Advanced Manufacturing of Multi-Material Multi-Functional Products Towards 2020 and Beyond

Projektinformationen

4M2020

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 608843

Projekt abgeschlossen

Startdatum 1 September 2013

Enddatum 31 August 2016

Finanziert unter

• Specific Programme "Cooperation": Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies

Gesamtkosten € 928 843,69

EU-Beitrag € 898 000,00

Koordiniert durch

C-TECH INNOVATION LIMITED
United Kingdom

Final Report Summary - 4M2020 (Advanced Manufacturing of Multi-Material Multi-Functional Products Towards 2020 and Beyond)

Executive Summary:
4M2020 is focused on building on existing innovation chains that have been created by existing clusters working the field of multifunctional miniaturized products, and their application in the follow sectors:
• Energy
• Medical,
• Optoelectronics and micro-optics
• Printed electronics
• Ultra precision engineering
There are three distinct stages in the project strategy:
• Mapping of current and future needs
• Engaging with the wider community
• Supporting deployment of new projects and products
The final period has seen the completion of all aspects of the project. The roadmapping and identification of bottlenecks has proceeded in parallel and used the common terminology developed at the start of the project. Although significantly delayed, a new open innovation platform has been developed that links the hosting of a forum for exchange of ideas with the mapping of capability for multi-material micromanufacturing in Europe.
Key external events have continued to be hosted, including the 4M Association Conference in Copenhagen in September 2016, which was preceded by another brokerage event. Events have also been organized in parallel with major European conferences and exhibitions, specifically for work packages 5 and 6, that is the roadmapping of value chains and identification of bottlenecks. These two activities have help to identify key recommendations for potential areas of funding for the H2020 programme from 2018 and forwards.
The work undertaken in the last 12 months of the project has referenced the earlier work in the areas of:
• the development of the 10 key products and gathering information on the needs for these products and potential interest in collaboration;
• production of an IP guidance document (by interviews with project coordinators and European clusters)
• development of the open innovation portal, to collate the information, and the ability to post or reply to collaboration opportunities
This has allowed for a great level of consistency in the programme of work.
As a result of the brokerage events and the very relevant calls that appeared for 2016/17 a total of 23 new alliances were developed. All together these activities collected 254 partners (although some project will include same partners but in different proposals):

Project Context and Objectives:
4M2020 is focused on building upon the durable integration mechanisms/structures and innovation chains created within three levels of project clusters in the field of multifunctional miniaturised products and their applications in energy, medical, optoelectronics and microoptics, printed electronics and ultra-precision engineering industrial sectors that led to the creation of long term R&D+I partnerships. The aim of the 4M2020 programme is to strengthen the “foundations” of the technological research and product demonstration pillars in commercialising these diverse range of products and their underpinning value chains and manufacturing platforms in a coordinated action to bridge the “valley of death”. In particular, 4M2020 aims to coordinate high quality research in this key area for European competitiveness in a number of industrial sectors by promoting and capitalising on three main trends underpinning the creation of novel multi-functional miniaturised products and their underlying KETs: i) the continuous advances of a multitude of new functional materials, ii) innovative integration of a “tool box” of “constructive” bottom up and “ablative” top down structuring technologies and iii) the convergence of formerly separated enabling technologies. A key motivation for this programme is to promote and facilitate cross fertilisation of product centred advanced manufacturing platforms along five R&D+I streams and thus to create alliances based on interrelated technological research and product demonstration activities and add value to its stakeholders by establishing R&D+I environment for combining KETs heterogeneously in the context of specific technology and product requirements.

The 4M2020 vision is to achieve this by clustering together projects in the main application fields of multi-material micro and nano manufacture at three levels, and coordinating and facilitating “five-star” cross-fertilisation along their well established and proven R&D+I streams. In this context, these are the main objectives of the programme:
• Cross fertilisation of product centred advanced manufacturing platforms developed and validated in projects in the main application areas of multi-functional miniaturised products in order to cross link their value chains and speed up the take up of key enabling technologies;
• Forming and developing networks and alliances at three levels by clustering together projects in key application fields of the NMP theme with interrelated technological research and product demonstration activities and thus to facilitate the formation of industry alliances;
• Advancing further innovation chains by combining heterogeneously at all levels KETs in developing advanced manufacturing platforms in order to speed up the pre-commercial procurement for pilot line design and implementation;
• Assessing the maturity of application/product focused advanced manufacturing platforms towards possible future large-scale demonstration and pilot line activities and thus to reduce the risk in their implementation and standardise some key component technologies in these platforms.
4M2020 will build upon long-term research and innovation partnerships formed in 8 major EC funded programmes that form the core cluster of 4M2020 projects, and then through the proposed “five-star” cross-fertilisation along the R&D+I streams of more than 70 associated EU and national programmes to bring benefits to three tiers of partners/stakeholders. Through these three tiers’ networking and collaboration activities the programme will bring together research and industry experts from a diverse range of technologies, disciplines and application fields, which is only possible at the European level. Ultimately, 4M2020 in collaboration with NANOfutures and Manufuture ETPs and European multi-material micro and nano manufacturing knowledge community will support/contribute to a number of key knowledge-intensive industry sectors in Europe by overcoming the barriers towards the commercialisation of multi-functional miniaturised products.
The 4M2020 aims to achieve its objectives by clustering European and national projects at three levels and thus to build upon the natural synergies of technological research and product demonstration associated with multi-functional miniaturised products enabled by advances of the Multi-Material Micro Manufacture (4M) platforms in the last decade. The 4M2020 programme has been initiated by the coordinators of 8 major FP6 and FP7 projects covering the main application fields of the NMP theme and thus to respond to the growing demand and markets for MNT-enabled devices and their diversification in many application areas, including biotechnology, energy, medical, optoelectronics, microoptics, printed electronics and ultra-precision engineering. The projects that will be clustered at three levels as part of the 4M2020 programme will bring together stakeholders in the innovation chains underpinning the development and commercialisation of multi-functional miniaturised products and their respective manufacturing platforms. In order to optimise its outreach, 4M2020 will follow a three-tier approach when implementing its programme of activities. Figure 13 depicts how the 3 levels of project clusters defined in Section 1.1.2 are used to form the 4M2020 three tiers of partners and also to reach and benefit the 4M Knowledge Community in Europe.

In particular, the three tiers that will support the implementation of the 4M2020 workprogramme are detailed in Table 4 and are structured as follows:
• First tier: the 4M2020 Core Partners. These are the 4M2020 contractors who also are the coordinators of the 4M, I*PROMS, EUMINAfab, COTECH, MULTILAYER, IMPRESS, POLARIC and NanoBioTouch projects together with C-Tech Innovation as an organisation responsible for day to day running of the 4M association. They are the main initiators in bringing together interrelated projects at three levels and thus to network there innovation chains and stakeholders.The core partners will be responsible for achieving the project objectives and delivering the specific workpackages/tasks of the project (see table 1.2d).
• Second tier: the 4M2020 Associated Partners. These organisations are partners in the 8 major NMP related programmes in the EU that are coordinated by the core partners. They have a vested interest in 4M2020 as they will directly benefit from the proposed cross-fertilisation of technological research and product demonstration results and IP generated by the projects clustered at three levels in the broader area of multi-functional miniaturised products and their respective manufacturing platforms. They will be also involved in executing the 4M2020 work programme. Currently there are some interactions between these projects and the individual partners within the consortia but to a larger extent they proceed independently.
• Third tier: the 4M2020 Affiliated Partners. These are partners in the projects forming the 4M2020 second project cluster. In particular, these are the partners of projects which technological research and product demonstration activities fall within the scope of 4M2020. The core partners are involved in these projects and thus have an intimate knowledge about the project results and also are able to interact with them directly. There is a good thematic overlap in the technological activities within the projects, and also at different levels of their product development value chains, however their results to a major extent remain “encapsulated” within the individual projects. The third tier members will benefit and contribute to 4M2020 by inviting them to share the results of their relevant projects, by taking part in workshops and special sessions organised at exhibitions and conferences, and also by asking them to contribute to roadmapping studies for 4M large-scale demonstration and pilot-line activities within the scope of HORIZON 2020.

