An independent report shows that SFI Manufacturing potentially can have an economic impact of >3 billion NOK per year in the Norwegian manufacturing industry.

SFI Manufacturing is a cross-disciplinary centre for research-based innovation for competitive high value manufacturing in Norway. The centre is hosted by SINTEF Manufacturing AS, it has 14 industry partners, and SINTEF and NTNU as research partner. An analysis of the independent advisory firm Impello Management AS shows that the centre potentially can have an economic impact of >3 billion NOK per year in the Norwegian manufacturing industry.

SFI Manufacturing has been awarded 30 IPN projects in the period of 2016-2019. The analysis of Impello Management AS is based on 15 of these projects started in 2018, and statements of the industry partners in relation to these projects. To realize the potential economic impact, significant investments from the industry will be required.

More potential impact
The analysis shows more potential economic impacts in addition to the 3 billion NOK as well: Reduced operating costs, increased profits and reduced investments. These impacts are based on 8 use cases linked to the 15 IPN projects. The use cases are subsequently linked to one or more of the centre's research areas: Multi-material products and processes, Flexible and robust automation, and Sustainable and innovative organizations.

Specifically, the 8 use cases are covering the fields of:

• New joining methods for high-performance aluminum-steel products
• Additive manufacturing of elastomer products
• Robust robotic motion planning for manufacturing
• Software architecture and tools for «batch size one» robotic assembly
• 3D vision: Deep learning for robotic grasping
• Benchmarking enterprise development maturity
• Modernization of vocational education and training
• Alignment of management tools

It is in these fields where the potential economic impact of SFI Manufacturing lies.

Key facts about SFI Manufacturing

• Centre for research-based innovation (2015-2022) hosted by SINTEF Manufacturing AS, which has its main basis at Raufoss Industry Park, Oppland.
• Industry partners: Benteler Automotive, Brødrene Aa, Ekornes, GKN Aerospace Norway, Hexagon Raufoss, HyBond, Hydro, Kongsberg Automotive, Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk, Nammo, Neuman Aluminium, Plasto, Rolls-Royce, Sandvik Teeness.
• Research partners: SINTEF, NTNU.
• Research areas: Multi-material products and processes, Flexible and robust automation, Sustainable and innovative organizations.
• Turnover: The budget for 2015-2022 is 202 MNOK. In addition, the centre has been awarded 30 IPN projects in the period of 2016-2019, with a total value of 850 MNOK.
• PhD, Postdoc and Masters (31.10.2019): PhD: 1 finished + 12 ongoing + 3 planned, Postdoc: 2 ongoing + 2 planned, Masters: 25 completed + 75 planned.
• Scientific publications (09.12.2019): >85

Contact person

• Sverre Gulbrandsen-Dahl, Centre Manager of SFI Manufacturing. Email: sverre.gulbrandsen-dahl@sintef.no, phone number: +47 916 01 205.
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Automated production line at Plasto AS, a leading company in the injection molding industry, and one of the industry partners of SFI Manufacturing. Photo: Plasto AS

​Flott artikkel i Gemini om hjemhenting av produksjon, med kommentar av Henrik Brynthe Lund, som er som stipendiat knyttet til SFI Manufacturing, og forsker på hva vareproduserende bedrifter i Norge gjør for å holde seg konkurransedyktige.

– Fortsatt er den globale trenden at vareproduksjon flyttes fra høykostland til lavkostland. Men vi har fått en del eksempler på hjemflytting, eller reshoring, som det kalles. Det begynner å bre seg en bevissthet blant norske bedriftsledere at det faktisk er mulig, sier Henrik.

I sin studie har Henrik tatt for seg ni bedrifter som har flyttet hjem produksjonen fra lavkostland i Øst-Europa og Østen. For flere av dem er automatisering og robotisering nøkkelen til hjemhenting. Da får man produsere med færre arbeidere, og spare inn på produksjonskostnadene. 

Les mer i artikkelen her
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​Two overall trends in society are digitalization and sustainability. Digitalization will influence the everyday life of employees and management in manufacturing companies: The interaction with technology, how and who are making decisions, the ability to simulate changes in production technology before physically implementing these changes, and a large amount of generated data will influence the development of new products and services. Similarly, business development in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will affect the entire organisation: Manufacturing processes, development of products and production technology, and co-creation with external bodies.

SFI Manufacturing's research area "Sustainable and Innovative Organisations" concerns the human and organisational aspects of advanced manufacturing companies. The overall objective is to develop knowledge and solutions for advanced work systems that can utilize new technology and flexible and automated processes to manufacture sustainable multi-material products.

The research area has defined two new work packages, "Future Manufacturing Organization models" and "Sustainable business model development". The research area is not only restructured, it also involves a few new people. Last Friday we invited all involved researchers and PhD students to a kick-off in Trondheim. The main topic of the workshop was to discuss the work plan for 2019: What are our objectives and milestones, how can we organize the work and activities, how can we strengthen the involvement of the industry partners, and how can we recruit master students to increase our resources base? The time was well spent, and people headed back home with new energy and enthusiasm!
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Kick-off new work packages. Foto: SFI Manufacturing

Den 20. og 21. november arrangerte Norsk Industri "Industri Futurum - Fremtiden produsert i Norge", et spennende arrangement om morgendagens industri. SFI Manufacturing presenterte blant annet resultater fra studiet Digital Maturity Mapping.

