
The objective of MARKET4.0 is to define, develop and validate an open multi-sided marketplace, based on a trusted P2P data sharing infrastructure for Industry 4.0, that brings together Industrial Product Service Systems (IPSS) providers (supply side) and OEMs as their customers (demand side). It will allow direct interaction among the different sides to improve the sales power of production equipment SMEs. MARKET4.0 will offer advanced web-presence of production equipment SMEs extended by functionalities such as simulations, VR/AR capabilities and a P2P (Industrial Data Space) offering smart user-services and a secure API to try and test the Digital Twin of the production equipment, on top supplier and customer data. This will facilitate direct transactions between market peers (supplier-to-supplier, supplier-to-customer, customer-to-suppliers and more) during the entire B2B lifecycle, i.e. from equipment search to procurement and commissioning. MARKET4.0 will create trust in the business transactions between SME production equipment manufacturers and their customers, as an integral element of the Industrial Data Space (IDS) reference architecture. It includes technological trust (simulation before purchasing), financial trust (Blockchain distributed ledger technology for secure payment), delivery and (anonymized) feedback. In MARKET4.0 the supply side (mainly SMEs) may offer a) production equipment, b) services that extend the capabilities of the production equipment, c) production equipment as a service and d) collaborative engineering services. The marketplace will generate additional value by providing engineering services and acting as a mediator between suppliers and customers.
Europe is still lacking an efficient systemic multi-level approach that enables a recursive, cost-effective, holistic and integrated application of circular principles to the digital uplifting of factory 4.0 capital investments; addressing issues at product, process, system as well as the entire value-chain levels, integrating best practices from emerging enabling digital technologies and avoid a two speed digital transformation across industries in different sectors. LEVEL-UP will offer a scalable platform covering the overall lifecycle, ranging from the digital twins setup, modernisation actions to diagnose and predict the operation of physical assets, to the refurbishment and remanufacturing activities towards end of life. In-situ repair technologies and the redesign for new upgraded components will be facilitated through virtual simulations for increased performance and lifetime. LEVEL-UP will therefore comprise new hardware and software components interfaced with the current facilities through IoT and data-management platforms, while being orchestrated through eight (8) scalable strategies at component, work-station and shopfloor level. The actions for modernising, upgrading, refurbishing, remanufacturing, and recycling will be structured and formalised into ten (10) special Protocols, linked with an Industrial Digital Thread weaving a seamless digital integration with all actors in the value chain for improved future iterations. LEVEL-UP will be demonstrated in 7 demo sites from different sectors. The impact of LEVEL-UP to the European manufacturing industry, but also the society itself, can be sum-marised in the following (with a horizon of 4 years after project ends): (i) increase of the material and re-source efficiency by 11.5%, (ii) increased reliability by 16% of the equipment in an extended lifetime by 20%, (iii) over 50% increase of the Return on Investment (ROI), (iv) about 810 new jobs created and (v) over 80M EUR ROI for the consortium.