Final Report Summary - WMF2014 (World Manufacturing Forum 2014)
Executive Summary:
Aim of this supporting action was the planning and the organization of the World Manufacturing Forum 2014 (WMF2014), which was held on 1st and 2nd July 2014 in Milan, Italy, in the semester of the Italian Presidency of the European Commission.
Project Context and Objectives:
Against the backdrop of the current economic situation and increased global competition, the European Union through the Europe 2020 has defined a strategy to support growth and job creation
for the next decade. In particular, as clearly addressed by the Innovation Union Flagship initiative, the Europe’s future economic growth will come from the innovation in products, services and business models, thus making evident how manufacturing is recognised to play a fundamental role
in Europe.
On the other side, manufacturing is also widely recognised as a key driving force for the well-being of the nations at global level1. Manufacturing accounted for 26% of global Foreign Direct Investment in 2010, generating 1.1 million jobs, building infrastructures leveraging the multiplier effect of manufacturing on service jobs across the nations. Moreover, approximately 10 million jobs open positions remain not filled in manufacturing organisations due to the growing skills gaps; need for educated people is therefore an opportunity for the well-being of the society.
Being in a globalized world, all the technological, social and economic trends impacting manufacturing are global. The understanding of these global trends is therefore a pre-requisite also to “simply” design a European based strategy. For this reason, a global wide event is mandatory.
In this context, the World Manufacturing Forum represents an excellent opportunity to analyse and discuss the global economical and societal challenges that global manufacturing is facing.
Already in May 2011 (WMF2011) with 320 participants and October 2012 (WMF2012) with more than 400 attendees, the World Manufacturing Forum has proved to have a great value being an independent platform with global visibility to debate the relevant themes of manufacturing. It provides the proper arena for industrialists, policy makers, scientists and practitioners to debate. World Manufacturing Forums have been already supported by the EC and by the IMS, an industry-led, international business innovation and research and development (R&D) program, established to develop the next generation of manufacturing and processing technologies, including companies
and research institutions from the European Union, Mexico, Korea, and the United States of America. Finally, considering the launch of the Horizon 2020 in 2014, the World Manufacturing Forum 2014 has represented a unique opportunity to align policies with industrial leaderships, to discuss challenges and orientations towards future research and innovation in the Global Manufacturing, aiming at boosting industrial business performance, while securing jobs and appropriate working conditions, care for environment and society.
The main objectives of the event have been:
• To be an open and independent environment where industry leaders and key policy makers from all over the world, together with all relevant stake-holders, would discuss global trends, challenges, threats and objectives in Manufacturing to give authorities in policy, science and industries advice for the orientation of innovation perspectives for a global competitive and sustainable development;
• To be a mean for the Italian Presidency to increase visibility of their contribution and perspective for the European Union industry and society in a fair interplay with the other global regions;
• To be a platform where the most recent state-of-the-art of the Manufacturing research is spread and disseminated at the same time where the most interesting trends and research needs are identified, discussed and shared among interested parties and involved communities;
• To be a platform for the communication of the European Commission strategies and policies to a global audience represented through the Italian presidency of the European Union;
• To be an ambitious event to present results of the European cooperative research, to support the Horizon2020 and to discuss about international cooperation in R&D.
Project Results:
The objective of this support action was the organization of an event, the Word Manufacturing Forum, able to attract relevant stake-holders to debate the relevant global themes of manufacturing, sharing and comparing point of view, proposing visions and experiences.
The work performed during the project has consisted in:
• The creation of an ecosystem able to orientate, support and feed the project, with an Executive Board composed of 13 prominent representatives of the manufacturing stake-holders from different world regions; a Programme Committee whose 5 members have a long experience in the identification and development of programs; an organizing committee composed of 7 people with the skills and capability to plan and manage the event; a network of supporting institutions, at local and international level, to contribute to communication and networking activities.