Project Results:
1. Competence mapping
Task– Data base of relevant NMP projects and organisations
This task has been completed with the initial scan of relevant EU projects. Deliverable D2.1 sets out the methodology and results from the analysis. However, the integration of the data into the 4M2020 web portal will allow updates to be provided by project coordinators who wish to include their project details within the database.
The information has been provided in a format that has allowed a mapping system to be used. The 4M2020 website has been re-written to accommodate the representation of the maps within the website itself. The questionnaire developed for task 2.2 will also be integrated into the website to allow for new information to be loaded by relevant projects across Europe.

Task – Data mining
The data mining of the information for projects funded under the FP7 programme has been fully reported in deliverable D2.2. The complete set of results for the mapping of competencies against application areas was presented for both advance material key enabling technologies and advanced manufacturing KET.
The information below summarises information according to (a) Technology groups and (b) sub-categories and then provides (c) the most relevant application areas.

Structuring: Beam-based methods: Health/medical; Environment/safety; production and manufacturing/ Process monitoring control , ICT/telecommunication Optics and photonics/opto-electronics.
Structuring: mechanical methods : health/medical; production and manufacturing/ ultraprecision engineering, integration and automisation, Process monitoring control; Environment/safety;
Structuring electrical discharge: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ ultraprecision engineering, integration and automisation, Process monitoring control;
Structuring Plasma etching: Energy /harvesting and conversion, energy storage; environment/safety
Replication: Embossing: health/medical; ; production and manufacturing/ ultraprecision engineering, Energy /harvesting and conversion,
Replication Micro casting: production and manufacturing
Replication: Microforming: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ Process monitoring control;
Replication: Microinjection moulding: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, Process monitoring control; ICT/telecommunication
Replication: Additive manufacturing: health/medical; Energy harvesting /conversion; Electronic/ consumer goods:; production and manufacturing/ultraprecision engineering, Process monitoring control;
Assembly: Dispensing health/medical;
Assembly: Joining – Gluing: health/medical; environment/safety; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, Process monitoring control;
Assembly: Joining - Laser welding: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ ultraprecision engineering,;
Assembly: Joining – bonding: health/medical; ICT/telecommunication Energy/storage,
Assembly: Packaging: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ Process monitoring control;
Assembly: Picking: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, ultraprecision engineering,;
Assembly: Positioning: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, monitoring control; ultraprecision engineering,; ICT/telecommunication; Optics and photonics/opto-electronics. environment/safety
Assembly: Releasing: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, ultraprecision engineering,;
Equipment for production: Robotic and automation: health/medical, biotechnology; production and manufacturing/ integration and automisation, ultraprecision engineering,; Optics and photonics/opto-electronics.
Equipment for production: Equip’t for milling & cutting: health/medical; production and manufacturing/ Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control, Ultraprecision engineering
Equipment for production: Equip‘t for replication: health/medical production and manufacturing/ Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control, Ultraprecision engineering, Modelling & design Characterisation/Surface Characterisation
Equipment for production: Equipment for additive manufacturing: health/medical production and manufacturing/ Process integration and automation, Ultraprecision engineering,
Design and simulation: Application: production and manufacturing/ Process integration and automation, Ultraprecision engineering, Modelling & design; Electronic/ consumer goods:; Energy harvesting /conversion; Health/medical; Optics and photonics/opto-electronics.
Design and simulation: Product: health/medical production and manufacturing/ / Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control , Ultraprecision engineering, ICT/telecommunication;
Design and simulation: Process: health/medical ; production and manufacturing/Process integration and automation, Ultraprecision engineering, Modeling & design, Energy /harvesting and conversion,
Design and simulation: Cost: Energy /harvesting and conversion, production and manufacturing/ Process monitoring control ,
Characterisation: Geometrical : health/medical; production and manufacturing /Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control, Ultraprecision engineering; Characterisation/Surface Characterisation; environment/safety;
Characterisation: Material: health/medical; production and manufacturing /Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control, Ultraprecision engineering;; Environment; Characterisation/Surface Characterisation;
Characterisation: On line optical control: health/medical; production and manufacturing /Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control,
Characterisation: On line process control: health/medical; production and manufacturing /Process integration and automation, Process monitoring control, Electronic/ consumer goods
Materials: Composite: health/medical;
Materials: Metal: health/medical;
Materials: Plastics (polymers): health/medical;
Materials: Ceramics: health/medical;

Geogrpahical mapping has also taken place. Two sets of maps are provided. For the geographical mapping, 54 projects in the 4M2020 cluster have been pinned on the EU map and the partners involved in each project are identified (a total of almost 700 organisations are represented).
The 4M2020 website has had to be recoded to accommodate the mapping system within the website itself. Also, the questionnaires used to gather the information will be provided on line so that additional information can be gathered.

Task– Identification of key application areas
Following the analysis of over 400 projects, the coordinators or their representatives of 20 projects were invited to participate in a Foresight Forum held between 11th and 13th September 2014. The deliverable D2.3 provides full details of the mechanism to identify the application areas, whilst the white paper produced following the Foresight Forum provides details of the different outputs from the Forum.
Each of the 20 coordinator organisations presented the key information on their projects to the audience according to a prescribed template. Information was gathered during the presentations and subsequent questioning to support the work of task 2.4 and work packages 5 and 6. The overview of the Forum was provided to the participants to enable them to engage with the activities over the three days.

Methodology
The Forum comprises three stages:
• Develop the understanding of the current activities, and how these link to previously developed roadmaps and strategies.
• Identify future needs using the delegate’s expertise, and answering one question each on the application pull and technology push
• Generate future action plans based on the applications and priorities identified in the first two stages

Stage 1 – Understanding current activities and links to existing roadmaps and strategies
The stage has two steps:
• Presentations will be given on current projects that are currently funded via the FP7 programme. The key aspects of the projects will be collated to reflect their technical implementation and the market impact.
• Workshop 1 will investigate the links between the projects presented and the roadmaps by using a spreadsheet for each project and using drop down menus to identify the key aspects of the project

Stage 2 – Future developments driven by advances in products and processes
A Delphi study process was used to identify and prioritise the new products and processes that are likely to drive future developments in the micro-manufacturing sector. This was achieved by focussing on two questions and voting on the answers given to those questions. The expected time required for implementation was also defined.

Stage 3 - Achievements, identification of priorities of the common points, and future action plans
A final workshop was held to draw on the results from the previous two workshops to begin to develop the future action plans, and to develop concepts for new project proposals. Priorities for the development of the projects were also established.
The structure of the Forum allowed for a wide range of information to be gathered, which has subsequently been presented in significant detail. Information has also been gathered for the future activities in work packages 5 and 6, as well as identifying 10 key products for work package 3.

Priorities were identified by matching the relevant project areas, with the short, medium and long term needs identified in the NANOfutures roadmap. This process identified 8 project areas of high importance related to NANOfutures value chains (VC):
• VC1-002-short Integration of novel materials into existing production and assembly lines
• VC3-001-medium 3D + time (4-dimensional) modelling of processes
• VC4-003-long Integration of nano particles and aggregates into materials
• VC6-004-long Materials/shape control in the micron range
• VC6-005-medium 3D manufacturing control, process control, analytical control, material interfaces
• VC6-002-long Precision large scale nano/ micromanufacturing of 3D structures
• VC7-002-short Multiscale and multiphysics modeling technologies for a range of material systems and for various key problems
• VC7-002-medium 2D & 3D - metrology for process and functional properties analysis

These areas were then cross referenced with the MANUFUTURE and the MINAM roadmaps to confirm their relevance and specific actions within the value chains

Task – Applications and Technologies Prioritisation
Following the work done on Competence Mapping, which was reported in D2.2 this task was to set about prioritising the application areas. A meeting was held in Manchester in October 2014, where the evaluation criteria and scoring method were decided upon.
The results of the competence mapping reported in D2.2 which, in addition to the geographical mapping, illustrated the most commonly mentioned applications, competences and application competence pairs; together with the application areas identified and reported in D2.3 provide a sound basis for the prioritisation of application and technologies in task 2.4. In this exercise the data from about 50 projects generated in the previous tasks has been pooled and this task is to prioritise the applications and technologies (competences) against a broad spectrum of criteria.
From the identification of key application areas task, a total set of 1200 combinations of application plotted against technology capability is possible. However, only the combinations that scored above a threshold level were considered for the prioritization stage. A score of 7 (i.e. at least 7 projects were relevant to a specific combination of technologies and application areas) was used to reduce the number from 1200 combinations to just 44.
A meeting was held in October between all involved partners, to discuss the evaluation criteria that should be used, and would also have an impact on future work packages. Criteria for technology, societal, environmental and economics were considered. However, after further analysis it was decided that environmental impacts should not be considered as there was insufficient data to provide meaningful results. Societal and economic aspects were considered as a final cross check only, to ensure that priority areas that were identified did meet the societal challenges as set out in Horizon 2020, and the market sectors were sufficiently economically important to European industry.
A comparison has been made between the results of the “desk work” of this task and the outcome of the project workshop in Grenoble in September 2014 and these two sets of results from very different methods were found to be consistent.