Senterleder Sverre Gulbrandsen-Dahl og forskere Kjersti Øverbø Schulte og Hans Torvatn presenterte de første resultatene fra Maturity Mappingen på Industri Futurum i forrige uke. Mappingen er en survey som kartlegger hvor modne produksjonsbedrifter er for å møte utfordringene og mulighetene fremover: konkurransedyktig produksjon i et høykostland, digitalisering og bærekraftig utvikling av samfunnet. Maturity Mappingen går dypere inn på disse temaene gjennom en spørreundersøkelse til medarbeidere i deltakerbedriftene til SFI Manufacturing. Undersøkelsen ble lansert i mai dette året, og gjentas annethvert år. Resultatene fra mappingen følges opp med workshops i hver enkelt bedrift.

Nedenfor et lite inntrykk fra arrangementet. I tillegg kan du se videoen fra SINTEF Raufoss Manufacturing/SFI Manufacturing her.

Hi, I am Marit and I started my PhD in August 2016. During my PhD, I will focus on life cycle assessments (LCA) as a management tool to facilitate the transition towards a green economy.

My background is a master's degree in nanotechnology with a specialization on materials, energy and industrial ecology. Before starting my PhD, I have been working in SINTEF Raufoss Manufacturing on several research projects concerning sustainability in the industry. My field of expertise is life cycle assessments (LCA) and environmental management. I am truly passionate about the environment and working towards a more sustainable industry really motivates me.

Sustainable development
I believe that new times will lead to new requirements for the companies to operate in a more sustainable manner.  Through the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, the United Nations has presented five key areas for a sustainable development: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. The plan of action proposed by the UN contains 17 sustainable development goals together with 169 targets. As global actors, several of the goals are relevant for the Norwegian manufacturing industry. Of particular relevance are the goal 9 and 13 that states the need to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, and to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Paris agreement
Through the Paris agreement, the Norwegian government has also committed to contribute to limiting the temperature increase to below 2 degrees, compared to preindustrial time. More specific, Norwegian government has stated a national goal of minimum 40% reduction in greenhouse gases emissions in 2030, compared to 1990 level. These reduction targets will surely affect the Norwegian manufacturing industry in the years to come.

The green shift
My idea is that LCA can be utilized to develop tools, preparing the Norwegian manufacturing industry for the green shift, integrating environmental management into core business activities. My aim is to provide some recommendations for the Norwegian manufacturing industry on how they can use LCA as a management tool to facilitate the transition towards a green economy.

First months of my PhD
My PhD is co-financed by SFI Manufacturing and another research project, SISVI (Sustainable innovation and shared value creation). I started in August, and the fall semester has been used to prepare and plan my work, taking courses and writing and presenting a conference paper on how product communication and digitalization and can be used to promote greener and more sustainable business development. Now I am really looking forward to start planning my case studies together with industry partners after Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
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Hi, my name is Henrik Brynthe Lund and I am the third PhD student that will be working with SFI Manufacturing. During my PhD, I will focus on industrial networks, learning systems and cluster development. 

I finished my combined geography and teacher master’s degree at the Department of Geography at NTNU in the spring of 2014. The topic of my master thesis was urban development and how economic and political processes’ influenced a property development project in my home town Moss, in Østfold county.

Just after finishing my master’s my daughter was born, and together with my fiancé I moved to Rindal, in Møre og Romsdal, to work as a teacher. After teaching a vast array of subjects, not one of them geography, in primary and lower secondary school for two years I applied for a PhD position at the Department of Geography in January 2016. I eventually got the position and started in mid-august.

Research area 3
The topic of my PhD thesis is industrial networks, learning systems, and cluster development. I am a part of the team working within the research area Innovative and sustainable organizations, where the Department of Geography is contributing to a work package titled Smart, dynamic and innovative cluster.
 
At the heart of innovation lies knowledge, which by many scholars has been deemed the most important factor in innovation. In the face of technological change within the manufacturing industry, e.g. adapting to Industry 4.0 and smart technology, firms are forced to improve their knowledge bases in all levels of manufacturing, from the floor up.

Industrial clusters
In my PhD project I will look at how the industrial clusters at Raufoss and Kongsberg plan to cope with the challenges posed by technological change, and how they work with actors on all levels, from local to global, to appropriate the knowledge needed in order to stay competitive and innovative.

​Initially I plan to study the future role of skilled, vocationally trained workers in the manufacturing industry, and how actors both inside and outside the clusters approach the issue of retraining skilled workers in order to meet new knowledge demands posed by emerging technology.  

First month as PhD candidate
The first month of my candidacy has been filled with new experiences and a steep learning curve. I have read a lot of literature within my field of interest, and the list of things that I do not know is getting longer and longer.
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I have been introduced to a lot of new people, both at the Department of Geography and SINTEF, all of whom have met with sincere interest for me as a person and for my project. I am really looking forward to the next three years as a PhD candidate and I cannot wait to get into the field and do some research.