EPIC: Centre of Excellence in Production Informatics and Control
Vision: We see the future of manufacturing in the efficient and sustainable cooperation of all partners along the product life-cycle, in the value creation chain, and within the enterprise. The convergence of manufacturing, information and communication sciences has established not only the key cyber-physical enabling technologies for tomorrow’s production, but has also initiated a fundamental, revolutionary change affecting science, industry, education and society alike. EPIC will be in the European forefront of this move by identifying, addressing and, responding to main challenges in the service of smart, competitive, sustainable and cooperative manufacturing. This vision will be pursued in the following directions:
• Research, development and innovation: EPIC will conduct cutting-edge theoretical and experimental scientific explorations in all main research fields related to cyber-physical production systems, typically in a multi- and interdisciplinary setting.
• Technology transfer: EPIC will establish institutional channels for transferring state-of-the-art research result from academic and university research laboratories to innovative industrial applications. Special attention will be paid to advanced but affordable services for small- and medium size enterprises. It is also foreseen that sectors like smart cities and energy will take up relevant scientific results.
• Education of professionals: Beyond directly contributing to graduate and postgraduate education, EPIC will create new job opportunities by training knowledgeable workers to find and fit their right place in cyber-physical production. Through EPIC’s network of exchange relationships, the training programs will provide a broad and up-to-date European perspective.
• Ecosystem formation: EPIC will shape the local ecosystem so as to improve innovation performance, foster interoperability and compliance with emerging standards; to warrant cyber security and safety; to build and maintain trust between business partners and, to elaborate incentives for competitive, but at the same time cooperative and sustainable manufacturing.
The main, overall objective of the project to be proposed is to establish the Centre of Excellence in Production Informatics and Control (EPIC) as a leading, internationally acknowledged focus point in the field of production informatics, management and control representing excellence in R&D&I. EPIC will be constituted and run through the cooperation of the Institute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), two faculties of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) and four institutions of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) under the coordination of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hungary as a national authority responsible for research, technology and innovation. Through the cooperation of one of the leading institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, BME and NKFIH on the one hand, and of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, an acknowledged world-leader in applied research, on the other hand.
The EPIC consortium as a whole has all the assets that are essential to make the above vision a reality: the critical momentum, multi- and interdisciplinary research background, international scientific network, industrial experience, well-proven innovation and technology transfer culture, educational praxis and impact on policy-making.
EPIC will respond not only to the needs of its home country, Hungary, but especially through the cooperation with the German and Austrian Fraunhofer partners it will have a cross-border regional character and will support Central East Europe (CEE) as well.
Mission: EPIC, as a leading European knowledge centre of cyber-physical production systems invents novel methods, realizes industrial solutions, brings up new generations of highly qualified professionals and works for establishing a competitive and sustainable ecosystem for tomorrow’s manufacturing.