2. Open Innovation – Engagement with the wider community and transfer of information
The 4M2020 website now comprises two sections. The main website remains accessible via the address: www.4m2020.eu. However, to develop the stand alone capability of the Open Innovation Portal, a separate site was developed: www.4mexpertise.eu. This second website is directly accessible via the main website by clicking on the Open Innovation name in the menu. The second site was developed so that transferring the information and the concepts developed to other websites would be relatively simple.
The new 4M expertise website is described in more detail in the following sections. The new site comprises three distinct areas. The “Library” is provided in the priority products / needs section. The capability mapping from work package 2 has been completely re-developed so that it is more interactive and can be searched. Also, compatibility with the website was a major issue, and this required extensive modifications to be made. Finally, the “New Partnerships” section used new templates to engage with potential collaborators, and to present information that could be used to promote new interactions between members.

Task – Review of best EU and worldwide practices in open innovation in MNT
The theory of open innovation has also been progressed by a number of different theoretical models (for example the familiarity matrix model and complexity management model). An analysis of programmes already funded by the Commission or by National Governments in Europe, the US, and Asia has also revealed a number of similarities in delivery. Examples of the programmes include:
• Finland: TEKES – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, which set up the BestServ Forum between 2004 and 2012, and the Finnish Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation (SHOK) which was created in 2007 to connect the research facilities and infrastructures to businesses;
• Austria – ISOTEC – is a research project cluster in the area of integrated organic sensor and optoelectronic technologies
• Germany – Innovation Lab has been setting up an open innovation model in the field of organic electronics
• Micromanufacturing programmes – There are a number of open innovation programmes that have been set up, including Nanocom, Flexmatters, and in Japan the AIST has set up a programme of work in the area of micro-systems

Distilling the information from each of these programmes a selection of best practices and recommendations can be formed:

• Among the best experiences:
o Co-localization of research and industrial resources
o Cross sectorial eco-systems (technology / market)
o Implementation of supporting tools and models for bridging supply and demand in innovation:
o Clusters
o Innovation platforms
o Toolboxes
• Specific recommendations for companies and SMEs:
o To be prepared of a renewal of the business model of the company
o To develop awareness for business changes and trends
o To implement faster management practices
o To get prepared to innovation
o To go beyond its local network or eco-system
o To develop its network
o Investment in innovative management tools
o To prepare IP management issues
o Be aware of the importance of its own reputation
o To develop third partners network
o To prepare a realistic budget for the project
o To encourage risk taking and learn from failures

Task– Setting up the 4M2020 open innovation environment that will be accessible to all 4M2020 stakeholders
Information gathered from the previous task has been used to inform the development of the open innovation portal. The best practice suggests a simple set of principles to enable a search to be conducted by potential collaborators. Three types of open innovation were suggested from the analysis of both organizational and business focused portals. These were:
1. Organisations offering expertise
2. Organisations seeking expertise
3. Organisations seeking partners for collaboration

The portal has been set up with the ability for anyone to load information on their requirements or their offerings. Data taken from previous 4M Association conferences has been loaded up onto the portal to provide over 100 data lines.
The portal has been written to allow for free loading of the information, and the necessary disclaimers are placed onto the website. Personal information is not shown on the open portal, but each data set is identified by a unique code, that can be used for further referencing. The data sets are also searchable.
An introductory page has been provided, and examples of open innovation case studies are also provided.

Task – Open innovation case studies
Following the hosting of the Summer School at DTU and the Foresight Forum in Grenoble, ten priority product areas could be identified. The key information used was that obtained from the Delphi studies conducted at both events. A report has been written that develops the concepts of the process, and the options for choosing the final ten products.
There are many methods to generate and prioritise potential future activities, such as research areas, technology developments, funding activities or, in this case, new products that rely on the use of micro and nano-manufacturing technology. One such method is called the Delphi Method. As the name suggests, the Delphi Method relies on gathering information from a panel of experts. The method is structured in a series of questions and answers, and a feedback of the answers to the panel for refinement. After a number of iterations a consensus is reached with which the panel all agree.
This method was adopted at the Postgraduate Summer School hosted at the Technical University of Denmark (June 2014), and at the 4M2020 Foresight Forum hosted by CEA in Grenoble (September 2014), and is given in more detail in Annex 1. Two questions are posed to the panel:
• Which are the emerging miniaturized products that a enabled by the lasted advances in 4M KETs and are expected to have significant impact (reach TRL 5 and 6) in 5 years’ horizon?
• What are the 4M KETs/processes that are aimed at multiple applications with a high potential impact (scale up production of miniaturized parts) and can reach MCRL 5 and 6 in 5 years’ horizon?
The first question was used to generate the list of products, whilst the second question is used to identify processes. Only the first question is relevant to this report, but the answers to the second question can be used in evaluating the potential of new processes identified in the rest of the Foresighting Process undertaken during the workshops.
A summary of the process is as follows
1. The panel are encouraged to “brainstorm” ideas for new products. Brainstorming allows the setting down of ideas with no discussion on priority or validity (at this stage).
2. Each panel member writes down three items based on what they have heard
3. The facilitator groups similar concepts together
4. Each panel member then votes on the grouped suggestions – panel members have 6 votes and these can be given all to one concept or distributed
5. The ideas are placed against technology readiness levels to provide additional information
Having completed the process given above, a significant number of product ideas were identified and scored. The subsequent analysis mapped these products against the 10 market sectors developed in work package 2. By combining the results from the Summer School and the Foresight Forum, 15 product ideas were identified as potential candidates. As may have been expected, there were a number of high priority products identified in both the health and the consumer goods sectors. However, to give a wide range of applications, the top products in each of the market sectors have been chosen for development within the portal.
The 10 products that have been chosen and the respective application areas are:
1. Customised health monitoring system; Custom made sensors for health monitoring; Health sensors Sensors for human health monitoring. Various sensors to monitor the side of health of humans, miniaturised and integrated. (Health)
2. Sensors for environment monitoring (embedded) Ambient monitoring: gas sensing; particle sensing; pollen sensing (Environment and Safety)
3. Inline metrology instrumentation for surface/geometry (Metrology)
4. Micro parts for wearable devices (google lens, iwatchs) (Consumer goods)
5. Micro sensors integrated in machine tool inserts (direct insert conditions) (Production and manufacturing)
6. µConnectors for high speed data transmission for mobile device (ICT)
7. Micro Gas Turbines small turbine blades-small bearings (Energy)
8. Fuel cell (electric cars; energy storage), and facilitation of hybrid vehicles (Mobility)
9. Flexible screens (Optics and photonics)
10. Energy saving building (including integrated energy harvesting) (Building)
Case studies have been identified for each of these market sectors, and these have been included on the 4M2020 website. In addition, examples of funded projects have also been identified, and these will be added to the website as specific examples of developments for micro-manufacturing that have been funded as part of FP7 and similar programmes.

