Experimental facilities may provide significant support to European manufacturers, technology providers and end-users enabling the experimentation and testing of innovative Zero-Defect-Manufacturing (ZDM) technologies.
QU4LITY aims at establishing a trusted network of Technological and Experimental Facilities (TEFs), on top of the world-class facilities connected with the project partners, which will provide testbeds based on the standard reference architecture of the project. This ecosystem will allow the QU4LITY stakeholders to test innovative technologies ensuring compliance with the industry requirements.
In this view, a Service Portfolio Analysis has been implemented to identify a standard mapping of TEF’s services. Indeed, the Service Portfolio and Customer Journey methodology has been demonstrated to facilitate and improve the collaboration among different entities by sharing the provided services based on a common framework and clearly identifying the target customers and possible critical blocking points.
The QU4LITY framework, and, namely, the need for TEF’s services mapping, boosted the exploitation of the service portfolio implemented in the MIDIH project, extending its application from DIH services to TEF services. The MIDIH Service Portfolio is an extension of the DIH.NET classification of services based on Ecosystem, Business, Technological services. This categorization has been extended in the context of the MIDIH project, including Data and Skills services, resulting in the D BEST methodology. The developed portfolios provide the basis to implement the Customer Journey, identifying possible paths to be followed based on the specific customer (e.g., end-users or technology providers) and needs. This methodology will allow the TEFs to identify critical blocking points and potential improvements to ensure successful service delivery.
Intellimech has joined the TEFs network through its own showroom, the SmartLab. SmartLab is located at the Polo per l’Innovazione Tecnologica (POINT) at Dalmine (BG, Italy) and was born as a territorial initiative for the enhancement of prototypes and demonstrators. Within the area, some relevant Intellimech research experiences are available for touch-with-hand innovation and to make experimentations of potential services. More specifically, SmartLab is a demonstrative laboratory where different machines of consortium’s companies are connected, following principles of Industry 4.0 paradigm. The SmartLab is divided into two main areas: the “software room”, where researchers can develop software or use them for simulation and testing, and the showroom, where some of the demonstrators developed in the last years are shown. In particular, the SmartLab provides the following technical enabler to other partners:

• Production lines
– a demo assembly line that can be integrated with additional sensors to develop ZDM systems aimed at improving the quality of the process and the quality of production;

• Infrastructure for data collection and analysis
– a Manipulator equipped with a system that enables synchronization between the parameters of the machine with a footage of a man at work. Process parameters can be collected and analyzed to develop diagnostic feature;

• Instrumented Equipment
– a circuit breaker for diagnostics sensorized with a MEMS accelerometer that can be integrated with additional sensors such as current transducers and encoders;
– a vending machine sensorized with three thermocouples, which enable the derivation of the thermal dispersion model;

The Service Portfolio and Customer Journey methodology enabled the matchmaking with the requirements of the experimenters, such as the open call winners. In this way, it will be possible to define the TEF suitable services to support the community. Finally, the establishment of the QU4LITY network allows the integration of the TEF services provisioning, addressing blocking points that may arise.