Smart Manufacturing for EU growth and prosperity

Objective

MAKERS is an R & amp;E Staff Exchange (RISE) project to explore issues related to the drivers and dynamics of competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in the EU. To this end, MAKERS will create a multi-stakeholder platform to discuss the current understanding of Industry 4.0 in Europe and consider the following aspects:

1. The role of small, medium and large industrial companies and local production systems for local-global value chains;
2. the drivers and processes for innovation, technological capabilities, and technology transfer from research institutions to industrial firms;
3. the trends of backshoring and "nearshoring" of production activities and the potentials for re-industrialization and shorter value chains;
4. the implications of the socio-economic-environmental sustainability agenda for EU competitiveness;
5. skills requirements and education/training,
6. how policy can ensure the competitiveness of EU manufacturing industries for more distributed and sustainable growth,

The Institute for Learning and Innovation in Networks (ILIN) of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences coordinates the third focus on backward relocation and local value chains. The MAKERS program includes:

• Annual summer schools that cover the breadth of the above topics and address methodological requirements;
• Thematic workshops with stakeholders from industry, academia, and policy;
• Transfer activities at events outside the network, such as presentations at international conferences, policy forums, and multimedia engagement.

Website

• http://www.makers-rise.org/

Project duration

• January 2016 to December 2018

Project consortium

• 12 academic and 12 non-academic partners from 10 countries (UK, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, USA and Singapore)

Funding by

• EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie-Actions

Employees

• Prof. Dr. Steffen Kinkel
• Ralph Lichtner
• Tobias Kopp