Pilots

Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing (ESM)

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
Pilot Contacts
Elena Mossali

Lombardy region, primary contact person

Paolo Vercesi

Lombardy region, secondary contact person

Joan Guasch

Catalonia region, secondary contact person

Participating Regions
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Baden - Württemberg
Basque Country
East and North Finland
East Netherlands
Emilia-Romagna
Flanders
Friuli Venezia Giulia
Lower Saxony
Navarra
Norte
Pays de la Loire
Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Scotland
Slovenia
South-Netherlands
Tampere Region
Upper Austria (Oberösterreich)
Wales
Wallonia
View More

Demo Cases

welder, welding, industry
ESM Smart Plastics Hub selected for support by the TAF program of S3 platform

Within the demo-case “Polymers based functional products” of ESM p

Vanguard Initiative Regional Conference: New growth of industrial regions through Smart Specialization

The Vanguard Initiative Regional Conference New growth of industrial regions through Smart Specialization

stock, trading, monitor
First results of the activities towards a funding and financing roadmap for Vanguard Initiative's Pilots

Following the decision to anchor the analysis of the regional funding and financing (F&F) opportunities to the concrete needs of the Vanguard Initiative's Pilots, a process was launched to coll

artificial intelligence, brain, think
New EU-project launched within ESM Pilot

The digital transformation demo-case of the Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing (ESM) Pilot has successfully launched the project AI REGIO, funded by Horizon 2020. 

sparks, grind, metal
ESM Pilot invites you to its Plenary meeeting on 16 December

The Efficient and Sustainable Manufacturing (ESM) Pilot will organise an online plenary meeting on 16 December 16th to share the progresses of the pilots' four demo-cases; De- and Remanufacturing,

Updates from the Bioeconomy Pilot: new demo-case and contributions to the Green Deal

The latest updates from the Vanguard Initiative's Bioeconomy Pilot includes the launch of a new demo-case on biopolymers production.

Annual Report 2021: ESM

The report is available here.

Pilot Action plan 2021: ESM

In 2021, ESM activities will be managed in continuity with the previous years, focusing specifically on the development of demo-case projects and on the consolidation of use-cases enlarging the ind

Pilot Action plan 2020: ESM

This Annual plan is the main reference that will guide the ESM Pilot activities during 2020.

Pilot annual report 2020: ESM

In 2020, the activities of the pilot will be managed in continuity with the previous years, focusing on the development of demo-case projects and on the consolidation of use-cases enlarging the ind

ESM Flyer

The ESM Pilot aims at the realisation of an integrated network of European pilot plants and demo-sites supporting the uptake of advantaged technologies boosting manufacturing efficiency and sustain

Digital Transformation Demo-Case Mid Term Event

Vanguard ESM pilot and Digital Transformation demo-case coordinators organized the 2021 Mid Term event.

The event was an opportunity to share demo-case progresses and future activities, through the presentation of AI REGIO project updates and related Open calls, which recently opened.
Moreover, with the aim to strengthen and further expand Digital Transformation network, the demo-case coordinators have launched an expression of interest for new experiments: you can find the template attached.

 

The presentations and the link for the recorded session are available here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s2toxaojk5ruiqs/AADA8sUT19dMdSyCipNel-0-a?dl=0

ESM Pilot presentation - summary 2021

This document outlines the work plan for 2021.