• The development and definition of the themes and the program of the conference, which have captured the needs and interests of policy makers, industry, finance, academia, unions and society, as demonstrated by the membership organizations of the speakers.
• The organization of a two days event, attracting more than 400 participants of 438 organizations coming from 45 nations, and 24 journalists attending the press conference.
The S&T results is also available in internet since all the speeches have been video-recorded and are available at the IMS web site for increasing the impact of the event.
Potential Impact:
The World Manufacturing Forum 2014 addressed the worldwide Manufacturing community and therefore was not limited only to the European and IMS Regions. This event aimed at being the light house for discussions about the future of manufacturing in the global economy, involving many relevant stakeholders and attendees coming from:
• industry, inviting chief executive officers, chief technology officers, heads of R&D Innovation departments, industrial researchers, human resource managers;
• policy maker organisations such as central and regional governments, public funding agencies, chambers of commerce;
• academia, involving members of international organisation such as IFIP, IFAC, CIRP;
• professional and industrial institutions and associations;
• civil organisations and society at large.
Moreover, at European level, the ETP Manufuture Platform, EFFRA (European Factory of the Future Association), national platforms and related ETPs were also involved with their developments
and contributions. At International level, organisations such as the National Association of Manufactures (NAM), the Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) were involved.
In addition, selected press and journalists were invited to help in the dissemination of the event as well as the results, generating 42 articles published in the international press.
In conclusion, the impact highly depended on the themes addressed, the width and standing of the stakeholders that participated in the debate and on the resonance that this had in the different communities and regions.
The World Manufacturing Forum initiative has demonstrated the capability to attract, involve and
retain relevant stakeholders from different sectors and regions and the potential to further extend and reinforce its role in the future through the next planned editions of the Forum in 2016 in Barcelona (Spain).
Raising the attention of policy makers and society on the manufacturing is an important achievement, with the potential of bringing real impact on employment, sustainable economic growth and finally on the well-being of society.
List of Websites:
www.worldmanufacturingforum.org
marco.taisch@polimi.it
Aim of this supporting action was the planning and the organization of the World Manufacturing Forum 2014 (WMF2014), which was held on 1st and 2nd July 2014 in Milan, Italy, in the semester of the Italian Presidency of the European Commission.
Project Context and Objectives:
Against the backdrop of the current economic situation and increased global competition, the European Union through the Europe 2020 has defined a strategy to support growth and job creation
for the next decade. In particular, as clearly addressed by the Innovation Union Flagship initiative, the Europe’s future economic growth will come from the innovation in products, services and business models, thus making evident how manufacturing is recognised to play a fundamental role
in Europe.
On the other side, manufacturing is also widely recognised as a key driving force for the well-being of the nations at global level1. Manufacturing accounted for 26% of global Foreign Direct Investment in 2010, generating 1.1 million jobs, building infrastructures leveraging the multiplier effect of manufacturing on service jobs across the nations. Moreover, approximately 10 million jobs open positions remain not filled in manufacturing organisations due to the growing skills gaps; need for educated people is therefore an opportunity for the well-being of the society.
Being in a globalized world, all the technological, social and economic trends impacting manufacturing are global. The understanding of these global trends is therefore a pre-requisite also to “simply” design a European based strategy. For this reason, a global wide event is mandatory.
In this context, the World Manufacturing Forum represents an excellent opportunity to analyse and discuss the global economical and societal challenges that global manufacturing is facing.
Already in May 2011 (WMF2011) with 320 participants and October 2012 (WMF2012) with more than 400 attendees, the World Manufacturing Forum has proved to have a great value being an independent platform with global visibility to debate the relevant themes of manufacturing. It provides the proper arena for industrialists, policy makers, scientists and practitioners to debate. World Manufacturing Forums have been already supported by the EC and by the IMS, an industry-led, international business innovation and research and development (R&D) program, established to develop the next generation of manufacturing and processing technologies, including companies
and research institutions from the European Union, Mexico, Korea, and the United States of America. Finally, considering the launch of the Horizon 2020 in 2014, the World Manufacturing Forum 2014 has represented a unique opportunity to align policies with industrial leaderships, to discuss challenges and orientations towards future research and innovation in the Global Manufacturing, aiming at boosting industrial business performance, while securing jobs and appropriate working conditions, care for environment and society.
