adapt its business models to the digital change to be globally competitive. Smartic is establishing a new digital research infrastructure. Smart industry (Industry 4.0) is a field that includes R&D activities related to distributed infrastructure at Tallinn University of Technology and Estonian University of Life Sciences in mechanical and industrial engineering, automation, mechatronics, materials science and engineering, and ICT. A new R&D virtual unit Smart Industry Centre (SmartIC) was established to enhance significantly the field of smart industry research, cross-usage of research infrastructures in Estonia (universities and partners), as well as internationally (R&D cooperation projects, applied research with international companies, e.g. in sectors such as aerospace, automotive industry, ship-building, and other industries) through co-operation, marketing and jointly defined services. Composing of the Centre was motivated from the current state of Estonian economy and industry – in addition to extensive low-priced and low-skilled outsourcing is more and more needed to develop value adding high-tech production. Estonia has not any longer advantage of a low-cost industrial country. To cope with this, also universities should show a clear direction and become more capable partner in R&D to the industry in modernizing of technology and in preparing industry's top professionals. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Health Digital Innovation Hub

Lithuania: Sostinės regionas

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

Smart Health DIH is non-profit organisation which developing the health care innovation ecosystem based in Vilnius (Lithuania). It aims at innovative solutions to promote health, prevent disease and provide resilient, accessible and effective patient-centered care that meets European citizens’ needs.

Smart Health DIH was established to build appropriate frameworks and amounts of high quality patient-centered health data for high performance computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence, which can help design and test new healthcare products, provide faster diagnosis and better personalized health interventions

Smart Health DIH solutions aim at contributing to increase in citizens’ secure access to and sharing of health data across platforms, better data to advance research, disease prevention and personalized health care, providing digital tools for citizen empowerment and person-centered care

As Smart Health DIH was established to facilitate the full innovation chain, from basic research to market uptake, it consists of participants from academia, the public sector, and the private sector: major national healthcare centers and research / educational institutions, international healthcare equipment manufacturers, NGOs, technology providers and facilitators.

Smart Health DIH partners join their resources to implement the new care models and the digital evidence based results, which provide the necessary means for delivery of efficient and cost-effective prevention and care in the European societies facing the ageing of the population together with the growing burden of chronic conditions and multi-morbidity.

Smart Health DIH is open for collaboration with international partners to accelerate innovations for delivering advanced, personalized, effective health care solutions. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Energy Digital Innovation Hub

Lithuania: Sostinės regionas

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

Smart Energy DIH is non-profit organisation which developing the smart energy innovation ecosystem based in Vilnius (Lithuania). The Digital Innovation Hub that brings together major research, business and public stakeholders in Lithuania for the common development and implementation of digital transformations in the renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, eco-design, recycling, environmental protection, circular business model development and associated sectors that meets European citizens’ needs. 

Smart Energy DIH was established to build appropriate frameworks and amounts of high quality  of renewable energy data for high performance computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence. 

As Smart Energy DIH was established to facilitate the full innovation chain, from basic research to market uptake, it consists of participants from academia, the public sector, and the private sector: major national renewable energy center’s and research / educational institutions, international smart energy equipment manufacturers, NGOs, technology providers and facilitators.

Smart Energy DIH partners join their resources to implement the new models and the digital evidence based results, which provide the necessary means for delivery of efficient and cost-effective renewable energy in the European societies. 

Smart Energy DIH is open for collaboration with international partners to accelerate innovations for delivering advanced, personalised, effective smart energy solutions.

The strategic mission of Smart Energy DIH is to contribute towards achieving goals stated in the EU “2030 framework for climate and energy policies”, which are the following:

·       At least 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels);

·       At least 32% share for renewable energy;

·       At least 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Digital Farming

Belgium: Flemish Region

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

Smart Digital Farming is a non-profit organisation in Flanders, Belgium

We stand for digital transformation in the agrifood sector

SDF is non-profit initiative of companies (members >70% SME's in 2019) active in innovative precision farming -and livestock breeding with as main objectives. It is partly subsidized by the Flemish Government and has a 3 year working program.

1) Deploy economic potential and enhance the competitiveness of Flemish SME's via active and sustainable collaboration within the AgriFood 4.0 environment.

2) Contribute with solutions to the societal/agricultural challenges with a direct economical added value for Flemish SME's.

3) Stimulate open innovation, market -and product innovation, and international exposure of the SDF initiative.

We are a Digital Innovation Hub within the H2020 DT-RUR-12 project SmartAgriHubs

Together with our host ILVO (BE), the University of Wageningen and TNO (NL), we are building a network of Digital Innovation Hubs for European agrifood sector in order to connect innovation on an interregional scale. As of 2019, Smart Digital Farming is a DIH within SmartAgriHubs acting as the one-stop-shop for the digital transformation in agrifood.