Task – Implementing and testing the open innovation environment
Having identified the 10 priority products a series of questionnaires and interviews were conducted to match interests of participants at meetings with the ten priority products, and so begin to gather initial interests in potential supply chains. A questionnaire was developed for the 4M Conference held in Milan, and has been used at subsequent events, such as the workshops for the roadmapping in work package 5. The responses were then collated to provide 80 contacts and their identified interests.
1. Customised health monitoring 38
2. Sensors for environment monitoring 23
3. In-line metrology 47
4. Micro-parts for wearable devices 37
5. Micro sensors integrated in machine tool inserts 54
6. µ-connectors 21
7. Micro-gas turbines and bearing 19
8. Fuel cell for celectric cars 14
9. Flexible screens 18
10. Energy efficient buildings 16

Individual organisations were then contacted to complete a template on each of the priority products.
These case studies, and the industrial contacts, were then used in work package 6 to help identify specific bottlenecks relevant to these priority products

Task – Applying Open Innovation to rapid commercialization of technology and product related knowledge and IP

Open access to the discussion forum that was initially proposed had to be stopped due to the many thousands of unregulated inputs. The initial concept was to filter any inputs and place these on to the Open Innovation portal. However, this was not feasible. The registration and login system was developed over the last 12 months and the system is now available for use. The full results of this are provided in deliverables 3.2 and 3.3. A summary of the system is given below.

The Open Innovation portal has been set up to promote interaction in three areas:
• Researchers and developers looking for state of the art technology
• Companies and institutions seeking new partnerships
• Companies offering new products and services
Any viewer can access information on the posts that are put into the portal, but only registered users can post replies or post new opportunities in any of the three areas.
The opening page of the Open Innovation Portal shows the following structure:
• A default page which shows the most recent activity and posts
• Tabs to then link to specific filters that sort entries according to:
o Forums – this is the page that sorts the entries according to the three types of entry (i.e. partner search, technology offering, and technology search)
o Collaboration and categories (which provides inputs sorted by the key priority products)
o Organisations with entries in the portal
o Users with entries in the portal
• A link to post new opportunities
The 10 priority products are used to group the opportunities, with the ability to choose any one of the three interaction methods for a specific request. For example, a registered user can place a request to find collaborators to form a new partnership for the development of micro-parts for a wearable device. An “other” option is always provided instead of the 10 priority products. Specific requests each have to have a separate entry.
The Portal is then able to sort the requests so that they can be searched easily. Any viewer who is registered can then post a reply. Also, a private chat function is also provided so that on-going discussions can be held using the Portal, although it would be anticipated that these conversations would soon transfer to normal email methods.
Information from the Milan 2015 4M conference has been placed into the Portal to provide the initial input. However, due to the late delivery of the Portal it was not possible to roll this out to partners. However, interactions were instigated via personal contact and a series of workshops held by the project.

3. Developing new sustainable alliances
Task – Identification of key topic areas and call of interest to form working groups
A document has been produced that matches the areas identified by the Foresight study with the, then, draft calls for 2017/18 Horizon 2020 programme. Good agreement was found between the proposals made by the Foresight White Paper, and the eventual calls that were published for the 2016/17 programme
In parallel with the development of this document, a call was made to potential participants to attend a workshop. The workshop preparation was coordinated by SMARTLAM project (Dr. Ing. Markus Dickerhof) with support from other European projects (3DHIPMAS, FABIMED, HINMICO, HIPR, HYPOLINE, MICRO-FAST, NEXTFACTORY) and 4M2020. The workshop was arranged in Milan on 30th March 2015 along with 4M/ICOMM2015 conference. This arrangement also ensured reasonable amount of participants to join the workshop. Key topic areas of the workshop were: Inspection and Quality Control, Manufacturing Technologies and Materials, Manufacturing Platforms, Assembly, Biotech and Healthcare as well as Sensors and Energy.

Task – Workshop
The development of the brokerage workshop was due to take place at month 18 of the project, but was delayed to coincide with the conference in Milan.
The format of the workshop was specially designed to break the existing stereotypes in organising such technology/application take up events at the European level. In particular, in preparation for the workshop the organisers discussed with the Consortia of the participating projects the scope of the workshop, especially to promote tangible and proven project outcomes at TRL6 or higher and also to identify/propose ways forward to commercialise them. To achieve this, a new format for organising such workshops was conceived that clustered so-called “innovation pitches” of 5 minutes with a predefined content in sessions with common technology or application focus. This format allowed the participants to identify technology and application areas/ideas of interest to them and quickly to judge/assess their potential for use in different product/application contexts including considerations. During the workshop 34 technology/application pitches were given. The pitches were clustered into two big sessions – Production (technologies) and Application. The pitches in the Production session were further grouped into four sub-sessions depending on their specific technology focus while the Application session into two sub-sessions.
The deliverable covering the workshop and linking the findings to previous outputs has been submitted. A number of key outputs were identified:
Three types of joint ventures for developing further the application with their respective underpinning technologies were discussed:
• Formation of partnerships along their innovation/value chains at the European level. Follow up workshops to develop these ideas were discussed. The intention is to align such workshops with the VCs description defined at the 4M2020 Forum in Grenoble and also with the forthcoming H2020 calls.
• One to one joint ventures for some technologies/products with multi-sectorial impact. These discussions were off record and took place after the workshop. 4M2020 will try to follow their development as far as the confidential nature of such scoping talks allows.
• Formation of partnerships at national level. This was related to some national technology clusters and forthcoming national calls for industry led projects in Germany, France, Austria and the UK. To following the development of such partnerships 4M2020 will consider joining forces with national associations or the existing national structures to support such technology clusters.

In addition the FOCUS partner cluster “High-precision Production Technologies”, is a proactive inter-cluster collaboration in order to enhance the impact of the brokerage workshop. This Cluster brings together a critical mass of industry facing R&D programmes with common development objectives and complementary technologies to underpin a number of key application areas for Europe competitiveness
Development of new alliances
This work package was officially closed at M22. However follow-up action continued to the end of the project to monitor what type of new alliances are being developed as outcome of 4M2020 project. Overall results were reported in last review meeting in Birmingham 29th September 2016. Below are listed joint actions towards building new alliances in frame of H2020 program:
• STAMINA “Smart Technologies for surfAce treatMent and bondIng for the maNufacturing of Assemblies”, (consist 6 partners, 2 RTO, 2 SMEs and 2 IND)
• TagItSmart “Smart Tags driven service platform for enabling ecosystems of connected objects”, (consist 15 partners, 3 RTO, 7 SMEs and 5 IND)
• IN-FREE “Novel Indium Free Transparent conductor materials for electrodes applications”, (consist 12 partners, 7 RTO, 3 SMEs and 2 IND)
• AgriLight “Miniaturized highly-efficient cost effective intelligent LED-based flexible system for agricultural lighting”, (consist 9 partners, 4 RTO, 3 SME and 2 IND)
• MAESTRO “Modular laser based additive manufacturing platform for large scale industrial application” (consist 10 partners, 3 RTO, 3 SMEs and 4 IND);
• PENECEA “Photonics enabled zero-error multi-stage manufacturing of high value miniaturized components” (consist 14 partners, 5 RTO, 6 SMEs and 3 IND);
• FLaSHMan “Flexible and Integrated Large Scale Component Hybrid Manufacturing Platform” (consist 9 partners, 3 RTO, 4 SMEs and 2 IND);
• SYNERGOS (EUROPEAN NETWORK ON SYNERGISTIC PROCESS-MATERIAL ENGINEERING FOR MANUFACTURING HIGH PERF ORMANCE COMPONENTS) (consist 18 partners, 5 Academic, 13 non-Academic)
• NamaPROCOS “3D printing NAno Materials and PROcess Convergence for complex ceramic Structures for table-top nanofactories” (consist 12 partners, 4 RTO, 4 SMEs and 3 IND + 1 other);
• NaPriMo “NAnoparticle enhanced PRInted Molds” (consist 13 partners, 4 RTO, 7 SMEs and 2 IND);
• PAM^2 “Precision Additive Metal Manufacturing” (consist 10 partners, 6 RTO, 2 SMEs and 2 IND);
• SAPMACHINE “Subtractive and Additive Processes incorporated into a modular, all-in-one machine enable the production of a part/product directly from a CAD model” (consist 12 partners, 5 RTO, 3 SMEs and 4 IND);
• PAPRICA “Converging thermally and electrically enhanced plastic materials and relevant process pilot lines for customized high volume MID parts” (consist 15 partners, 4 RTO, 4 SMEs, 6 IND and 1 OTH)
• PIMENT “ Plastic Injection Micro and Nano Technology » (consist 4 partners, 2 RTO, 2 SMEs)
• MIMAM “ Platform for optimized process combinations to manufacture complex metallic parts with efficient use of resources” (consist 10 partners, 3 RTO, 4 SMEs, 2 IND and 1 OTH)
• HARAMOLD “High aspect ratio mold production using water guided laser machining” (consist 6 partners, 2 RTO, 3 SMEs, 1 IND)
• AMCOS “First time right Additive Manufacturing of COmplex and large Structures” (14 partners: 7 SME, 4 RTO, 3 IND)
• PHYCS “Process HYbridization for complex Ceramic Structures” (13 partners: 7 SME, 3 IND, 2 RTO, 1 OTH)
• MAGICPRO “MAnufacturing of customized metal and ceramic parts for personalised Goods by convergIng PIM with advanCed AM PROcesses at the cost level of mass products” (16 partners: 4 RTO, 8 SME, 3 IND, 1 OTH)
• SiGNet “High Performance Simulation Toolboxes for Additive Manufacturing in a Global Production Network” (14 partners: 3 IND, 5 SME, 6 RTO)
• NAMAPROCOS “3D printing NAno MAterials and PROcess COnvergence for complex ceramic Structures for table-top nanofactories” (12 partners: 4 RTO, 3 IND, 4 SME, 1 OTH)
• HyPERSyS “Hydrogen Pressurized Electrolyser for Regenerative fuel cell Systems”(3 partners: 1 IND, 2 RTO)
• MMI-Thruster “Development of the Multi-Mode Indium (MMI) – Thruster” (7 partners: 1 SME, 3 IND, 3 RTO)
All together these activities collected 254 partners (includes same partners in different proposals):
• 100 RTO partners
• 88 SME partners
• 58 industrial partners
• 4 other type partners.

