TECNALIA makes the “conscious” factory model a reality with a 15% increase in activity with industrial companies
The research and technological development centre is presenting a new factory model at the BIEMH which is flexible, collaborative and at the service of people.
- TECNALIA currently collaborates with more than 950 industrial companies, 73% of which are SMEs, to implement technological solutions that improve and optimise aspects such as process quality and efficiency, the availability of productive assets, maintenance processes, the interaction between machines and people, levels of sustainability through the reuse of materials, and also the quality of services with the rest of the value chain, both suppliers and customers
- TECNALIA is presenting various technologies at the BIEMH, including robots that interact with people in a natural way thanks to AI and machines that can be operated remotely.
4 June 2024. The smart industry has been developing fast since the early 2010s and has become “conscious”: an even smarter factory model that revolutionises the way people engage with industry. Based on a more natural interaction and maximising the use of people’s expert knowledge, this factory model offers flexible and adaptive production and collaborates with its environment. This is a new paradigm that TECNALIA research and technological development centre has been implementing in industrial companies, increasing its activity with them by 15% in the last two years.
This was announced today at the BIEMH 2024, which is being held this week at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC). Agustín Sáenz, Director of Strategy, Market and Technology at TECNALIA, explained that they currently collaborate with more than 950 industrial companies, 73% of which are SMEs, to implement technological solutions including collaborative robotics, automation, connectivity, applied AI and material circularity. This activity has led to a turnover of €94 million for TECNALIA in the last two years.
TECNALIA is attending the most important International Machine Tool and Advanced Manufacturing Exhibition with a 300 m2 stand where, through the integration of AI, robots, connectivity and manufacturing technologies, it is showcasing this new factory model that is based on four pillars of transformation: technology at the service of people; flexible production, capable of adapting to changes to optimise the use of resources; a factory model that is extended to more spaces and facilities; and collaboration with the industrial ecosystem.
According to Sáenz, “it is highly advanced and automated manufacturing with people at the heart, around which innovations are designed, which then spread to machines and production lines. These technologies, sensors and AI systems work together to optimise the production process, in constant communication with people. This factory model also adapts to optimise the use of resources, and operates in communication with its environment, going beyond the factory to other facilities and stakeholders in the value chain”.
David Sánchez, Director of Industry and Mobility, pointed out that “in the current economic context, which is more complex and competitive, the introduction of new factors such as environmental transition, the increase in cybersecurity due to the increasing number of attacks, or the need for new personalised models in production, are leading us to face new challenges. TECNALIA must be the ally of companies to develop, deploy and adopt clear technological innovation strategies in the medium and long term”.
Revolutionising interaction with people
First, the “conscious” factory model creates intelligent industry which stands out for transforming the way people interact with the factory, following the “human-centric” concept, putting a new paradigm of plant and business control in their hands in an efficient, intelligent way, anticipating every need. TECNALIA is showcasing technological solutions at the BIEMH, interacting with people, such as programming through conversation of flexible handling tasks by a humanoid robot thanks to generative AI, a technological solution that allows the tasks of a robot to be planned through Augmented Reality, and an intelligent assistant, developed for the company Industrias Puigjaner, which understands spoken questions about maintenance incidents and suggests an appropriate solution by consulting the necessary technical documentation.
Second, this factory model is flexible; it adapts to the changes required in production and, hand in hand with new technologies, develops “consciousness” of what is going on around it. To achieve this, TECNALIA has developed various solutions to promote an adaptive factory model, such as an intelligent system for dynamic production planning, which is capable of learning and adapting responses in changing scenarios; an automated analysis solution that trains models that predict the behaviour of a production process, without the need for advanced programming knowledge; the adaptation of the Digital Product Passport, in this case for machines, on which TECNALIA is working with the manufacturing sector to use this traceability tool for production assets and improve the sustainability of smart manufacturing ecosystems; and new manufacturing systems will be showcased, such as the MOLDAM hybrid robotic cell, developed for Aernnova and Suzlon, which implements a manufacturing process based on 3D printing of large thermoplastic components.
An extended and collaborative factory model
Third, it is an extended factory model, where you don’t always have to be present, thanks to teleoperation technologies, allowing manufacturing to be managed from other locations and production assets to be controlled at the same time from a single point. This type of technology can be seen at the exhibition at a teleoperated logistics stand, from which engineers can manipulate a sensorised mobile platform for transporting materials located more than 100 kilometres away from the exhibition. And thanks to the collaboration with Plain Concepts, TECNALIA integrates the telerobotics technology it has developed in the SPOT quadruped robot, which allows it to access hard-to-reach environments and perform remote inspection and manipulation tasks with a robotic arm and a haptic claw, to remotely feel what the system experiences as it interacts with its environment.
Fourth, the “conscious” factory model promotes a collaborative industrial ecosystem, where the creation of connected value chains fosters resilience and flexibility. In collaboration with Ibarmia, Nicolás Correa and Shuton, TECNALIA has developed a machine self-diagnosis system, to monitor the state of health of the machines, increase their availability and guarantee solid and stable operation.
About TECNALIA
TECNALIA is the largest applied research and technological development centre in Spain, a European benchmark and member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance. We work with companies and institutions to increase their competitiveness, quality of life of people and achieve sustainable growth. We do so thanks to people who are passionate about technology and committed to building a better society. Its main areas of action are: smart manufacturing, digital transformation, energy transition, sustainable mobility, health and food, urban ecosystem and circular economy.
In the latest brand awareness and positioning study carried out by the European Research Survey (ERS) in 2022, TECNALIA tops the list regarding R&D&I brand awareness.
