Abstract:

The globalization of the production systems will result in Europe losing its know-how in production technologies. However, high quality & low cost products, accommodating sustainable development and the need for shorter lead times can only be obtained by integrating the production phase into the design stage. It has also been requested to integrate new production technologies in order to design innovative products. This can be achieved by implementing a virtual production system.

Through the VRL-KciP network of excellence, Europe will be able to federate many research teams in the field of design, production and innovation and thus preserve the common inheritance of manufacturing processes while carrying out a collaborative system of design integrating a module of virtual production.

20 research units, gathering 200 researchers, have decided to work together in order to provide a strong integration of their teams and thus break the fragmentation of European research in this area and work more efficiently. A new organization of the research system must lead to a clearer view of the research orientations, research quality improvement by making the most of complementarities, avoiding duplication, and finally to a better impact on our industry for the welfare of our society

Key words:

Virtual Research Lab; Knowledge Community; Network of Excellence; Innovation; Production.