INESC TEC develops tools to improve design, management, evaluation and reconfiguration processes in factories.

To survive in a competitive market, manufacturers must increase their level of flexibility and respond effectively to market demands. That way, they will be able to increase their level of productivity and product quality by improving and integrating the various activities of manufacturing units.

INESC TEC was involved in a European project (VFF - Virtual Factory Framework) where the goal was to develop tools to improve design, management evaluation and reconfiguration processes in factories.

The VFF proposed solutions for highly complex tasks, increasing scalability, security, efficiency, durability, and allowing for cost reduction. The ultimate goal of the project was to enhance the future of European industry by providing tools to simulate the complex and dynamic behaviour of a factory throughout its life cycle, defining the next generation of Virtual Factories.

The VFF supports the use of Virtual Factories of the next generation by promoting the competitiveness of European manufacturing. The project managed to reduce production times and costs, and to improve the quality of products and processes. At the same time, it was possible to improve performance, standardise processes and reduce implementation costs.

The project had 28 partners, which included INESC TEC, Volkswagen AutoEuropa and ATEC in Portugal, while abroad the partners included ITIA (project coordinator), Fraunhofer, HOMAG, ETHZ, the M&L Group, RWTH-WZL, among others.

Contacts: Américo Azevedo