Periodic Reporting for period 3 - PULSATE (Fostering the PAN-European infrastructure for empowering SMEs digital competences in laser-based advance and additive manufacturing.)
Período documentado: 2023-09-01 hasta 2024-08-31
Digitization will radically change and challenge many industries, particularly the EU-based manufacturing industries, where Laser-Based Advanced and Additive Manufacturing (LBAAM) can play a key role, providing maximal benefits for flexible manufacturing or highly digitalized environments.
PULSATE has addressed this opportunity, promoting a Pan-European Network designed to boost the adoption of LBAAM manufacturing technologies through the uptake of advanced digital tools, reaching the European SMEs and slightly bigger companies by means of a Digital, proving fully digitised services and thus, enabling new business models based on LBAAM technologies (manufacturing capacity renting, machine as a service, etc.).
To enable this, PULSATE project brings together a strong consortium comprising six reputable competency centres (AIMEN, FTMC, MTC, SINTEF, Fraunhofer and CEA) with high level expertise in LBAAM and digitization, the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) to support the promotion/acceleration of EU innovative scale-up initiatives, and two highly innovative SMEs (clesgo & FUNDINGBOX) to establish and support the Digital Agora platform, maintain a Marketplace of digital services and to manage the mechanisms of financial support to SMEs & slightly bigger companies and the interfaces with DIHs across all Europe.
As a main conclusion, PULSATE has connected Digital Innovation Hubs, top class Competence Centres, Public Institutions, Standardization Organizations, Financing and Business Development entities through a Single-Entry Point, built on a solid methodology for operational and financial support to European SMEs, and a vision and mechanism for long term sustainability. This allows connecting all resources required and provide long-lasting access to LBAAM technologies for SMEs across Europe to assimilate these technologies.
PULSATE has addressed this opportunity, promoting a Pan-European Network designed to boost the adoption of LBAAM manufacturing technologies through the uptake of advanced digital tools, reaching the European SMEs and slightly bigger companies by means of a Digital, proving fully digitised services and thus, enabling new business models based on LBAAM technologies (manufacturing capacity renting, machine as a service, etc.).
To enable this, PULSATE project brings together a strong consortium comprising six reputable competency centres (AIMEN, FTMC, MTC, SINTEF, Fraunhofer and CEA) with high level expertise in LBAAM and digitization, the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) to support the promotion/acceleration of EU innovative scale-up initiatives, and two highly innovative SMEs (clesgo & FUNDINGBOX) to establish and support the Digital Agora platform, maintain a Marketplace of digital services and to manage the mechanisms of financial support to SMEs & slightly bigger companies and the interfaces with DIHs across all Europe.
As a main conclusion, PULSATE has connected Digital Innovation Hubs, top class Competence Centres, Public Institutions, Standardization Organizations, Financing and Business Development entities through a Single-Entry Point, built on a solid methodology for operational and financial support to European SMEs, and a vision and mechanism for long term sustainability. This allows connecting all resources required and provide long-lasting access to LBAAM technologies for SMEs across Europe to assimilate these technologies.
A summary of the work performed from the beginning of the project and the main results achieved are presented:
- The cloud infrastructure to serve the combined project website (www.pulsate.eu) and Digital Agora through a Single Entry Point (SEP) has been set up.
- A full list of the services (up to 80) offered by PULSATE partners to European SMEs and slightly bigger companies has been consolidated.
- PULSATE’s Technology Transfer Experiments (TTE) Open Calls has successfully finished: 143 SMEs have been applied from 16 different European countries and 22 experiments were funded.
- PULSATE’s Adopters Use Cases (AUC) Open Calls, focused on technical and economic feasibility assessment for the implementation of LBAAM technologies has been successfully closed: 87 SMEs applied from 17 different countries and 37 projects were funded
- PULSATE has engaged with other EU initiatives (PhotonHub, Phabulous, MULTIPLE, MedPhab) and with I4MS to boost the impact of join communication and dissemination. After the end of the activity at I4MS CSA, a close collaboration with LIMES cluster on sustainable laser-based manufacturing processes was established and we continued the cooperation with Digit-Brain, Change2Twin and other projects sharing backbone technology (Agora-Emgora).
- Successful dissemination actions have leveraged the awareness about the project and LBAAM. An intensive Awareness Raising Campaign has been developed through different social media channels and through the Project website, also initiating a dedicated public engagement campaign. Main achievements:
• A total of 107 individual events (presentations, webinars, workshops, presence in fairs, etc..) allowed to reach an estimated >50,000 different companies. 11 of these events allowed us to reach investors.
• 11 press releases and 7 articles were elaborated and turned into publications reaching a total >200,000 readers.
• The original communication and dissemination plan was adapted to the current conditions > 60.000 visitors to the website, and >250.000 reaches in social media confirm a strong presence.
• Analytics on the affiliation of attendants allowed to identify a broad range of industrial sectors and positions in the value chain and modulate the messages.
• Engagement campaigns and targeted campaigns were launched: general public engagement (“did you know?”, “Meet partners”, “Our experiments” campaigns), impressions over 200,000 and article was published in Brussels Times (more than 2M readers).
As a result, almost 1000 companies have been directly reached through dissemination events during the project.
- The cloud infrastructure to serve the combined project website (www.pulsate.eu) and Digital Agora through a Single Entry Point (SEP) has been set up.
- A full list of the services (up to 80) offered by PULSATE partners to European SMEs and slightly bigger companies has been consolidated.
- PULSATE’s Technology Transfer Experiments (TTE) Open Calls has successfully finished: 143 SMEs have been applied from 16 different European countries and 22 experiments were funded.
