GORENJE ORODJARNA DOO VELENJE PARTIZANSKA 12

Their core work

Gorenje Orodjarna is an industrial tooling and precision manufacturing company based in Velenje, Slovenia, operating in the broader Gorenje industrial ecosystem. In EU research, they contribute as an end-user and industrial validation partner — providing a real production environment where new technologies are tested under actual manufacturing conditions, not just in labs. Their participation spans two concurrent tracks: advanced metal additive manufacturing for large-scale structures using Wire+Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), and the digitalization of factory operations through IoT, digital twins, and energy intelligence platforms. They represent the type of industrial partner that research consortia need to demonstrate real-world relevance and achieve Innovation Action objectives.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects launched simultaneously in 2020 and run through 2024, so the keyword split does not represent a chronological shift — it reflects two concurrent workstreams pursued in parallel. In one track they are working at the frontier of metal additive manufacturing: WAAM, large-scale functionally graded structures, and in-line non-destructive evaluation. In the parallel track they are digitizing the factory floor: digital twins, IoT, energy modelling, LCA, and digital skills development. The overall picture is of an industrial company accelerating on two fronts simultaneously — pushing into advanced manufacturing processes while also building the digital intelligence layer to manage and optimize those processes.

They are building toward a fully integrated smart manufacturing model where advanced production processes like WAAM are monitored and optimized through digital intelligence — making them a strong candidate for future consortia combining advanced manufacturing with industrial digitalization or green factory decarbonization.

How they like to work

Gorenje Orodjarna participates exclusively as a consortium partner and has never coordinated a project, which is typical of industrial companies that contribute manufacturing capacity and real-world demonstration rather than project administration. With 42 unique partners across just 2 projects, they operate in large multi-national Innovation Action consortia — averaging over 20 partners per project — and are clearly comfortable in complex collaborative environments. Their profile is that of a specialist industrial end-user: they provide the factory context and production-environment access that technology-focused partners need to achieve meaningful demonstration results.

Despite only two projects, their network spans 42 unique partners across 12 countries, reflecting participation in large EU Innovation Actions with broad European consortia. Their reach is pan-European and consistent with the scale of IA-funded projects, which typically draw 15–25 organizations from multiple member states.

What sets them apart

As an industrial tooling company in manufacturing-intensive Velenje — home of the Gorenje industrial group — Gorenje Orodjarna offers something most research-heavy partners cannot: a functioning factory floor where technologies face real production conditions, real quality constraints, and real energy costs. Their simultaneous engagement in frontier metal additive manufacturing and digital factory transformation is unusual; most industrial companies pursue one or the other. For consortium builders seeking an industrial demonstrator that can validate both process innovation and digital integration in the same facility, they represent a rare combination.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DENiM
  The larger of their two grants at EUR 289,625, DENiM tackles collaborative energy management in manufacturing using digital twins, IoT, and lifecycle costing — a high-priority industrial challenge directly relevant to factory decarbonization mandates.
• Grade2XL
  Places them at the frontier of metal additive manufacturing for extra-large structures using WAAM and functionally graded materials — a technically demanding niche with significant aerospace, energy infrastructure, and heavy industry applications.