We will become an EDIH in the Digital Europe Program

Together with the Flemisch government VLAIO/EWI, ILVO and Flanders' Food, we are leading the way towards a Belgian Hub for Food Systems according European standards and guidelines. Smart Digital Farming is also a partner in the DIHHELP program of the European Commission for that matter. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Data Solution Center Baden-Württemberg

Germany: Baden-Württemberg

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

The Smart Data Solution Center Baden-Wuerttemberg (SDSC-BW) is a neutral and independent institution that facilitates the entrance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany into Smart Data technologies.
The SDSC-BW consults the SMEs on the benefits and possible uses of Smart Data and offers a potential analysis of companies' data free of charge. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Connected Supplier Network

Netherlands: North Brabant

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

Objective: 20% higher productivity of the supplier network,through fast, secure and interoperable exchange of information across company borders.

Manual data management is prone to errors

Digital collaboration in the supply chain is one of the goals of Smart Industry, the Dutch national Industry 4.0 programme. However, it is not easy to link ICT systems between companies, especially covering the supply network as-a-whole. Current practice shows that many companies solve this manually: Employees transfer information from an incoming order into their own system. SCSN is a communication standard enabling the machine building industry to share data across company borders in an easier, safer, and more reliable way.

Manual data management is prone to errors

The Dutch industry focuses specifically on the so-called low volume and high mix, high complexity machine building industry. The success of the supply chains in this industry increasingly depends on sharing large amounts of data across company borders.

Especially for SMEs that have a central role in these supply chains, receiving and sending data is not automated. This means that data received from their customers must be read, interpreted, and usually entered manually in their own ERP system. This often takes a lot of time and is prone to errors.

SCSN enables the automatic flow and processing of data. There are also strict agreements about the semantics of the messages, so that there is only one way to interpret them.

SCSN solves the disadvantages of EDI and cloud services 

Nowadays, a lot of data is exchanged between two companies via an EDI link. If a company wants to exchange data with a new partner, it will have to set up a new EDI connection. This is not necessary with SCSN. Companies must register once with an SCSN Service Provider and can exchange data with all other affiliated companies in the production chain, such as orders, invoices, technical product data, etc. It is therefore not necessary to connect to each company separately.

Using cloud connections to exchange data in between companies often means that data is stored outside the company and becomes visible to the cloud service provider. With SCSN, a company keeps a grip on its own data; it determines which data is shared with whom. The use of SCSN results in higher productivity of the supply chain through fast, secure, and interoperable exchange of information between companies.

Finally, this community of service providers and manufacturing companies is managed by the not-for-profit Foundation Smart Connected Supplier Network. This foundation is chairing the community and managing the SCSN-standard, which is published as open source standard. The Foundation SCSN is supervised by an elected Supervisory Board consisting of two manufacturing companies, service providers, sector organizations, and knowledge providers.

Benefits of SCSN

Connect once, communicate with the entire supply chain.
SCSN works for the OEM, 1st, 2nd and 3rd suppliers, wholesalers and steel producers and works with most available ERP software.
Manufacturing companies in control over their own data all the time.
Managed by an open source community chaired by a not-for-profit foundation.
Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

Smart Audiovisual World

Lithuania: Sostinės regionas

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

The Smart Audiovisual World is led by non-profit public organisation Audiovisual innovation centre. 

The mission of Smart Audiovisual World is to promote the competitiveness of cultural and creative industries, through applied research, innovation and knowledge transfer. The main objectives of the DIH are: 

To promote innovation based on creativity (soft innovation) to encourage a better introduction of emerging digital technologies in cultural and creative industries;
To promote new dynamics of development of cultural and creative activities based on collaboration between companies, research and innovation institutions and public cultural services providers in Lithuania and EU; 
To strengthen the visibility and the link between audio-visual content production with their public broadening, diversifying and personalizing their consumption, access and/or interaction.

The Smart Audiovisual World offers companies applied R&D and technology consultancy, high specialized training, promotion and dissemination of technological innovation in the creative industries, mainly in the field of audio-visual media technologies and products. The main disruptions happening to societies all over the world is driven by new innovations based on novel IT-based solutions. It is important to help the private and public sectors to conduct business in the most optimal way by developing relevant digital solutions.

Main areas of interest of Smart Audiovisual World members are Big Data Analysis, Block chain, Cyber-Security, Digital Business Development, Internet of Things, Smart products. Smart Audiovisual World will focus on integrating world class fundamental and applied research activities within these digital disciplines into creative industries in Lithuania in order to increase the competitiveness of these industries in international markets. Smart Audiovisual World is strongly committed to closely cooperate with relevant R&D, industrial and public partners.

Smart Audiovisual World is engaged in different collaborations with local SMEs, supporting their innovation, research and development activities. Examples to be mentioned here are: creation of access to powerful computers and computer systems, contacts to highly specialized software developers, programmers and senior experts in the field (Big Data, IoT, AI, security, and so on), and cross-disciplinary collaboration with other industries working with digitalization challenges, like business development, computer science, marketing and etc. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology

SMACT Competence Center

Italy: Veneto

Overview

Mission/Objectives of the cluster organisation

SMACT is one of eight Competence Centers instituted by the Italian Ministry for Economic Development to spread industry 4.0 best practices to SMEs including those in manufacturing, agri-food and other industries. It was founded as a no-profit public-private-partnership by 12 universities, research & public bodies, 14 private technology providers and 15 end-user companies in the Italian North-East, starting its activities in 2019.

