ICT Challenge 7: ICT for the Enterprise and Manufacturing
The Factories of the Future (FoF) initiative is part of the European Economic Recovery Plan launched in November 2008 to respond to the global economic crisis. This Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) aims at helping EU manufacturing enterprises, in particular SMEs, to adapt to global competitive pressures by improving the technological base of manufacturing across a broad range of sectors. The ICT contribution to this initiative aims at improving the efficiency, adaptability and sustainability of manufacturing systems as well as their better integration within business processes in an increasingly globalised industrial context. Challenge 7 is fully dedicated to supporting the FoF PPP.
The Challenge includes the areas:
- 'Smart factories' including application experiments of control and sensor-based systems, laser systems and industrial robots (Objective 7.1).
- 'Manufacturing solutions for new ICT products' addressing manufacturing processes for Organic Large Area Electronics (OLAEs) and organic photonics (Objective 7.2).
- 'Virtual factories and enterprises' addressing end-to-end integrated ICT allowing for innovation and higher management efficiency in networked operations and supporting the emergence of 'smarter' virtual factories and enterprises (Objective 7.3).
- 'Digital manufacturing' including product life cycle management, modelling, design and optimisation (Objective 7.4).
In all objectives of this Challenge, projects are expected to be industry-driven and to contain a strong validation element with quantifiable targets.
Timetable for Challenge 7 Calls for Proposals
| Objective | Publication date | Closure date | Budget | Funding schemes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 Smart factories: energy-aware, agile manufacturing and customisation | 20/07/11 (TBC, see note 85 on page 141 of WP 2011-12) |
01/12/11 (TBC, see note 86 on page 141 of WP 2011-12) |
A total of €60m is available for 7.1 & 7.2 | Collaborative Projects (IP and STREP) | Closed |
| 7.2 Manufacturing Solutions for new ICT products | 20/07/11 (TBC, see note 85 on page 141 of WP 2011-12) |
01/12/11 (TBC, see note 86 on page 141 of WP 2011-12) |
A total of €60m is available for 7.1 & 7.2 | Collaborative Projects (IP and STREP) | Closed |
| 7.3 Virtual Factories and enterprises | 20/07/10 | 02/12/10 | €45m | Collaborative Projects (IP and STREP) | Closed |
| 7.4 Digital factories: Manufacturing design and product lifecycle management | 20/07/10 | 02/12/10 | €35m | Collaborative Projects (IP and STREP) and CSA | Closed |
See the ICT Work Programme 2011-12 for a full description of each objective(930 KB)