DIY4U aimed to achieve its primary goal of advancing and promoting collaborative production engineering methods within the FMCG industry. This involved the development and advocacy of an Open Innovation B2B/B2C digital platform and small-scale manufacturing hardware units (Fabrication Laboratories- Fablabs), with the purpose of enabling swift production and commercialization of novel and customized soft matter FMCG products for the benefit of consumers.
The ambition of DIY4U was to overcome the obstacles related to product customization and small-scale manufacturing by capitalizing on the business potential in this area. This was to be accomplished through the creation of an Open Innovation (OI) digital B2B/B2C platform and Fablabs, which would facilitate collaborative design and small-scale production of personalized or customized soft matter FMCG. The OI B2B/B2C digital platform would allow the European FMCG supply chain, including manufacturers, innovation stakeholders (primarily SMEs), and consumers, to seamlessly collaborate on digitally designing and testing new personalized or customized powdered/liquid FMCG products.
To emphasize the significance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders, the plan involved decentralizing the process by adapting and expanding the existing digital platforms incorporating distributed ledger technology (DLT- blockchain). The digital platform employs a hybrid network, comprising a private permissioned network, a public open network, and oracles. The private permissioned network handles sensitive data within an access layer, while the public network holds shared data accessible to everyone. This approach unlocks numerous use cases by integrating the platform's output with digital formulation design tools, such as soft matter modeling capabilities, process simulation tools, digital twins, cost and environmental modeling capabilities, as well as AI/data analytics capabilities. Furthermore, the Fablabs, established and hosted at manufacturing demonstration facilities (MDFs), serve the purpose of on-demand production for newly designed personalized or customized soft matter FMCG products created through the DIY4U digital platform.
Through the collaboration between the multi-disciplinary expertise of the project consortium, we have been able to develop an open innovation digital platform engaging end-user through a quiz, enhancing product quality through innovative digital technologies (ML, AI, DT-digital twins), and ensuring cross-border IP and secure data sharing. Another major outcome is the two units of modular-based, fully automated, compact, small-scale Manufacturing Demonstration Facilities (MDFs) to produce liquid-based and powder-based customised detergents. The consortium has opened up the project concept to the European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through open innovation competitions and projects, engaging non-consortium partners in developing additional digital tools for the platform and performing market analysis, feasibility studies, etc, on adopting 'DIY4U Project Concept' to the other market sectors (e.g. cosmetics, food & beverages, pet foods, etc).