The acronym SMACT stands for Social networks, Mobile platforms, advanced Analytics and big data, Cloud and internet of Things, the main technologies the Center works with.

SMACT is a platform enabling value creation and sharing in digital transformation processes, providing services along 3 pillars: demonstration of best practices; high training for management, operators and students; project management to support technology transfer. SMACT is building a network of Live Demos (LD): installation of industry 4.0 technologies to allow stakeholder to «touch and play» with innovations, making them accessible to the vast community of SMEs in the Italian North-East (Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and beyond. Each Live Demo implements real-life applications regarding one specific vertical: manufacturing, farm-to-fork, digital twin.

The Competence Center connects and shares the know-how of research institutions with a native predisposition to innovation with the purpose to realize 3 main activities: demonstration of 4.0 technologies and use cases, advanced training, project management of innovation, industrial research and experimental development.

In particular, SMACT provides companies, especially SMEs with the following services:

Orientation and Consultancy

Awareness raising on Industry 4.0 technologies and related benefits for enterprises and SMEs, on Italian Industry 4.0 Strategy, in particular on the Italian Competence Center System.
Workshops, webinars and conferences, reports and analyses on Key Enabling Technologies
Live Demos | 4.0 demonstrators for enterprises.  An IoT reference architecture: an innovative technology transfer spaces where every installation is a "teaching case" to see and touch 4.0 technologies in action, in a hardware-software reference architecture that helps answering the questions "how do I do that?" "who do I do it with?" for entrepreneurs, operators and students on the one hand and researchers and tech providers on the other.

LIVE DEMO PADOVA | From Farm to Fork: 3,000 m2 the largest 4.0 demonstrator in Italy, dedicated to the complete food supply chain in a naturally attractive place for research and businesses.

Showcased Use Cases: Production tracking / predictive quality / private 5G / real time monitoring / IoTization of manual lines / new digital first products / optimization of production recipes / circular economy / social inclusion

LIVE DEMO VERONA | Fabbrica del Vino: An advanced IT lab to concentrate data from the production chain and build efficient models, objectifying artisanal processes.

Showcased Use Cases: Data collection from field / outdoor 5G / local RF networks / mobile production management interfaces / agri field-to-hub data streaming / big data analytics / digital twin / waste re-use / chemical reduction

LIVE DEMO ROVERETO | M2M in Manufacturing:  1,000 m2 of mechatronic "factory" to demonstrate and test advanced automation on a real production cycle with advanced machines Exoskeletons, laser guidance, AGVs and cobots are some of the assets available in the Live Demo shared with University of Bolzano 

Showcased Use Cases: energy optimization / logistics optimization / granular cost-modeling / supply chain flexibility / operator tracking for security / production capacity servitization / private 5G / secure M2M transmission

LIVE DEMO BOLZANO | H2M in Manufacturing: A demonstration lab to touch and play with the latest man-machine interface technologies for the manufacturing sector.

Showcased Use Cases : operator guidance / plant production control and monitoring / assembly in enclosed space, of bulky objects / AGV-operator interactions / intention recognition / recommendation systems / laser and AR guidance 

LIVE DEMO FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA| Digital Twin: IT / OT convergence demonstrated at scale, with data flowing from industrial partners to RTOs for the construction of skills and digital twin libraries of products and processes Digital Twin.

Showcased Use Cases: self learning & adaptive twin / high throughput 5G network / process optimization / preventive mainteinance / secure large data transmission / data anonymization / virtual control room / digital product design ... and more

Advanced Trainings

Vertical thematic webinars to bring companies closer to industry 4.0 technologies
47 public events, over 1,000 users
Digital transformation training: our flagship program for managers and entrepreneurs - 3 days, 7 training modules / in preparation June 2021 edition
DTT web: the contents of the digital transformation training delivered online: the 7 training modules available to everyone / on sale March-May 2021 program
Courses: our on-demand content offering for business to enable the digital transformation / contact us for details
ITS (high technical training) to train tomorrow super technicians with credits toward a bachelor degree / cybersecurity specialist

 

Innovation Projects and Fundraising Support

 

SMACT leverages over 6.000 researchers and the great wealth of skills and experiences of industrial and technological partners, which we make available to companies to implement industrial research and experimental development projects through a consolidated process.

SMACT developed a unique methodology for finding and evaluate expertise useful for the innovation of end-user companies.

Scouting and matching of expertise:

• Definition of innovation needs

• Scouting of skills among researchers and providers

• Matching of needs with skills in the network 

• Cross-university contracts 

• Interface project management 7 Innovation Projects 18 active projects, over €1m

 

The translation into English of the whole website is on-going and will be available soon. Digital technologies.

Sectors
Technology