This clearly shows that these activities collected excellent amount of SME companies to push forwards topics in field of 4M2020.

4. Roadmapping for large scale demonstration and pilot plant
Task - Design of the roadmap
The deliverable 5.1 has been written that covers the design of the roadmapping process. The scope of the roadmap is based upon the technological scope of 4M technologies, and includes the levels of maturity from Technological research through to demonstration level (i.e. Technology Readiness Level 6/7). The breadth of stakeholders identified in the competence mapping has been considered and the scope adjusted where necessary in order that essential components for the roadmaps are included.
It was important to set the bounds of this roadmap, and recognize the limitations within the project. Therefore, an agreed roadmap design was produced to set the boundary of the proposed roadmap. Information required to set the boundary of the roadmap have come from the following workpackages:
WP2 – Information on the current competencies in the partnership, and in the EU member countries.
WP4 – Understanding of the priority areas for initial introduction of multi-functional miniaturised products.
A methodology for the roadmapping process was developed that allows maximum collaboration between the partners and the extended group of stakeholders. The participants in this WP have experience with a wide range of roadmapping techniques and IT support tools. The information from workpackages 2 and 4 and the breadth of the range of stakeholders has been considered and the most appropriate roadmapping technology have been tailored accordingly.
The technology part of the roadmap integrates the following design elements,
1. The roadmap is structured by Value Chain with a titling merging a given technology (or KET) with a given application using generic wording. E.g. «Advanced Materials for Health»
2. The roadmap uses Nanofuture components (tools, materials, modelling, metrology, assembly, component, final product, end of life) but rename them as Production chain items. Minor adjustments are,
a) Renaming tools by tools & equipment
b) Renaming final product by product
3. The roadmap addresses all production chain items (unlike Nanofuture which focusses on a limited number) along two axis,
c) Time scale: short (2016-17), medium (2018-19), long (2020 & beyond) terms
d) TRL scale
4. The Roadmap is product-centered. There may be more than one product type per value chain in which case n roadmaps can be potentially generated for n product types.
5. A product is a material, component or system which can be seen as a semi-finished or a final product
6. A Pilot Line milestone is introduced as an option whenever relevant.
7. Based on the EU competencies mapping in T2.2 each production chain item will be assessed in terms of available EU competencies, whenever possible.
8. For each value chain, research priorities are aligned with MANUFUTURE’s
9. Cross-fertilization is illustrated by an additional graph crossing and linking 4M2020 value chains on production chain items

Task – Stage one roadmapping development
The deliverable D5.2 was due to report on the major findings of the workshop for the roadmapping. However, the decision to hold multiple workshops to ensure the greatest input delayed the preparation of the final report.
The workshop format is based on a sequence of 3 sessions in order to inform attendees on 4M2020 scope and then to guide attendees through a multi-steps process for capturing their own information, consolidating this information at the group level and discussing it collectively to draw the main priorities and bottlenecks in the fields addressed by the workshop. The sessions are comprehensively described by scripts explaining how to run the posters, ranking, voting and discussing the information as well as how to efficiently manage this exercise.
Data collection on Applications and Products & Components (Session 1), Technologies & Processes (Session 2) and technical & non-technical Bottlenecks (Session 3) are to feed WP5 and WP6 activities and can be added up for all workshops eventually in order to get a global picture on needs & bottlenecks across 4M2020 prioritized topics and also across NANOfuture value chains. Which information is key to setting up 4M2020 roadmaps.
The information gathered during these workshops will then be combined with data from within the project and also the updated Nanofuture roadmap to identify future opportunities.

Task – On-line collaboration and development of the roadmap
Multiple workshops were hosted to obtain the initial input to the roadmaps. A final consolidation workshop was held in February 2016 in Brussels to rationalize the findings and provide input to final task and to provide a consolidated roadmap.

Task – Final roadmapping

The consolidation of the different roadmaps has been presented in deliverable 5.3. In addition, a summary version of the report has been produced for wider circulation, which includes circulation within the Commission and also to related roadmapping activities, such as that conducted by NanoFutures.
The developed roadmap recognized the interactions between three primary areas:
• 3D manufacturing control, process control, analytical control, material interfraces
• Integration of nano particles and aggregates into materials
• Integration of novel materials into existing production and assembly lines
There is a close interaction between each of these three areas, with each relying on the flow of information from one to the other. Within these developments, the 4M2020 Key technologies can then be identified, and the roadmap for developing new pilot lines and capabilities can be assessed.
The roadmapping process was supported by using the updated NANOfutures roadmap, which was produced after 4M2020 started. The value chains used in the NANOfutures roadmap were adopted to understand the opportunities to develop new project concepts to resolve future issues in the development of multi-material micromanufacturing. The seven value chains in the original NANOfutures roadmap were consolidated into four in the version released during the 4M2020 project. These four value chains and their associated technical actions were used to understand how they could support the interests of the 4M Community that had been identified in the previous workshops. It was found that the topics of interest identified by 4M2020 but not covered by the four value chains or upcoming Horizon 2020 calls could be grouped into one additional value chain, which contained eight technical actions.
This has led to the development of a second set of priority areas that are proposed for 2018 and onwards, as part of Horizon 2020. These eight actions can be split into short, medium and long term actions:
• VC5-S-001 Integration of novel multi-materials into modular, automated and reconfigurable production lines
• VC5-M-002 Integration of nano particles and aggregates into new and precise micro- and macro-engineering tooling and processes
• VC5-S-003 Multi-materials, multi-scale and 3D-shape closed-loop control strategies for micro- and nano- manufacturing
• VC5-M-004 In-line control & inspection solutions of novel materials for modular, updatable, reconfigurable and disassemblable products
• VC5-L-005 Multiscale and multiphysics modelling solutions for novel material systems and products performance & robustness
• VC5-S-006 Modular, updatable and reconfigurable manufacturing solutions for micro/nano-enabled miniaturized products
• VC5-S-007 Pilot line for standardized manufacturing of hybrid and structured materials with customized properties
• VC5-M-008 Pilot line for 3D-manufacturing, process, analytical and material interface control and modelling of products integrating hybrid and structured materials

5. Support for the deployment of technologies
Task – Identification of current bottlenecks in the deployment of existing technologies
Information gathered during the Foresight Forum was used to develop an initial list of bottlenecks for the deployment of technologies. Specific questions were used during the Forum to gather this information. The bottlenecks have been divided into the following categories:
• Process, technology or machinery related bottlenecks
• Material related bottlenecks
• Characterization and metrology related bottlenecks
• Simulation and modelling related bottlenecks
• Other technical bottlenecks
The deliverable 6.1 has been submitted and lists 93 technical and 28 non-technical bottlenecks to the implementation of micro-manufacturing.

