Factories of the Future
‘Factories of the Future’ is the European Union's €1.15 billion public-private partnership (PPP) for advanced manufacturing research and innovation. It is the European Union's main programme for realising the next industrial revolution: materialising Factories 4.0.
Learn more about the Factories of the Future PPP:
The overall aim of the partnership is to enable a more sustainable and a more competitive European industry at the centre of Europe’s economy – generating growth and securing jobs. The partnership will achieve this by supporting European manufacturing enterprises in strengthening their technological base.
‘Factories of the Future’ is industry-led with participation by small, medium and large enterprises, universities, research organisations and associations from across Europe who cooperate in pre-competitive, cross-broader projects focusing on production technologies from multiple sectors.
The research and innovation priorities of the partnership are identified in the 'Factories of the Future 2020' roadmap. The priorities of the partnership are identified in the ‘Factories of the Future 2020’ roadmap which was developed by EFFRA after Europe-wide consultations.
Research call topics are announced annually by the European Commission. These topics are based upon expert input and public consultations undetaken by EFFRA.
In response to the call topics interested organisations form consortia and submit proposals which are then independently evaluated. Following evaluation, a project is assigned a percentage of funding from the European Union with the rest of the funding and resources coming from the members of the project consortium.
Since the launch of the partnership 208 projects have been launched with the participation of over 1,000 organisations from across Europe.
‘Factories of the Future’ is aimed at organisations active in production technologies research, development and innovation. Participation in ‘Factories of the Future’ is governed by the Horizon 2020 Rules for Participation.
Monitoring the progress of the PPP is one of EFFRA’s main responsibilities; every year EFFRA publishes a progress monitoring report. Click here to view the latest progress report.
Factories of the Future 2020 | Calls for Proposals | Factories of the Future EC Website