The main objectives of the event have been:
• To be an open and independent environment where industry leaders and key policy makers from all over the world, together with all relevant stake-holders, would discuss global trends, challenges, threats and objectives in Manufacturing to give authorities in policy, science and industries advice for the orientation of innovation perspectives for a global competitive and sustainable development;
• To be a mean for the Italian Presidency to increase visibility of their contribution and perspective for the European Union industry and society in a fair interplay with the other global regions;
• To be a platform where the most recent state-of-the-art of the Manufacturing research is spread and disseminated at the same time where the most interesting trends and research needs are identified, discussed and shared among interested parties and involved communities;
• To be a platform for the communication of the European Commission strategies and policies to a global audience represented through the Italian presidency of the European Union;
• To be an ambitious event to present results of the European cooperative research, to support the Horizon2020 and to discuss about international cooperation in R&D.
Project Results:
The objective of this support action was the organization of an event, the Word Manufacturing Forum, able to attract relevant stake-holders to debate the relevant global themes of manufacturing, sharing and comparing point of view, proposing visions and experiences.
The work performed during the project has consisted in:
• The creation of an ecosystem able to orientate, support and feed the project, with an Executive Board composed of 13 prominent representatives of the manufacturing stake-holders from different world regions; a Programme Committee whose 5 members have a long experience in the identification and development of programs; an organizing committee composed of 7 people with the skills and capability to plan and manage the event; a network of supporting institutions, at local and international level, to contribute to communication and networking activities.
• The development and definition of the themes and the program of the conference, which have captured the needs and interests of policy makers, industry, finance, academia, unions and society, as demonstrated by the membership organizations of the speakers.
• The organization of a two days event, attracting more than 400 participants of 438 organizations coming from 45 nations, and 24 journalists attending the press conference.
The S&T results is also available in internet since all the speeches have been video-recorded and are available at the IMS web site for increasing the impact of the event.
Potential Impact:
The World Manufacturing Forum 2014 addressed the worldwide Manufacturing community and therefore was not limited only to the European and IMS Regions. This event aimed at being the light house for discussions about the future of manufacturing in the global economy, involving many relevant stakeholders and attendees coming from:
• industry, inviting chief executive officers, chief technology officers, heads of R&D Innovation departments, industrial researchers, human resource managers;
• policy maker organisations such as central and regional governments, public funding agencies, chambers of commerce;
• academia, involving members of international organisation such as IFIP, IFAC, CIRP;
• professional and industrial institutions and associations;
• civil organisations and society at large.
Moreover, at European level, the ETP Manufuture Platform, EFFRA (European Factory of the Future Association), national platforms and related ETPs were also involved with their developments
and contributions. At International level, organisations such as the National Association of Manufactures (NAM), the Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) were involved.
In addition, selected press and journalists were invited to help in the dissemination of the event as well as the results, generating 42 articles published in the international press.
In conclusion, the impact highly depended on the themes addressed, the width and standing of the stakeholders that participated in the debate and on the resonance that this had in the different communities and regions.
The World Manufacturing Forum initiative has demonstrated the capability to attract, involve and
retain relevant stakeholders from different sectors and regions and the potential to further extend and reinforce its role in the future through the next planned editions of the Forum in 2016 in Barcelona (Spain).
Raising the attention of policy makers and society on the manufacturing is an important achievement, with the potential of bringing real impact on employment, sustainable economic growth and finally on the well-being of society.
List of Websites:
www.worldmanufacturingforum.org
marco.taisch@polimi.it