RIA STONE FABRICA DE LOUCA DE MESAEM GRES SA

Their core work

RIA STONE is a Portuguese stoneware tableware manufacturer based in Ilhavo, producing ceramic table products at industrial scale. Within EU research projects, they serve as an industrial end-user and pilot site for advanced digital manufacturing technologies — testing solutions like digital twins, virtual sensors, and zero-defect quality control systems directly on their production lines. Their participation provides real factory environments where data-driven quality assurance tools are validated under actual manufacturing conditions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

RIA STONE's H2020 involvement shows a clear progression from broad Industry 4.0 adoption toward increasingly specific quality control applications. Their first project (BOOST 4.0, 2018) dealt with big data infrastructure for connected factories, while QU4LITY (2019) narrowed the focus to zero-defect manufacturing with digital platforms. By i4Q (2021), they were working with advanced tools — digital twins, virtual sensors, blockchain — all aimed at ensuring product and process quality. The trajectory shows a manufacturer steadily deepening its digital quality control capabilities.

RIA STONE is moving toward fully digitized quality assurance using digital twins, virtual sensors, and blockchain — likely building an integrated smart manufacturing stack for their ceramic production.

How they like to work

RIA STONE participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator, which is consistent with their role as an industrial end-user providing pilot facilities rather than driving research agendas. They operate in large Innovation Action consortia (116 unique partners across their 3 projects), suggesting they are comfortable in multi-partner environments where they contribute a real-world testbed. For potential partners, they offer what many digital manufacturing projects need most: an actual factory willing to deploy and validate new technologies.

RIA STONE has collaborated with 116 unique partners across 22 countries, reflecting participation in large-scale Innovation Actions with broad European reach. Their network spans the major EU manufacturing and digital research ecosystems.

What sets them apart

RIA STONE offers something rare in digital manufacturing projects: a real ceramics and tableware production environment for testing and validating Industry 4.0 technologies. Most zero-defect manufacturing research relies on metal or automotive pilot lines, making a ceramics manufacturer a distinctive and valuable testbed for broadening technology applicability. Their three consecutive projects in this space mean they already have experience integrating research tools into production — reducing onboarding time for new collaborations.

Highlights from their portfolio

• QU4LITY
  Largest funding (EUR 274,400) and directly focused on zero-defect manufacturing — the core of RIA STONE's digital transformation journey.
• i4Q
  Most technically advanced project, combining digital twins, blockchain, virtual sensors, and process simulation for industrial quality control.