Research centres, Chambers of Commerce and knowledge institutions from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom are joining forces in a new interregional project. The project aims to support SMEs in integrating new technologies, such as robots that work alongside humans, into their production processes. This has been announced by Flanders Make, the Belgian research centre for the manufacturing industry that is leading the project.
The project, called COTEMACO, offers SMEs in the automotive and food industries the chance to gain experience with digital technologies through living labs in recognisable conditions. They can then invest in these with the necessary prior knowledge, thus strengthening their competitive position.
Few investments
To compete with production in low-wage countries, SMEs increasingly need flexible production to meet the growing demand for highly personalised products and small product series. However, few SMEs fully realise how robots that work together with humans (collaborative robots or cobots) can contribute to this, leaving them without the necessary investment.
Through Interreg North West Europe, a consortium was formed with eight organisations, thus including Flanders Make and the Dutch HighTechNL and Food Tech Brainport. "Collaborative robots can have a greater impact on the manufacturing industry than 3D printing, for example," states Maarten Witters, project manager at Flanders Make. "They work safely together with people and support them to handle heavy loads, among other things. Because they can be versatile in different tasks, they play an important role in flexible production. We want to make SMEs aware of the potential of this kind of technology, by informing them extensively and letting them work with it in recognisable conditions via living labs. In this way, we convince them to deploy it effectively."
Improve competitive position
The project aims to reach some 60 SMEs in North-West Europe, increasing their turnover by an estimated 50 million initially and creating 125 new jobs. In doing so, we also aim to inspire and encourage SMEs across the region to implement new technologies in their organisations to strengthen their competitiveness. This will create direct jobs not only in the manufacturing industry, but also in the design, engineering and marketing companies linked to it.
Flanders Make is participating in this project with the MAKE LAB2. This is a mobile research laboratory where companies can test new technologies and human-robot cooperation. Companies can test here how a robot works side-by-side with a human, discover what the added value of Virtual and Augmented Reality is in a production environment, what a smart workstation can look like and measure whether a task is too hard or not.
HighTechNL
High Tech NL (/Holland Robotics) is teaming up with Food Tech Brainport to work with SMEs and knowledge institutions. In a demonstration factory, various food processing processes will be demonstrated in which employees and robots will work together optimally and cost-effectively.
Companies are invited to develop new production processes and build demonstrators that can serve as examples for the entire agricultural industry. Participating companies will also be supported during the implementation of collaborative robots within their own business environment. According to HighTechNL, the project also fits nicely into the 'High Tech to Feed the World (HT2FtW)' programme, in which high technology is applied to prepare the Dutch agricultural sector for the next century.
SMEs can enter the project by using special vouchers for training sessions, demonstrations or technological support for the effective implementation of a new technology in their company. This is a whole process that the project partners go through with them. In this way, we respond flexibly to the specific needs of companies to further develop their production and innovate on the production floor.
About Interreg North-West Europe
Interreg North-West Europe is a European Territorial Cooperation Programme that aims to make North-West Europe a major economic player and an attractive region to work and live in, with a high degree of innovation, sustainability and cohesion.
Source: Cotemaco/Flanders Make/HighTechNL
