ACCURATE: a futuristic european model of “shared” manufacturing

Radically rethink the European industrial model, by creating an “ecosystem” in which companies from all sectors can share their resources in the broadest sense: this is the ambition of the ACCURATE project, in which IMT Atlantique is participating. The result will be greater resilience to external shocks, increased “agility” and enhanced competitiveness for players on the Old Continent.

A “marketplace” for sharing industrial resources

With the ACCURATE project, the European Commission intends to bring about a genuine change of model for industry on the Old Continent. The idea is to create a “marketplace” where companies from different sectors can share their resources as a service: production facilities (machines, production lines, etc.), materials, spare parts, software, data... and even their employees.

This would make them both more competitive and more resilient in the face of hazards of all kinds (climatic, geopolitical...), while enabling them to further optimize their performance and better manage their energy consumption and environmental impact. This approach echoes the recent report on European competitiveness by former ECB President Mario Draghi.

Drawing inspiration from Manufacturing as a Service for an agile, collaborative ecosystem

"Today, it is not uncommon for one manufacturer to have an excessively full order book, while another, whether a competitor or not, has to idle," explains Valeria Borodin, a teacher-researcher in IMT Atlantique's Department of Automation, Production and Information Technology (DAPI), who is involved in the project. "Why not put the latter's production chain at the service of the former, over a given period, using digitalization and connectivity? This would enable them to better withstand exogenous shocks such as the Covid pandemic, a shortage of components or a geopolitical or even social problem."

Examples of potential applications are numerous: surplus inventory or residues produced by one company can be used by another; "waste heat" generated by one factory can be recovered elsewhere; machines that have been shut down could be used for other production...

The MaaS model used on a large scale

The result would be a network of companies, some of them competitors in a given market, with no limit on their number. "In this way, we move from a mode of operation in which each manufacturer operates in its own corner, to a genuine ecosystem, much more competitive and resilient," observes Valeria Borodin.
Of course, this type of collaboration already exists - for example, in the printed circuit board or 3D printing sectors: it is the principle of MaaS (“Manufacturing as a Service”), an “agile” production system that aims precisely to network companies on demand to better distribute resources between them, according to each company's skills. In particular, MaaS helps to increase efficiency and reduce production lead times. In the long term, ACCURATE aims to extend MaaS to large sectors of activity, and even to generalize it among European companies. All this at a time when global competition is imposing new challenges on them.

The ACCURATE European project brings together 12 partners

Launched in December 2023, ACCURATE is a major project. With funding of 6 millions euros over three years, it brings together a dozen partners. Among them are three industrial leaders - Airbus, French high-tech electronics company Tronico and automotive equipment supplier Continental - and four academic institutions, including IMT Atlantique (1).
In addition to the systematization of MaaS, another key element of the project is the development of a decision support system, which will enable the ecosystem to operate in a distributed and efficient way. This is one of the subjects on which the IMT Atlantique team is working. Comprising three teachers-researchers from the DAPI, plus a post-doc and a PhD student, the team draws on its skills in automation, operations research, industrial engineering and simulation.

De gauche à droite : Rim Djazia Gaouar, doctorante, Alexandre Dolgui, responsable du DAPI, Valeria Borodin, enseignante-chercheuse,  Cristian Duran Mateluna, post-doctorant, Siqing Wu, doctorante et Simon Thévenin, enseignant-chercheur. 
From left to right : Rim Djazia Gaouar, doctorante, Alexandre Dolgui, head of DAPI, Valeria Borodin, teacher-research,  Cristian Duran Mateluna, post-doc, Siqing Wu, PhD student et Simon Thévenin, teacher-researcher.

Clearly, ACCURATE is aimed primarily at highly connected companies well advanced in their digital transition. Automation, simulation and digital twins are all part of the system currently being developed. "However, Valeria Borodin insists, a lot of tasks are automated, but the human element remains in charge."

Of course, issues of confidentiality and property rights are given particular attention. Strictly compliant with European regulations, the solutions we have chosen enable us to exchange sensitive data without exposing it. In particular, ACCURATE uses Gaia-X, a cloud-based standards project for ultra-secure data sharing for European manufacturers.

However, there are still many stages to be completed before the project can take shape: we need to identify potential players and their needs; see where and how MaaS can be instantiated and implemented; coordinate the sharing of resources and solutions between manufacturers; share the benefits and responsibilities of implementation; ensure the security of the system... The chronological dimension is also an issue: when should we devote ourselves to a given production? Over what period of time?

A cultural change for manufacturers

One of the difficulties to solve is that of different labor regulations in different sectors and countries. The same applies to equipment homologation and standardization. Hence the need to develop “ontologies” - in other words, models for representing the knowledge of a specialized field. And that is not all: “Every industry has its own jargon, language tics and acronyms,” adds Valeria Borodin. “Multiple definitions can cover the same reality. So we have to make sure that the different players really understand each other.” Interoperability issues are also an important part of the project. 
Another line of work involves imagining how MaaS can be better integrated into the shock mitigation strategies applied locally by manufacturers, such as supplier diversification, overstocking, redundancy of production resources, flexibility of production systems... “All this requires long and complex work,” says the teacher-researcher. “We proceed step by step, while taking care to maintain the overall vision”. 

Valeria Borodin emphasizes: "The ultimate aim is not just to improve the competitiveness of a particular manufacturer. It is about them learning to work differently, using their resources in the broadest sense of the term in the most intelligent way possible, within an ecosystem. It is an exciting approach, which goes beyond connectivity and digitalization, and is of interest to more and more players." A real cultural change for companies used to working independently. Quite a program.

(1) Also participating in the project:

  • Berlin School of Economics and Law, Aarhus University (Denmark), Fraunhofer IAO (Germany);
  • two software solution “integrators”, EnginSoft (Italy) a,d Delta DAO (Germany);
  • two innovation centers, Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (IED, Greece) and Simavi (Romania).

Learn more

Published on 09.01.2025

by Pierre-Hervé VAILLANT

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