LIGTH2SUSTAINABLE - Competence Center for Pressing and Forming Technology

The overall goal of the proposed competence center is to ensure competence in Sweden to develop and produce sustainable lightweight solutions. This will maximize the degree of processing within the country instead of mainly exporting raw materials, which in turn creates greater growth for Swedish industry.

Purpose of the report

Technological development and globalization are constantly changing the conditions for industries worldwide. Recent developments in information and communication technologies have shortened geographical distances and opened up new markets, resulting in the breakdown of production processes into ever smaller components to exploit competitive advantages in different locations.

Production today and in the future will continue to take place within largely interconnected global value chains, resulting in fiercer global industrial competition. Swedish industries have so far fared well in the competition and to continue to be a global player in the future, Swedish industries need to further strengthen their competitiveness in innovative and resource-efficient production technologies and sustainable production. It is therefore strategic to further develop the LIGHTest testbed into a competence center that includes sustainability aspects for the entire product life cycle, from cradle to grave, and that networking also promotes resource-efficient and resilient value chains.

One tool to accelerate research and deepen collaboration in the value chain is the development of digitalized testbeds. Companies, in the form of management functions and research performers, should be able to participate in physical experiments remotely in real time with access to both visual information and process and material data.

Implementation

The overall objective of the proposed competence center is to ensure competence in Sweden to develop and produce sustainable lightweight solutions. This will maximize the degree of processing within the country instead of mainly exporting raw materials, which in turn creates greater growth for Swedish industry. As a step along the way, the competence center will lead to:

• Development of sustainable production by including the entire value chain
• Wide range of materials: metals, composites and polymers
• Ability to realize industry 4.0
• Digitized testbeds
• Increased networking and collaboration between R&D actors and testbeds