AFAG AUTOMATION AG

Their core work

AFAG AUTOMATION AG is a Swiss industrial automation company that designs and manufactures modular automation components for assembly and production systems. Their EU research participation shows they contribute real hardware and embedded control expertise — not just conceptual input — to projects building smart, reconfigurable manufacturing systems. In openMOS, they worked on plug-and-produce automation components that can self-configure within dynamic manufacturing environments. In 1-SWARM, they applied that foundation toward swarm-based orchestration of cyber-physical systems of systems, incorporating AI and fog computing into industrial control architectures.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first project (openMOS, 2015–2019), AFAG focused on the machine level: plug-and-produce components, embedded control, industrial agent technology, and IoT connectivity within a single factory floor. By 1-SWARM (2020–2023), the scope expanded significantly — from individual smart components to systems-of-systems, with swarm intelligence, fog computing, and AI-driven orchestration entering their vocabulary. The shift is from making smart automation hardware to making that hardware operate intelligently within large, distributed, heterogeneous production environments.

AFAG is moving from supplying intelligent automation components toward enabling fleet-scale coordination of cyber-physical systems — a trajectory toward platforms and middleware rather than standalone hardware.

How they like to work

AFAG has never led an EU project — they enter as a specialist partner contributing specific automation hardware and embedded control expertise to consortia where others manage coordination. Both of their projects involved large international consortia (31 unique partners across 8 countries in just 2 projects), suggesting they are comfortable operating in complex multi-partner environments. This profile indicates they are best approached as a technical contributor who brings industrial reality to research projects, rather than a partner who will drive project management.

Despite only two projects, AFAG has built a network of 31 unique consortium partners across 8 countries, suggesting they joined well-connected large-scale RIA and IA consortia. Their collaboration geography is European, consistent with their Swiss base and H2020 participation rules.

What sets them apart

AFAG sits at a rare intersection: a non-academic, industrial hardware manufacturer that participates in fundamental research on manufacturing intelligence — they bring physical automation products into research environments where most partners are universities or software companies. This means their research contributions are grounded in real production constraints, making them valuable to any consortium that needs to validate ideas on actual industrial equipment. For a consortium builder, AFAG provides both technical credibility and an industry end-user perspective without requiring a separate industrial advisory board.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 1-SWARM
  AFAG's most recent and only funded project (EUR 335,625), tackling the frontier problem of coordinating large-scale cyber-physical systems of systems using swarm intelligence and IEC61499 — a significant conceptual leap from component-level automation.
• openMOS
  Their entry into EU research, addressing modular plug-and-produce manufacturing — directly aligned with AFAG's core product domain and establishing their credentials in Industry 4.0 system architectures.