MADE - Competence Center

Overview

MADE is an initiative promoted by the Industry 4.0 National Plan, and its model is a public-private partnership. It is a non-profit consortium and a technical partner of SMEs that works as a pan European Digital Innovation Hubs. Its peculiar methodology is to foster the company competitiveness concerning their business/production processes, products or services using digital technologies by providing its technology infrastructure and by enabling access to the latest knowledge, expertise and technology to support their customers with piloting, testing and experimenting with digital innovations.

It helps companies to become more competitive concerning their business/production processes, products or services using digital technologies. They are based upon technology infrastructure (Competence Centre - CC) and provide access to the latest knowledge, expertise and technology to support their customers with piloting, testing and experimenting with digital innovations

In particular, MADE can be considered the step further in the process of digital maturity evaluation started by Confindustria’s DIH. The first stage is to stimulate the demand for innovation, to strengthen SMEs’ knowledge and awareness about Industry 4.0 opportunities. Besides, with the support of partnering national universities and sector-leading firms, MADE provides training on new manufacturing technologies, testbeds implementation, a teaching/learning factory model based on the features of I4.0, and advisory services to assist SMEs on technology transfer.

MADE can act as an innovation center, supporting the enterprises in understanding how state-of-the-art technologies can improve their competitiveness. The “experiential learning” methodology, where instructional theory and foundations deliver across a technology-enabled environment with a teaching/learning approach, is actively implemented.

In MADE, every worker has the opportunity to experiment with physical equipment within real industrial premises. Its 13 ‘technological islands’ encompass all the topics of the manufacturing plant. For instance, users can test the design of a product using augmented reality, predict plant failures with predictive maintenance policies, monitor machine performance while measuring energy consumption, or how to use big data to optimize factory behaviour.

MADE provides activities in three macro-areas:

Business orientation, with a series of tools, evaluations and analysis to support companies in the assessment of their digital and technological maturity level.
Training, through a Teaching/Learning Factory paradigm aimed at developing knowledge, skills and competencies, as requested by real business needs.
Deployment of innovation projects, industrial research, experimental development and technology transfer services in Industry 4.0.

In conclusion, firstly, MADE provides a set of knowledge, methods, technical and managerial skills on digital technologies to support companies in their digital transformation towards Industry 4.0. On the other side, thanks to the large demo-center of over 2000 sqm, it provides an I4.0 – pilot-based production facility for the initial test, demonstration and project development. Therefore, MADE offers space for co-working, meetings, training, advisory activities, research and innovation projects related to the topic of digital manufacturing topic. In a unique solution, it supports SMEs’ digital transformation.

In April 2020, meaning to participate in the EDIH initiative, the Italian Ministry of Economic Development assigned the consortium’s leadership to the competence centers.
Digital technologies.