Task – Dual workshops for end-users and research and development stakeholders
The workshops held under workpackage 5 were also used to provide input into the identification of the bottlenecks. The 93 technical and 28 non-technical bottlenecks identified in deliverable 6.1 were clustered into the following five categories:
• Technical bottlenecks
o Technological
o Manufacturing
• Non-Technical
o Organisational
o Economical
o Societal
The findings from the workshops were used to identify the key bottlenecks for the 10 prioritized products. The mini-workshops held from February 2016 onwards were used to gain a better understanding of the needs of the end-users and manufacturers of the high prioritized products.

Task – Report of enhanced deployment into end-user market sectors
Deliverable 6.2 presented the results of the mitigation strategies proposed for the bottlenecks that were identified following the mini-workshops and the development of the 4M2020 roadmap. The 121 bottlenecks identified in deliverable 6.1 were prioritized by using a questionnaire that was sent to the contacts for the 10 prioritized products. The questionnaire asked the contacts to identify the most relevant bottlenecks for their product. In addition, the workshop participants (42 in total) also completed the questionnaire. Using the results from these questionnaires, common bottlenecks could be identified.
Once the most relevant and common bottlenecks were identified, a deeper understanding of the needs of the end-users was required. The mini-workshops were developed to obtain this information.
The mitigation strategies for the identified common bottlenecks were then developed using the following information:
• Mitigation ideas from the 7 demo developers and R&D stakeholders
• Mitigation ideas from the 4M2020 project team and roadmaps for the 20 most relevant and common technical bottlenecks
• Mapping between “technology push” and “market pull” ideas for upcoming H2020 calls
Further information was also obtained by asking the following specific questions:

• What is necessary to overcome the bottleneck?
• Which mitigation strategy do you have to overcome the bottleneck?
• Which support/help do you need to overcome the bottleneck?
• Is a pilot line or large scale infrastructure helpful for your mitigation strategy?
As well as identifying mitigation strategies from these direct discussions, the information gathered from the roadmapping exercise was also used to determine if any of the value chains identified could mitigate some of the bottlenecks or, indeed, if any known calls in Horizon 2020 may also provide potential future mitigation.
The full results of this analysis are provided in deliverable 6.2. It was found that mitigation possibilities could be identified for all the technical bottlenecks, provided that the recommendations of the NANOfutures and the 4M2020 value chain were followed. In addition, three ideas for large scale infrastructure and upcoming H2020 calls (FoF, PILOTS, NMBP) support the mitigation of the common and high prioritized bottlenecks.

6. Intellectual Property Guidance

Task – Collation of relevant guidance on intellectual property in multi-sector and multi-technology exploitation

This work package deals specifically with IP guidance in the case of multi-sector and multi-technology exploitation.
Its main challenge is to be able to identify and present relevant information to give confidence to both end-user markets and the research and development community that cross-sector commercialisation will not restrict the freedom to operate in specific sectors.
In other words, one major question that has to be addressed is “How can different organizations share knowledge while ensuring that the interest of one organization is compatible with those of others?”
E.g.:
- « As an end-user I’m seeking a competitive advantage through the exclusive access to a new technology ». End-users seek exclusive licenses on their markets. These markets must be specified in terms of products, geographical and timely manners.
- « As a R&D centre or a technology-provider I want to transfer my technologies to a range of new applications as large as possible». The research and development community does not want to be stopped from freely exploiting their results.
- « How can I manage the risks related to Open Innovation? »:
• Revealing information not intended for sharing
• Potential lost of competitive advantage
• Increased complexity of controlling IP

In order to answer these questions, information relevant to the management of Intellectual Property in research collaborative project is collated through different sources.
The first targeted source of information is the IPR Helpdesk website where a complete list of fact sheets and case studies related to the management of IP in collaborative projects can be found. Fact sheets give a complete overview of the different possibilities to share and exploit project results. The information cover e.g.:
• Rules and advices on background and project results
• Possible options for exploiting project results
• How to manage IP in FP7 during and after the project
• How to deal with IP related clauses within CA
• IP joint ownership
• Knowledge Transfer
• Licence agreements
• Creation of spin-offs
• Advices and rules on publishing and patenting
• IP and Non disclosure agreements

Additional data are collated from other relevant information sources :
• EU projects: European Collaborative and Open Regional Innovation Strategies – EURIS, inter-regional cooperation programme, 2012
• World Intellectual Property Report, WIPO, 2013
• Embracing Open Innovation in Europe – A Best Practices Guide on Open Innovation Policies, EURIS 2012
• OPEN INNOVATION AND PUBLIC POLICY IN EUROPE, 2011, Henry CHESBROUGH, Wim VANHAVERBEKE
• Intellectual Property and Legal Issues in Open Innovation in Services, European Commission 2009
Interviews of project coordinators of completed or running FP7 collaborative projects constitutes a third source of information.
The main goal of these interviews was to make theory and practice converge through the identification of IP specificities related to multi-sector and multi-technology exploitation:
• Success stories
• Common bottlenecks encountered

• A questionnaire was prepared to interview the project coordinators.
• The questionnaire addresses issues such as:
• Influence of the consortium composition
• Consortium agreement
• Identification of project results
• Protection of project results with a focus on patenting
• Use and exploitation of project results
• Specific relations within a consortium: technology-providers with end-users, end-users between themselves, ...
• Relevant tools to manage IP in a collaborative project.

Task – Intellectual Property Guidance Report
The report has been written and submitted as deliverable 7.1. Guidance was sought to confirm the legal requirements for making this document publicly available, which was received, and a document has been produced for wider circulation.
The report aims to collate available information on the control and on the exploitation of intellectual property for multi-technology and multi-sectorial collaborative projects. It is especially dedicated to projects related to the advanced manufacturing of multi material and multi functional products relying on complex combinations of key-enabling technologies and covering a wide range of different applications. One main objective is to give confidence to both end-user markets and the research and development community that conditions can technically be implemented in order to ensure that commercializing technologies across multiple sectors does not restrict the freedom to operate.
The first part of the report presents the main outputs of a literature search about best ways to deal with IP in multi-technology and multi-sectorial collaborative projects. The collated data highlights several major elements to create the best possible conditions for a successful IP management and exploitation:
• The setting-up phase is fundamental in preparing the future creation and exploitation of IP. A checklist is proposed in the report.
• A four-step approach based on the delivery of four different types of agreements shall be thoroughly followed: confidentiality agreements, memorandum of understanding, consortium agreements, and exploitation agreements.
• Different models of efficient ways of dealing with joint-ownership are presented.
• Relevant decision-making criteria depending on the level of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) achieved should be used. The TRL criterion is a very relevant tool to assist IPR structures to manage patent portfolios, technology and market risks, investment schedule and technology transfer. Two different ranges of TRLs, i.e. from TRL 1 to 4, and from TRL 5 to 9, are described. At high TRLs, the report refers to the NanoCom project and its recommendations to use additional decision criteria completing TRLs such as manufacturing capability readiness level (MCRL), organisational capability maturity level (CML) and investment readiness level (IRL)
• A check-list for high TRLs is proposed. It includes a list of items to be checked before engaging resources into high TRL activities. Once all these issues have been thoroughly checked, high TRL activities can be launched based on a second list of actions related to further investments and processes to industrialize, commercialize and secure IP assets.
• A section gives emphasis to the challenge of human factors when dealing with IPR management and exploitation within a collaborative project. Factors such as climate of trust; envisioning a common goal; fostering motivation; involving people with the right skills; constructive competition; are all of the highest importance in concluding operationally efficient agreements to allow all parties to successfully bring their results to the markets.
• A list of existing tools to assist consortia in managing their IP is presented. Above all else, the report proposes the basis of an online tool to support R&D collaborative consortia in the management of their IP-related issues from its setting-up phase to its implementation.
The structure follows a three levels principle: “Discover”, “Define” and “Deliver”:
- Discover: “Access to relevant IP information in order to support the partners in defining their IP strategies”
- Define: “Interact with other partners to comment, modify, discuss online IP working documents”
- Deliver: “Store official finalized IP documents to be used whenever necessary”

