Initiatives

The Smarter Factory Technology Gateway strategy is based on a clear mission to support innovative companies with digital technologies to help them achieve efficiencies, cost reductions and performance improvements to strengthen their businesses. Priority Themes: For SMEs the immediate need is around Smart Manufacturing, Data Acquisition through Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) & IoT, and the development of data-driven decision making. The availability of data is a key foundation on which the future adoption of intelligent systems, robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can effectively be addressed. For companies with more advanced digital maturity, opportunities to scale cognitive vision systems and to increase productivity through automation is key to maintaining and expanding production capacity. Industry Engagement: The SMARTER FACTORY will strongly focus on Innovation Diffusion which is of particular importance for SMEs and start-ups and reflects the process through which these firms gather knowledge, information, and innovations from outside and use them to introduce their own innovative products or processes. For example, for the adoption of new-to-the-firm technologies, the introduction of new management techniques, the digitalisation of certain processes, or the introduction on the market of a new product. In leading research projects with Multi-nationals, TUS has a track record of including SME partners (INCASE, AEPIC), showcasing lighthouse projects and developing results and tools that can be taken-up by SMEs.