A Competence Centre in a 4.0 Perspective

CIM4.0 (Competence Industry Manufacturing 4.0) recently presented the results of its first year of activity and future initiatives. The aim is to support the technological maturity of processes in an Industry 4.0 perspective, with a focus on SMEs

by Ginevra Leonardi

On the occasion of the last edition of the A&T trade show in February, CIM4.0 presented the first results obtained less than a year after the beginning of activities in favour of companies and start-ups, providing a preview of the new initiatives. We are talking about the Competence Industry Manufacturing 4.0 Centre, established by Turin’s Polytechnic and University together with 23 industrial partners.
The organization acts as a strategic and operational support for manufacturing companies oriented towards the digitization of industrial processes in the perspective of Industry 4.0 (from design to production to supply chain, from security to blockchains). CIM4.0 intends contributing, at local and national level, to accelerate this transformation process, with particular attention to SMEs, even by means of training actions and experiences on the field.

The concept of pilot lines and immersive augmented reality
During the Turin event, inside a digitalized exhibition space, it was possible to see live, thanks to the help of virtual reality, the pilot lines dedicated to additive manufacturing and technologies for the digital factory, which will be operational in the coming months at the Turin Polytechnic in Mirafiori. The task of CIM4.0, through the activation of pilot lines or manufacturing demonstration lines, is to support the technological development of innovative processes and products, providing companies with a structure able to simplify and make more competitive the approach to new markets. During A&T, the 18 winning companies of the Competition – Technological Development Projects – Industry 4.0 – which involved micro, small and medium enterprises and start-ups from Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Marche, Piedmont and Apulia were announced. Besides, the CIM offers timely answers with a high experience content through its Learning Hub, the permanent training centre designed for the transfer of vertical skills for the digitization of industrial and enterprise processes. With over seventy training proposals readily available, including basic and advanced courses, it involves the consortium members through senior specialists, technical fellows, senior technical fellows and university professors, to create laboratory training modules.
On March 2nd a second competition was published for the selection of Industry 4.0 Applied Research Projects involving large companies, SMEs and start-ups on industrial research and experimental development projects with a total additional contribution of 3 million euro.

Enabling technologies of pilot lines
The enabling technologies made available to the pilot lines are: additive manufacturing metallic (AM) and laser-based manufacturing; Smart grid, smart meters and energy efficiency improvement; Industrial IoT, hardware-software platforms, sensors, cloud and connectivity; artificial intelligence, data analytics and cyber-security. The areas on which the Competence centre’s activities will focus are: solutions for Industry 4.0 manufacturing and advanced processes, automotive and aerospace.