Objective
The mission of the NextFactory project is to develop and validate a new type of all-in-one manufacturing technology combining, for the first time, in a single piece of equipment, 3D freeform printing and ultra-precision 3D assembly. This highly flexible and scalable facility will empower microsystem manufacturers - and in particular SMEs - to effectively produce highly miniaturised Smart Products-in-Package (SPiPs) both in small series and high-throughput production of large parallel batches.
The project is driven and led by SME-owned use cases in medical, environmental and food processing, which represent an optimal combination of challenging requirements and high visibility for the new approach, providing a strategic direction to the project and validating the operability for a large variety of products: (i) oral sensors, requiring a one-piece-at a time customisation, (ii) microsensor chips for oxygen monitoring in closed compartments, and (iii) complex solar modules with circuits and capacitors. They will also be used for a proof-of-concept demonstration.
The impact expected from this development will be, depending on the use case, a 10 to 100fold reduction of the SPiP production lead time at low cost and with almost zero waste, inducing a paradigm shift in SPiP design & development and thereby freeing an unprecedented innovation potential in manufacturing intensive industries.
The NextFactory consortium will bring together a multidisciplinary group of leading edge SMEs and academic partners respectively contributing expertise in the new manufacturing technologies and the different application fields. NextFactory will last 4 years and work through develop-trial-improve iterations, aiming at satisfying increasingly challenging measurable objectives and delivering valuable intermediate results for the involved SMEs.
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-2013-NMP-ICT-FOF(RTD)
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CP-TP - Collaborative Project targeted to a special group (such as SMEs)Coordinator
80686 Munchen
Germany
Participants (10)
NP26 5YW Gwent
4407 Steyr Gleink
6130 Schwaz
87758 Kronburg
6037 Root
4600 Wels
3238 Gals
SE10 9LS London
164 25 Kista
75013 Paris
