- The Packaging Cluster has submitted five project proposals to the AEI in response to a call for assistance from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in 2021, established to improve the competitiveness of SMEs
- The proposals have an estimated budget of €1,000,000, involving 5 significant sectors and 20 key players in the innovative business manufacturing throughout Spain
- The aid programme stimulates the digital transformation of industry with €8,000,000 for disruptive projects that develop innovative activities.
AID PROGRAMME FOR INNOVATIVE BUSINESS CLUSTERS (IBC)
The deadline for submitting initiatives to the aid program for Innovative Business Groups (AEI) of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, which has a budget of €8,000,000 for projects that improve the competitiveness of SMEs by promoting Connected Industry 4.0, ended on 9 April. On this occasion, the Packaging Cluster has submitted 5 project proposals, with a budget of nearly €1,000,000 and a requested grant of more than €459,000, nearly 50% of the total.
In the development of the proposals, 20 key players among the most disruptive and innovative end of he spectrum have been involved, with 12 entities associated with the cluster and 5 sectors connectedto each other, based on the following areas of collaboration and research: food, wine, children, HORECA (hotels, restaurants and cafes) and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies):
- Smart & Sparkling. A project that aims to adapt the cava bottling process to the characteristics of Industry 4.0, with the Catalan wine cluster INNOVI and MASIA VALLFORMOSA, the capabilities of DIFMAQ machines and the adaptation of the TAI SMART FACTORY system. It will be determined how the machines should be prepared based on the different levels of action and according to the strategic needs of production and packaging companies.
- Multifunctional – Labels. Together with AREAS, INGO GROUP, the EURECAT technology centre and INÈDIT, the aim is to implement innovative labelling systems that favour efficiency in the value chain of the HORECA sector. The aim is to reduce waste in order to combat food waste and improve user experience in the purchasing process.
- Smart Scence. The project consortium – ABACUS, KID’S CLUSTER, SENITEL, the cooperative group TEB, CARINSA and the PACKAGING CLUSTER– aims to create a spray mask flavouring device to prevent the spread of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus. The main objective is to increase the success of the launch of flavored products by involving the entire value chain through digital tools that will help the connectivity of each link, from product design through smart manufacturing and distribution to end use.
- Triana 4.0. The partner companies IP TRIANA and TEPSIS joined forces to achieve advanced manufacturing of packaging equipment in real time, with the support of the Packaging Cluster. The initiative focuses on the collection of data – Big Data – in the production plant for the analysis of the parameters obtained and the improvement of performance, which will bring us closer to a much more flexible and adaptable system to changes – Smart Factory -.
CLOUD PLATFORM
Together with the INNOVI cluster, GRAMONA, BODEGAS SUMARROCA, 3D CLICKand GRÁFICAS VARIAS, we want to formulate an innovative business solutions, through a cloud platform, that will drive wine and sparkling wine cellars to a transformation of production and sales management with the digitalization of real catalogues of packaging suppliers for their simulation and personalization in 3D, integrating label and capsule printers in the process.
All these initiatives involve different 4.0 technologies for the improvement of the sector with, for example, dynamic bifunctional QR codes for the traceability of the entire production and supply chain, or with the printing of thermochromatic sensors for the analysis of the temperature of food products.
The cluster has proven experience in the ministry’s aid line since its first registration as an Innovative Business Grouping (AEI) in 2013, as we saw last year, when the entity won the second best project proposal with:
- SmartLabels, an inter-cluster and trans-regional collaboration for the creation of smart labels in the wine sector, enabling the provision of valuable information for the end customer and supply chain.
- Packvision was another of the 6 projects approved, which incorporates artificial vision technology together with robotic systems to quickly locate containers with any type of error in their printing or manufacture and discard them in time, avoiding excess production.
- IntelFoodPack is the feasibility study that assesses the insertion of a tracking system to detect new opportunities and threats in the agri-food and packaging sector, which is currently in the implementation phase.
THE SECOND PHASE OF THE PROGRAMME
In a few months, at the end of the year approximately, the second phase of the programme in support of the AEIs will begin, with an estimated budget of more than 20 million euros, more than double that of this time. A budget that is expected to be gradually augmented in line with the national strategy to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Packaging Cluster will inform its associates of this next call and future lines that can have a positive impact on the recovery of the economy and the development of research in our country, through the unprecedented platform “Next Generation Project Office“, which we will soon present for the first time.
