EU project creates ICT tool to help industry conduct technology management projects
Five companies from four European countries have clubbed together to develop the eTEMsolution, an ICT (information and communication technologies) tool providing information on professional technology management projects across Europe. The project, which began on 1 July, is funded under the Fifth Framework programme's IST programme. The tool will provide a service to technology planners and decision makers, who are often confronted with a flood of information when investigating innovative technologies, which are necessary to boost product performance and lower costs. eTEMsolution will consist of a workflow, document user and competence system, databases, search engines and intelligent agents. The trial project will be customised and introduced into three technology oriented companies. It is hoped that the trial will demonstrate the advantages of introducing the software for the user partners whilst generating insights and experiences that can be used to facilitate its implementation for further users. The expected results for the users are cost reductions of around ten percent, quality improvement, shorter time to market (30 per cent) and process stability (15 per cent). For technology suppliers, the result will be a validated tool to be commercialised. The Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnologie (IPT) will coordinate the project, and will work with companies from Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, and The Czech Republic. The project will run for 18 months, and has a budget of over 700,000 euro.