Strategic Community “Secure and Sustainable Food Manufacturing”
Lombardy consistently ranks among the top European regions in terms of number of companies and employees in the food and beverage sector. However, at a regional level, there is limited adoption of technologies and production models in the sector, a low propensity to introduce new technologies, and a low level of automation.
At the same time, the regional ecosystem includes centres of excellence in both technology and food production. For this reason, opportunities for cross-fertilization between the two domains, with the aim of conceiving and implementing solutions that meet the specific characteristics and needs of Lombardy’s manufacturing companies, have great potential. Furthermore, bringing value chains to the forefront and making them more competitive through technological improvements means fostering and creating tools for dialogue between companies and organizations, in order to promote the cross-sector growth of the entire ecosystem.
In this context, the Strategic Community “Secure and Sustainable Food Manufacturing” aims to facilitate collaboration between food processing companies and technology providers, with the goal of increasing the safety and sustainability of this sector in Lombardy and making it even more competitive.
The theme of digitalization is addressed not as an end in itself, but as a means to enable companies to use and derive real benefits from new technologies. The speed and immaterial nature of communication within the production chain indeed fosters the creation of an integrated digital supply chain.
KEY TOPICS OF THE STRATEGIC COMMUNITY
The Strategic Community has identified several areas for in-depth analysis, linked to the concrete needs of production and logistics in the food processing sector:
- widespread introduction of automation, sensing, control, and remote maintenance elements through digitalization and robotics;
- technological redesign of robotic and automation solutions in the form of modular, integrable, and scalable elements;
- design and production following demanufacturing and remanufacturing principles;
- reconfiguration and functional upgrading of machinery and systems (revamping/retrofitting);
- evolution of technologies for monitoring and controlling information along the supply chain;
- economic and financial models for the servitization of robotic, digital, and automated solutions.
THE ACTIVITIES OF THE STRATEGIC COMMUNITY
Established in 2020, the Strategic Community, coordinated by Tecnoalimenti and Politecnico di Milano, regularly organizes in-person meetings, visits, and missions abroad (for example, within the framework of the GREENSMARTMED project), with the aim of fostering networking at both regional and European levels and discussing potential collaboration opportunities, including by exploring available funding calls.
In this context, in the first half of 2023, through the efforts of AFIL and the two coordinators of the Strategic Community, a broad process of aggregating regional stakeholders, including those outside the Cluster, was completed thanks to the opportunity created by Lombardy Region’s interest in mapping value chains. The activities and objectives outlined therein form the basis for subsequent reflections by the members of the working group, which focused on identifying funding opportunities through regional, national, and European calls, with dedicated in-depth analyses.
THE LOMBARDY REGION VALUE CHAIN
In response to the Call for Expressions of Interest for Value Chains promoted by Lombardy Region, the Strategic Community “Secure and Sustainable Food Manufacturing” developed the “Secure and Sustainable Agri-food Value Chain (FISICO)” project, approved and recognized by Lombardy Region through Decree of the Directorate-General for Economic Development No. 11688 of August 2, 2023. The value chain, coordinated by Tecnoalimenti, has the main objective of integrating automation, digitalization, and robotics elements alongside human operations, in order to improve both production and environmental performance.
CONTACTS
Samuel Nazzareno Monaco – samuel.monaco@afil.it