- PULSATE’s Adopters Use Cases (AUC) Open Calls, focused on technical and economic feasibility assessment for the implementation of LBAAM technologies has been successfully closed: 87 SMEs applied from 17 different countries and 37 projects were funded
- PULSATE has engaged with other EU initiatives (PhotonHub, Phabulous, MULTIPLE, MedPhab) and with I4MS to boost the impact of join communication and dissemination. After the end of the activity at I4MS CSA, a close collaboration with LIMES cluster on sustainable laser-based manufacturing processes was established and we continued the cooperation with Digit-Brain, Change2Twin and other projects sharing backbone technology (Agora-Emgora).
- Successful dissemination actions have leveraged the awareness about the project and LBAAM. An intensive Awareness Raising Campaign has been developed through different social media channels and through the Project website, also initiating a dedicated public engagement campaign. Main achievements:
• A total of 107 individual events (presentations, webinars, workshops, presence in fairs, etc..) allowed to reach an estimated >50,000 different companies. 11 of these events allowed us to reach investors.
• 11 press releases and 7 articles were elaborated and turned into publications reaching a total >200,000 readers.
• The original communication and dissemination plan was adapted to the current conditions > 60.000 visitors to the website, and >250.000 reaches in social media confirm a strong presence.
• Analytics on the affiliation of attendants allowed to identify a broad range of industrial sectors and positions in the value chain and modulate the messages.
• Engagement campaigns and targeted campaigns were launched: general public engagement (“did you know?”, “Meet partners”, “Our experiments” campaigns), impressions over 200,000 and article was published in Brussels Times (more than 2M readers).
As a result, almost 1000 companies have been directly reached through dissemination events during the project.
During the project, the 6 application industries in the main focus of were addressed. The result of these activities has been reflected: 1) in the attendees to the different meetings organized where PULSATE activities were presented; and 2) in the AUC and TTE’s calls, where different challenges and new proposals relevant to these industries have been addressed in several of the projects developed within PULSATE:
- Aerospace: LaserRiblets, AEROGRAM, ADI
- Medical: BEAM, Smoller, TISSUE
- Industrial: LADACOR, BARRELCLAD - Laser Cladding of large twin barrels, Laser Riblets II
- Automotive: ABSORPTION, Injected MLA, WELDSHAPE
- Textile: Loom-State: 3D Woven Garments, LaserTex
- Customized electronics: BEAM, LAB-3D-Mess
- Aerospace: LaserRiblets, AEROGRAM, ADI
Looking in the technological approach, several laser processes like laser cutting, welding or additive manufacturing, more general discussions about (as an example, the possibilities of ultrafast laser processes) or related technologies such laser beam-shaping, optical coatings and new process monitoring solutions have been also addressed in different onsite and online meetings. Some of them where focused in hot markets such as e-mobility, where laser technologies and process monitoring systems are definitely critical to ensure the efficiency of the productions plants and the manufactured parts and components.
The goal in the different activities performed was focused in ensuring the self-sustainability of the project in different ways. First, by increasing the number of companies reached from the whole supply chain (laser source manufacturers, components manufacturers, integrators, software developers, researchers...) in order to create a community which can support the future needs of the different markets related with the adoption of laser based advanced manufacturing processes. Second, by finding companies and end users interested in extending and optimizing the adoption of those manufacturing processes and open the interests in other markets where laser was not traditionally involved. And third, by opening the door to new and interesting application fields and technologies, such as the semiconductor sector and novel and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
In these two specific examples, the PULSATE project is aligned with the present priorities of the EU commission in e.g. the support of a European semiconductor industry (through the European Chips Act) and the Horizon Europe Funding Boosts in AI Technologies to support innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data operations to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal. All these activities have positive influence towards the environmental impact PULSATE would like to support, together with the general principle that laser application often has the result of reducing energy consumption in comparison to the traditional technologies.
- Aerospace: LaserRiblets, AEROGRAM, ADI
- Medical: BEAM, Smoller, TISSUE
- Industrial: LADACOR, BARRELCLAD - Laser Cladding of large twin barrels, Laser Riblets II
- Automotive: ABSORPTION, Injected MLA, WELDSHAPE
- Textile: Loom-State: 3D Woven Garments, LaserTex
- Customized electronics: BEAM, LAB-3D-Mess
- Aerospace: LaserRiblets, AEROGRAM, ADI
Looking in the technological approach, several laser processes like laser cutting, welding or additive manufacturing, more general discussions about (as an example, the possibilities of ultrafast laser processes) or related technologies such laser beam-shaping, optical coatings and new process monitoring solutions have been also addressed in different onsite and online meetings. Some of them where focused in hot markets such as e-mobility, where laser technologies and process monitoring systems are definitely critical to ensure the efficiency of the productions plants and the manufactured parts and components.
The goal in the different activities performed was focused in ensuring the self-sustainability of the project in different ways. First, by increasing the number of companies reached from the whole supply chain (laser source manufacturers, components manufacturers, integrators, software developers, researchers...) in order to create a community which can support the future needs of the different markets related with the adoption of laser based advanced manufacturing processes. Second, by finding companies and end users interested in extending and optimizing the adoption of those manufacturing processes and open the interests in other markets where laser was not traditionally involved. And third, by opening the door to new and interesting application fields and technologies, such as the semiconductor sector and novel and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
In these two specific examples, the PULSATE project is aligned with the present priorities of the EU commission in e.g. the support of a European semiconductor industry (through the European Chips Act) and the Horizon Europe Funding Boosts in AI Technologies to support innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered data operations to contribute to the objectives of the European Green Deal. All these activities have positive influence towards the environmental impact PULSATE would like to support, together with the general principle that laser application often has the result of reducing energy consumption in comparison to the traditional technologies.