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It has long been known that many projects overlap and even duplicate work that results in wasted research dollars. Through the Manufacturing Technology Platform (MTP) Program program, projects with non-proprietary or non-competitive overlapping research could join to save their valuable research budget. A project could even join with a researcher or research institution. MTPs are knowledge sharing platforms for researcher groups that are already engaged in a specific R&D domain. A simple Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) starts the collaboration in the established platforms in sustainability, energy efficiency, key technologies, standards, and education.
The MTP initiative is a unique program that threads research and researchers together in a simple way to solve manufacturing challenges of today and the future. The program not only simplifies the process for organizing research under the IMS banner, but it also promotes a spark of new ideas through wider networks that are created.
MTPs are focused knowledge sharing platforms for researcher groups that are already engaged in a specific R&D domain. To reduce overlap and duplication in research that is conducted, an MTP initiative seeks cooperation to conduct joint research in projects that are already running. This ultimately saves resources for the “golden nuggets” of their research, and finds common solutions to manufacturing challenges in the process. Thus, the main deliverable of an MTP is research conducted through the joining of on-going projects eliminating duplicate work, or the stimulation of new collaborative research.
MTP’s also provide an opportunity for researchers to meet, exchange information, and generate new ideas for research. For example, recently three projects met in Lausanne, Switzerland for a workshop to discuss product life-cycle management with the use of product-embedded intelligent devices (PEID). After their discovery that synergies could be created, researchers from the international IMS project PROMISE project met with project researchers from the EU projects BRIDGE and DYNAMITE to discuss how they might link their research activities and results. IMS Chair Claudio Boer spoke to the workshop attendees and explained how their cooperative efforts fit the MTP initiative, and invited the group to present a proposal at the next MTP workshop. Other outcomes through this networking activity could be joint publications, as well as global-level recommendations on standards, skills, and policy.
FIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS
The established manufacturing technology platforms are focused in the areas of sustainability, energy efficiency, key technologies, standards, and education. IMS envisions that likely outcomes from this global program will be the stimulation of new collaborative R&D as well as creation of new networks and global-level recommendations on standards, skills, and policy.
Sustainability and Safety: Sustainable manufacturing is a platform for development of innovative manufacturing technologies that address world-wide resources shortages and excess environmental load to enable an environmentally benign life cycle. Measurement and assessment technologies and methodologies to ensure occupational safety including ergonomics, industrial disaster prevention and mitigation and in particular safety of nanomaterials and related manufacturing processes are also addressed in this platform
Energy Efficiency: Energy Efficient manufacturing is a platform for improving efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint in energy utilization for manufacturing and operational processes. The energy efficiency platform will result in reduced manufacturing costs and global warming impact.
Key Technologies: Key Technologies is a platform that includes those technologies that will yield a high impact on the next generation of manufacturing. These technologies include Model Based Enterprise, nanotechnology, smart materials and innovative process and production technologies.
Standards: Standards is a platform that will focus on manufacturing research issues that can benefit from standardization to create open manufacturing and product standards that are accessible to everyone and enhance innovation globally. IMS involvement in standards would also focus on key areas where the lack of standards is impeding progress in any of the other MTP areas.
Education: Education is a platform for educational programs designed for an information based knowledge worker environment that supports manufacturing in the future. Research listed under this platform will contribute to the development of a coherent vision of manufacturing education across the whole vocational and professional community.
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