SMEs compete with made-to-measure
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been recognised as a key aspect in improving the European economy. Encouraging them to establish collaboration networks with other companies and to focus on added value rather than high production volume will help them compete. The EU-funded project 'Innovative networks of SMEs for complex products manufacturing' (NET-Challenge) worked on a new framework to support SMEs in creating business networks to design and manufacture complex products. The project developed ways to help SMEs qualify for strong partnerships and quickly respond to market opportunities, encouraging non-hierarchical business networks and models that better suit smaller businesses. It also worked on novel decision support tools to fine-tune manufacturing processes and logistics through better collaborative planning and real-time monitoring. Building on three actual business cases in the textile, footwear and machine tool fields, the project team established industrial demonstrators, trained staff, and refined products and prepared for their commercialisation. This helped NET-Challenge articulate the methodology, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, tools and reference collaboration processes needed to encourage this new, more competitive SME business model. NET-Challenge worked hard to support virtual organisations and innovative partnerships among SMEs, such as those based on engineer-to-order (ETO) and customise-to-order (CTO) approaches to foster design and manufacture of complex products. It facilitated partner searches and enabled the development of business communities while encouraging one-of-a-kind and mass customisation of complex products. The new approach will help manage these new business communities and joint projects, thanks to the new robust ICT tools and concept of a consolidated document repository for all project partners. The success of this new SME business model is also characterised by the sharing of design ideas, tracking partner progress, continuous improvement, long-term business sustainability and heightened competitiveness. Europe's SMEs will now be able to shine in the face of larger yet less flexible companies.