The second part of the report presents the results of project coordinators’ interviews about IP issues and success stories related to their projects. Success stories encompass:
• Different ways of avoiding joint ownership. The key role of the setting-up phase is again highlighted by a very large majority of project coordinators. Interviewed project coordinators claim that restricted freedom-to-operate only very rarely occurs as long as the project has been set up properly and thoroughly managed from its maturation phase to its end.
• From a general point of view, partners shall not mix ownership and exploitation. There often can be only one owner while the exploitation can concern several partners. When either a single end-user or a single technology-provider has the ownership of a result while other partners also contributed, free access right shall be granted to them though an exploitation agreement in order to ensure that they will be able to freely exploit the results in their exploitation domains. Royalties shall be avoided as much as possible. Sharing markets within an exploitation agreement must be seen as a ‘win-win’ situation.
• The specific cases of results co-developed either by end-users and technology providers or by end-users and RTOs are presented.
• Coordinators agree about the principle that every partner shall be free to exploit its results in any application different from the ones directly investigated within the project shall be followed in order to maximize the chances of commercial exploitation. Counterexamples were only very rarely observed.
• Using external support through e.g. ESIC seminars to deal with bottlenecks that would not have been possible to tackle internally to the consortium.
Finally, the report gives a list of triggering issues to make the IP management of a collaborative project as smooth as possible from its setting up phase to its final implementation. The question is not really about how to implement a collaborative project IP strategy but above all else it is more about how to anticipate it. Literature data together with project coordinators’ feedback agree on the fact that a successful exploitation of a multi-technology and multi-sectorial project results can easily be achieved provided that the best possible implementation conditions have been created. These conditions encompass setting up a fully complementary group of partners with no possible conflicts of interests, reaching at preliminary stage clear exploitation agreements, getting external support, using relevant key-decision criteria such as manufacturing capability readiness levels, organisational capability maturity levels, or investment readiness levels to complement TRLs. Last but not least, human factors must also be taken into account in order to avoid any exploitation issue and to prevent any restriction of freedom-to-operate.
In order to make sure that the guidance given in the report is in line with H2020 IP rules, the report has been proofread by ESIC (Exploitation Strategy and Innovation Consultants) services. Suggestions for improvements have been implemented in the report based on a report provided by an ESIC’s IP expert.
The report has also been edited into a shortened user friendly form for dissemination.

Potential Impact:
Socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications
4M2020 is a coordinated support action, which was instigated to identify key challenges for the multi-material micromanufacturing community, to then determine what future actions could be promoted to overcome these challenges, and to finally support the community to collaborate to develop new alliances to develop project concepts that would be suitable for funding.
As a consequence of the actions of 4M2020, clear recommendations were made to the Commission to support specific areas for the 2016/17 calls. Over 20 alliances were brought together to submit proposals, and more alliances are already in development for submission of future proposals. Over 200 organisations were participants in these alliances.
Further work, resulting from the roadmapping and the identification of bottlenecks, has resulted in the recommendation of eight further actions for the 2018 and future calls. This is in addition to identifying the relevant NANOfutures value chains relevant to the the 4M community.
In addition to these actions, separate work packages have been used to develop an Open Innovation Portal that is totally transferrable to other websites and an IP guidance document. The Open Innovation Portal has been proposed as an option for use in a proposal submitted for Horizon 2020 funding to match technology providers with SMEs. The IP guidance document has been reviewed by ESIC and an easy to use document has been produced as a separate output from the project.

Main dissemination activities
The communication and dissemination workpackage (WP8) is a key component of the 4M2020 project to promote the importance of, and opportunities for, multi-functional miniaturised products. This workpackage supports the vision and aspirations of the project as a whole and the delivery of the interlinked promotion and dissemination activities throughout the project three phases. The“Promotion and Dissemination Plan” was prepared in January 2014, deliverable D8.2. As stated in this plan the main 4M2020 Promotion and Dissemination Objectives are:
• To develop and implement the appropriate communication tools to support the promotion of the overall project and specific workpackage components as required.
• To promote the importance of, and opportunities for multi-functional miniaturised products.
• To develop and implement the tools required for dissemination of intermediate project results and the recommendations and results of the consortium at the end of the project.
Communication and dissemination workpackage targets to build upon and utilise the unique skills, knowledge and networks of the 4M2020 delivery partners to achieve the project mission and aspirations of the 4M Community. This was achieved by a combination of methods, including:
• Professional presentation of the public facing website and continued update of static and dynamic information
• Raising awareness to the target audience, three clusters of 4M2020 projects, to form new alliances and R&D+I collaborations
• Disseminating relevant information (case studies, reports, events, benefits, results) in the most appropriate way to stimulate action by businesses and stakeholders

Promotion and Dissemination Activities
Events
As it was planned the 4M2020 promotion and dissemination activities , during the reported period included the following major events:

• 4M2013 Conference in San Sebastian (8-10 Oct 2013), http://www.4m-association.org/conference/2013. The conference attracted more than 90 participants and was the public launch of the 4M2020 project. An outline description of the project scope and plans to engage with the 4M Knowledge Community was published in the 4M2013 Processings and also online, http://rpsonline.com.sg/proceedings/9789810772475/. Also, five project sessions were organised to promote and disseminate the technology and application results of the 4M2020 projects’ clusters.
• IT2014 in Athens. During IT 2014, the audience was informed about the programme and main activities of 4M2020 project. A flyer and banner to promote the project, the importance of, and opportunities for, multi-functional miniaturised products were prepared.
• “4M2020 through the young eyes” Copenhagen, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), 4M2020 workshop on 18 June 2014 http://www.4m-association.org/event/4M2020-Through-young-eyes-Workshop. During the annual DTU Summer School 2014, one-day workshop was held on the topic of “4M2020 through the young eyes”. This workshop was planned and organised jointly with the 4M Association and DTU in line with the 4M2020 objective to disseminate the “4M2020” project ideas. The main aim of the workshop was to get the point of view of young scientists for the current state and future development of Micro- and Nano-manufacturing Technologies (MNT), as well as to find out more about their understanding and views for the industrial applications of these technologies in the medium to long term, next 3 to 5 years. Nineteen PhD students from different countries across the Europe attended the workshop. The most important outputs of the Workshop are:
o 3D printing technology was selected as the favourite 4M KET.
o Human health and comfort-orientated products were considered as applications with the highest impact..
o The human health and comfort is the most important driver for the development of the 4M KETs.

The full report from the workshop was compiled and the results of the workshop can be finding on : http://www.4m-association.org/sites/www.4m-association.org/files/Workshop_report.pdf

• “4M2020 Foresight”(9-11 Sep. 2014, Grenoble, France).

