Economic and Technological Intelligence to support the European Plastic Processing Supply Chain

1. Economic and Technological Intelligence to support the European Plastic Processing Supply Chain ETIPlast preliminary draft ETI Workshop - Brussels 10 March 2003

2. Summary ETIPlast is an initiative within the Economic & Technological Intelligence programme to promote the use of FP6 instruments fitting the new economical and technological necessities and opportunities of the SMEs in the European Plastic Processing Supply Chain (PPSC). The project will address the problem that the PPSC in Europe is fragmented, with many small companies competing with each other in local markets. There is also a strong need to upgrade European SMEs technological awareness in fields were the gap in front of Asian and American industry is getting wider. To remain competitive, SMEs of the European PPSC increasingly need to innovate, co-operate and internationalise. Over 40,000 SMEs in the PPSC have to face many specific problems such as: lack of information concerning new technologies, inexperience in collaborating with technological centres or universities and unawareness of the European, national and regional aids supporting R&D and technology transfer. The FP6 can provide an ideal mechanism for realising these goals on a European scale. However, SMEs face difficulties to participate, especially when they are subcontractors integrated in a supply chain stressed by the forces of big companies. ETIPlast

3. Constraints big companies automotive electronics construction packaging ··· small and fragmented companies big companies plastics manufacturers machinery manufacturers ··· PART PROCESS Clearly, SMEs are the weakest link (in the purest Theory Of Constraints) of the plastics industry. TOOL FP6 instruments big companies metal manufacturers machinery manufacturers software developers (CAD, CAM, CAE...) ··· ETIPlast ETIPlast

4. Nature of the consortium A consortium of IAGs and RTD performers from 6 European countries will collaborate to determine and co-ordinate the business & technological needs for future prosperity and to encourage and facilitate the preparation of proposals for FP6-funded RTD projects. a “lost link” between public research, SMEs and FP6 PROBLEM HOLDERS PROBLEM SOLVERS ETIPlast well positioned for detecting, capturing, modelling... most of the problems and improvement opportunities of a big amount/variety of SMEs. well positioned for monitoring the RTD capabilities addressing the problems to the right solvers, using the correct FP6 instrument. ETIPlast

5. Actions planned • Implementation of modern and proven “innovation diagnostic for SMEs”. • Dissemination action aimed at stimulating SMEs in the PPSC to submit proposals under FP6 (the ultimate objective is to submit a suitable number of proposals focused on the key business and technological issues). • Benchmarking process will be performed to define a system of good practices in SMEsand encouraging the creation and implementation of new quality standards. • Pilot actions involving selected groups of companies. • Transnational seminars for exchange of experiences and preparation of joint projects. • Update past world-wide surveys on technologies and markets. • Overall state-of-the-art of the new technology offer, and analysis of the market demand, both present and trends. • Establishing and coordinating a European network of experts with experience in the RTD for plastic processing field. Knowledge engineering tools will be used to assist the network (knowledge social networks, information agents, etc.). • ... ETIPlast

6. Remarks on needs • The NEEDS of SMEs come from (holistic) constraints: • Market pressure (minimum time-to-market, maximum quality, minimum costs...) • Technology (availability of the best and up-to-date knowledge and infrastructure, tailored non-standard solutions...) • Socio-cultural (confidence and trust in the new technologies and business models...) • Public policies ... • Some years ago, all these factors were opportunities for our small companies but now they are necessities for surviving. ETIPlast

7. 3 Evidences • An evidence in our sector: SMEs are not taking advantage of new economical and technological opportunities as the rest of the big companies in the supply chain are. • EU and FP6 in particular ought to strengthen this weakest link of such a supply chain of a very relevant weight in the European economy. • National programs must also dedicate more efforts to pave the way to the breakthrough and the ambitious economical and technological long-term goals of FP6. ETIPlast

8. ROADMAP ETIPLAST final OUTPUT: Submitting proposals within FP6 (IST, NEW PRODUCTION PROCESSES AND DEVICES, SPECIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES FOR SMEs...) with the participation of SMEs/SME Groupings from PPSC and contributing to the following proposed roadmap: • Foster knowledge-based and collaborative web-based solutions. • Retooling the tool-shop to continue to be competitive in the next decade and to be more environmentally friendly. • Reengineering of processes to migrate from tool-shop oriented SMEs to modern enterprise paradigms. • Creation of a solid scientific base for optimising life-cycle drivers. • Pave the way to the transition from resource-based towards knowledge-based. • Rational introduction of Intelligent Manufacturing and e-Value Chain Management. • Automated and e-allianced SMEs, perfectly integrated in the supply chain and participating in equal opportunities. short-term long-term ETIPlast

9. CONTACTS THANKS ! Albert Riera – Business Development Director ariera@ascamm.es Ricard Jimenez – Manager - Sectorial Solutions rjimenez@ascamm.es ETIPlast