Brainport Industries Campus Improved with Fieldlab Flexible Manufacturing

“The arrival of this fieldlab embodies exactly what the campus stands for,” says Ferdinand Gremmen of SDK Vastgoed, on behalf of VOF BIC. “Working together on a better and even more efficient manufacturing industry in the Netherlands.”

The fieldlab Flexible Manufacturing is an innovation programme of Brainport Industries in which knowledge institutes Fontys, TU/e, Avans and TNO work together with fourteen companies to further develop flexible and fully automated production in small series, using robots. “Fast changeover times and low changeover costs are important here,” says John Blankendaal, Managing Director of Brainport Industries. “The fieldlab is an incubator that provides experimentation and development space so that new production technology can be developed for the fourth industrial revolution.”

Twentieth tenant

The fieldlab Flexible Manufacturing is the twentieth tenant at Brainport Industries Campus and will be located on a space of 400 square metres in the Atrium for ten years. The fieldlab has a fixed occupancy of three persons, but it is expected that some 10-15 persons of the different partners will be on-site regularly. There will be test set-up with production lines and robots. The participating companies in the fieldlab are: Bosch Rexroth, Bronkhorst High Tech, De Cromvoirtse, Neways, Smart Robotics, Omron, Vincitech, Yaskawa, Accerion, Assemblage company Perfect, Total Productivity, ICT Group KMWE and Festo. All under the name Brainport Industries.

Bringing together

The fieldlab started in 2016. Until now, all activities take place throughout the country, especially at the participating knowledge institutes and companies. “All knowledge and skills now come together in Brabant,” says deputy Bert Pauli of the Province of Noord-Brabant. The province supports seven innovation projects on Brainport Industries Campus, including fieldlab Flexible Manufacturing. “Participating parties can work together even more efficiently and achieve results faster. Projects such as fieldlab Flexible Manufacturing increase the competitiveness of the sector and enable Brainport to remain a global player in industrial innovation in the future.”