Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing
About the Pilot
The Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing (ESM) Pilot, launched in 2014, is an initiative that aims to foster the development of a robust European network of pilot plants. The primary objective of this initiative is to elevate the efficiency and sustainability of production processes in various aspects such as materials, enabling technologies, methods, processes, and standards. Led by Lombardia, Catalunya and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the ESM pilot brings together 119 stakeholders and 23 regions.
The ESM Pilot pioneers a groundbreaking network of plants and infrastructure that goes beyond current capabilities. Its complexity and high innovation level cater to industrial applications that demand cutting-edge solutions. By providing companies with a testing ground for innovative ideas, the ESM Pilot allows them to validate concepts before committing to full-scale industrial implementation.
Activities & Long Term Goals
Aligning Industry and Regional Authorities: Bridging Dual Needs for Sustainable Manufacturing.
The ESM Pilot embraces a collaborative approach, collecting insights, needs and challenges from both industry and regional authorities. This dual perspective forms the foundation of our Pilot. We recognise the critical importance of political commitment at all levels, as it ensures that our actions and initiatives are fully supported and promoted by the relevant authorities. This commitment provides the necessary resources, regulations, and policies to enable the success of the pilot.
Moreover, the ESM Pilot thrives on a vibrant network of players. We welcome the active participation of all industrial stakeholders, clusters, research institutions, universities, and other relevant organisations. Their collective expertise and resources contribute to identifying the challenges, needs and priorities of sustainable and efficient manufacturing. Together, we transform these insights into concrete demonstration projects accompanied by business plans as well as potential funding and financing opportunities
Forging a sustainable industrialisation path: preserving our planet’s future.
The ESM Pilot excels in three critical areas, driving manufacturing excellence:
– Efficiency: Empowering companies to boost throughput, quality, and productivity. We optimise manufacturing processes, technologies, and products, while reducing costs.
– Sustainability: Championing manufacturing sustainability, we reduce emissions, waste generation, and resource consumption throughout the production lifecycle.
– Inclusion: We prioritise well-being, safety, and foster inclusive factory environments. Our approach considers human factors in designing manufacturing processes and technologies.
Co-Leading Regions
Catalunya
Lombardia
Participating Regions
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Baden – Württemberg
East and North Finland
East Netherlands
Emilia-Romagna
Flanders
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Navarre
Norte
Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Scotland
Slovenia
South-Netherlands
Tampere Region
Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)
Wales
Wallonia
Pilot Contacts
Elena Mossali
Lombardy region, primary contact person
Paolo Vercesi
Lombardy region, secondary contact person
Joan Guasch
Catalonia region, secondary contact person
Demo Cases
Latest Updates
Integrated Eu Industrial Innovation Policy Based Interconnected Regional Ecosystems
In its recently published Policy Position Paper, the Vanguard Initiative (VI) calls for an integrated EU industrial & innovation policy based on interconnected regional ecosystems. The network is advocating for a new industrial & innovation policy toolbox addressing industrial competitiveness challe…
Delegation Dutch Ministry Economic Affairs Visits East Netherlands Insights I3 Program
On February 14th, representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) and Foreign Affairs paid a working visit to the East Netherlands region. The purpose of this visit was the new Interregional Innovation Investment (I3) program, a European program that has already enabled four pr…
Smart Health Rich Online Plenary Meeting Fruitful Year 2024 Field Personalised Medicine
On 5 February, the first 2024 online plenary meeting of the Smart Health Pilot was held and aimed at setting the basis for the annual activities to be carried out to support the pilot’s long-term objective : Accelerating the implementation of Personalised Medicine across Europe.For 2024, the Smart H…
Vi Launches Its Innovative Interregional Funding Mechanism Vinnovate
On 5 December, 16 Vanguard regionssigned a letter of Intent at the Official Launch Ceremony of VInnovate, marking their commitment to participate in its pilot call to be launched in 2024.This novel interregional funding instrument is aimed at enabling the funding of interregional projects in the con…
Vanguard Initiative Celebrates Its 10 Year Anniversary Leading Example Take European Regional
On 5 December, the Vanguard Initiative (VI) organised a 10-year Anniversary conference in Brussels to celebrate a decade of fostering innovation, collaboration, and industrial growth across Europe. The event served as a platform to share VI’s insights on its achievements and milestones. It reached g…
Vanguard Initiative Smart Health Pilot Meeting Bologna Event Showcase Power Collaboration
The VI Smart Health pilot event 2023 was held in an incubator managed by ART-ER (a territorial and innovation agency that coordinates the work of several incubators and provides training and networking services to regional SMEs) in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, on 18 and 19 October 2023.This event, co-or…
Paolo Vercesi
Catalonia region, secondary contact person joan.guasch@eurecat.org
Paolo Vercesi
Lombardy region, secondary contact person paolo.vercesi@afil.it
Elena Mossali
Lombardy region, primary contact person elena.mossali@afil.it
Demo Cases
Leading regions
Leading regions
Saxony – Navarre – Baden – Württemberg – Slovenia
Pilot
Demo Cases
The demo case Digital Transformation aims to support the development of Pilot lines of CPS-oriented flexible and agile assembly / manufacturing systems connected to digital and virtual factories, implementing advanced applications typical of Industry 4.0, such as predictive maintenance, augmented reality workspaces and energy consumption optimisation. A network of regional competence centers in CPS / IOT technologies meet here needs and requirements of innovation plants at EU scale, by providing advanced services through a common Innovation and Collaboration platform. Digital Transformation demo case will contribute to support companies (specifically SMEs) in scouting, experimenting and evaluating vendor-independent technological solutions for the optimization of their assembly / manufacturing processes by the execution of use cases in a pan-EU network of experimental facilities.
Leading regions
Lombardia – South-Netherlands – Tampere Region
Leading regions
Catalunya – Norte – Saxony – Baden – Württemberg – Basque Country – Emilia-Romagna – Friuli – Venezia Giulia – East Netherlands – Slovenia – Navarre
Pilot
Demo Cases
This demo-case is focusing on advanced sustainable surface treatments and material technologies for functional polymer components in various applications. It is aimed at deployment and integration of Networked Pilot lines and plants with processing and characterization capabilities for Sustainable polymer advanced surfaces manufacturing at large industrial scale, where to collaborate, validate and up-scale efficient, sustainable and economically competitive products and processes, are the objective of this pilot concept towards high TRL opportunities .
Leading regions
Leading regions
Navarre – Baden – Württemberg – Slovenia – East Netherlands – Norte
Pilot
Demo Cases
Objective: Integrate a multidisciplinary set of advanced and innovative enabling technologies and digital innovations in the field De-and Remanufacturing (TRL 7-8)
Exploit the regional Smart Specializations in synergic way to offer services to European end-users, mainly manufacturing companies, to solve specific sustainability-oriented problems related to their products