During the forum, two-sessions’ 4M2020 Foresight workshop was held. . The main aim of the workshop was to obtain in a systematic way the views of leading researchers in the field on the current state and future developments of Micro- and Nano-manufacturing Technologies (MNT), as well as to identify potential key industrial applications/products that would be underpinned by these technologies in the next 5 to 7 years’ horizon. The prepared report from the workshop includes the results from series of breakout sessions to which twenty-one researchers contributed. They were selected based on the systematic analysis of more than 200 European and National projects in the field of 4M2020 . The workshop resulted in over 70 ideas for applications/products, although some of them were grouped during the secondary analysis due to strong common research and application issues associated with them. The select those with the highest expected impact in 5 to 7 years horizon after group discussions the participants selected 9 products by voting on them. In particular, these were the products/applications that had combined scores of 4 or above.
• Brokerage Workshop. The workshop was held on 30th of April 2015, the day before 4M/ICOMM 2015 Conference in Milan. The workshop brought participants from key FP7 projects in the field of 4M2020 that were completed recently or will finish in 2015. They brought a new cross-section of EC-funded projects that were identified based on the above mentioned analysis of more than 200 programmers. This workshop was a forum for these projects to promote their results and also form new partnerships and joint ventures for future European and national programmers. More than seven EC funded projects presented their results and contributed to the workshop. The workshop attracted around 65 participants (44 RTO and 21 industrial organisation)
• 4M/ICOMM 2015 Conference in Milan (31st of March – 2nd of April 2015) http://www.4m-association.org/conference/2015. The global forum brought together the 4M Community (4M Association) with the ICOMM Community (I2M2 Association) in USA and Asia. The number of attendees is around 200. The papers submitted are 154. They presented original research and development in processes and process chains for multi-material nano/micro/meso scale manufacture in particular but they are not limited to the following main themes:
o Components: fabrication technologies and process chains o Systems: novel product designs and assembly technologies o Process modelling and simulation
o Process characterisation including process chains
o Metrology: on-line monitoring and inspection systems/methods
o Materials: processing and characterisation of smart materials and material related issues in micro and nano scale

Also special project sessions were organized during the Conference that disseminated the latest technology and application advances achieved in major EC, national and international projects. An exhibition of latest technology and application developments in Micro and Nano Manufacturing and successes in commercializing took place in the second day as part of the 4M2020 brokerage activities during the conference. The aim of these brokerage activities is to encourage and assist in forming new partnerships to address open application and technology R&D issues.

The conference was sponsored by the following technology leaders in Micro and Nano manufacturing technologies:
• SARIX, www.sarix.com
• Accumould, www.accu-mold.com
• GF+, www.georgfischer.com
• CMF Marelli (MAHR), www.cmf.it/
• KERN, www.kern-microtechnic.com
• Mitutoyo, www.mitutoyo.it
• Battenfeld, www.wittmann-group.com
• Bruker, www.bruker.com
• Aerotech, www.aerotech.com
These companies also participated in the 4M2020 brokerage activities planned for the second day of the Conference.

• 4M2020 “sandpit” workshop (12 Sep. 2016, Lyngby, Denmark).
This “sand-pit” workshop identified promising mappings between “application pull” and “technology push” ideas presented by the participants that can be developed further into mutually beneficial R&D collaborations with a focus on these five cross-cutting topics.
The attendance of the workshop was by invitation only and around 40 technology and application pitches (up to 10 minutes long presentations) were included in the programme (see below). These pitches highlighted bottlenecks in the deployment of multi-functional minituriased products and their respective manufacturing platforms for different key industrial sectors. In addition, they contributed holistically with ideas about specific application challenges together with potential enabling technologies to address them that can constitute joint project ideas within the scope of the above H2020 2017 topics. During panel discussions, coffee breaks and the lunch, participants were able to interact with the presenters of the specific technology and application focus pitches.

• 4M2016 Conference in Denmark (13th – 15th of September 2016)
http://www.4m-association.org/conference/2016
The conference brought together the 4M community as well as the IWMF community (I2M2 Association) in USA and Asia. There were more than 100 attendees and 67 scientific articles of interest to the micro and nano manufacturing community. The papers presented showcased new research in the following main areas:
• Components: fabrication technologies and process chains
• Systems: novel product designs and assembly technologies
• Process modelling and simulation
• Process characterisation including process chains
• Metrology: on-line monitoring and inspection systems/methods
• Materials: processing and characterisation of smart materials and material related issues in micro and nano scale
• Micro and Nano Additive Manufacturing Technologies
• Micro and Desktop Factory Concepts, Systems, Components and Modules
• Standardization in Micro Manufacturing and Micro Factories
• High Precision Production of 3D Micro-parts
• Micro-assembly and Micro-handling
The conference was sponsored by the following technology leaders in micro and nano manufacturing technologies:
• Sarix http://www.sarix.com/en/
• Widex http://www.widex.co.uk/
• Oticon http://www.oticon.com/
• IGS GeboJagem http://www.igsgebojagema.nl/
• Ortofon http://www.ortofon.com/
• Olympus http://www.olympus-global.com/en/
• SharedLABS http://www.sharedlabseurope.com/home

As part of the 4M community dissemination activities several other workshops and seminars were organised by the project partners. These events included technology, bottleneck and mitigation strategies identification, road mapping and sandpit workshops, from which:
o Applications of InfiniteFocus Technology in laser micro-manufacturing (02/04/2014): 61 attendees, 5 RTOs and 19 industrial organisations, Birmingham, UK
o Hybrid Additive-Subtractive Materials Processing and Surface Engineering for Re-manufacturing (18/05/2016): 52 attendees, 4 RTOs and 20 industrial organisations, Birmingham, UK
o Optical measurement of engineered surfaces (06/07/2016): 34 attendees, 11 RTOs and 23 industrial organisations, Birmingham, UK
o PRINSE’16 Seminar (07/06/2016): 198 attendees, 9 RTOs and 77 industrial organisations, Oulu, Finland
o Nanotech Paris Workshop (16/06/2015): 23 attendees, 18 RTOs and 5 industrial organisations, Paris, France
o ECP4 (18/09/2015): 42 attendees, 23 RTOs, 14 Industrial organisations and 5 clusters, Oyonnax, France
o SEMICON Europa (06/10/2015): ?? Attendees, ?? RTOs and ?? Industrial organisations, Dresden, Germany
o 4M2020 Roadmap (03/02/2016): 13 Attendees, 7 RTOs and 6 Industrial organisations, Brussels, Belgium
o Brokerage Event on Industrial Photonics (11/11/2015): ?? Attendees, 5 RTOs and 16 Industrial organisations, Pontevedra, Spain

More than 11 workshop and seminar were organised during the course of the project, bringing together representatives from more than 141 research and technology organisation and 215 industrial organisation.

Communications
Key communication tools for the 4M2020 outreach activities are the 4M2020 website and monthly newsletters. This section provides further details how these tools were used to promote the 4M2020 project and its outreach activities/programme.
• 4M2020 Website:
The website of the project, www.4m2020.eu was established in the first project month. The web platform contains information such as the project partners, activities, events, publications etc. and provides the basis for a stakeholder contacts database through a registration system. The website of the 4M Association also offers a knowledge repository in 4M and a range of facilities for engaging with stakeholders and issuing press releases, newsletters, and report. All public information of 4M2020 CSA activities is published there.

• External Newsletter
The 4M2020 Newsletter is sent out 10 times a year to wider 4M community (over 700 people), it is also available on the 4M2020 website and the 4M Association website. When the newsletter is sent a report is generated to show the top 5 countries that read the newsletter, for example “Top November 2014 Newsletter
Readers”: 1st. UK, 2nd. Austria, 3rd. USA, 4th. Taiwan, 5th. Germany. The newsletter is compiled using inputs from the 4M community. The 4M community use the newsletter to advertise events, job opportunities and advances in technology.

• Social Media
4M2020 has an active twitter account which is used to share the newsletter and updates about 4M2020 events.

• 4M Conferences’ Proceedings
Findings and results generated under the 4M2020 project were published in the 4M conference series proceedings. During the course of the project, three conferences were organised and a 4M2020 article was included in each of the proceedings.
The proceedings can also be accessed online via the 4M Association website:
http://www.4m-association.org/content/4M-conference-series

Building up networks and alliances
As a result of the 4M2020 dissemination activities and networking events, at least 23 new alliances were created bringing together representatives from 74 RTOs and 156 industrial organisations.

List of Websites:
www.4m2020.eu
Contact details:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]