VDL INDUSTRIAL MODULES

Their core work

VDL Industrial Modules is a division of VDL Group, a major Dutch industrial manufacturer based in Helmond. They specialize in modular production systems and factory automation, serving as an industrial end-user and integration partner in EU research projects. Their work focuses on implementing advanced robotics, human-robot collaboration, and digitally-driven reconfigurable production lines in real manufacturing environments. They bring practical factory-floor expertise to research consortia, testing and validating new technologies in operational industrial settings.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

VDL Industrial Modules entered H2020 in 2018 with a focus on collaborative robotics — soft robotics, exoskeletons, mobile robots, and safe human-robot interaction (SHERLOCK). By 2019-2020, their focus shifted decisively toward digital factory concepts: modular plug-and-produce lines, digital twins, and AI-driven production management (DIMOFAC, MAS4AI). This trajectory shows a clear move from physical robot integration toward full digital manufacturing transformation.

VDL Industrial Modules is moving toward AI-orchestrated, digitally-twinned modular production — expect future interest in autonomous factory reconfiguration and mass customization technologies.

How they like to work

VDL Industrial Modules operates exclusively as a consortium participant, never as coordinator, which is typical for large industrial companies providing real-world manufacturing environments for technology validation. With 60 unique partners across 16 countries from just 3 projects, they engage in large, diverse consortia. Their role is that of an industrial end-user who tests and validates research outputs in operational factory settings.

Despite only 3 projects, VDL Industrial Modules has built a wide network of 60 partners across 16 countries, reflecting their participation in large-scale flagship-type manufacturing consortia. Their network spans a broad European footprint with no narrow geographic concentration.

What sets them apart

VDL Industrial Modules brings something many research consortia struggle to find: a large-scale, real industrial production environment where advanced robotics and digital manufacturing concepts can be tested under actual operating conditions. As part of VDL Group — one of the Netherlands' largest industrial conglomerates — they offer credibility and scale that smaller technology companies cannot match. For consortium builders, they represent a committed industrial validation partner with genuine manufacturing operations, not a lab simulation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DIMOFAC
  A flagship digital factory project running until 2024, covering the full spectrum from plug-and-produce hardware to digital twins and lifecycle management.
• SHERLOCK
  Combined multiple robotics paradigms — soft robotics, exoskeletons, mobile robots, and AI cognition — in a single human-centred workplace integration project.
• MAS4AI
  Highest single EC contribution (EUR 350,750) and bridges AI/multi-agent systems with modular production, connecting VDL's robotics and digital factory tracks.