DIVERSITY · Project

Cloud-Based Engineering Platform Helping Equipment Makers Design Customized Machines Faster

manufacturingTestedTRL 6

Imagine you build machines that make consumer products — shoes, furniture, packaging. Your customers keep asking for custom versions, but your engineers, suppliers, and clients are scattered across countries. DIVERSITY built a cloud platform that connects everyone — designers, factory workers, even end customers — so they can share feedback and design knowledge in real time, like a professional version of social media built into your engineering workflow. The goal is to help small and mid-sized equipment makers compete with the big players when it comes to mass customization.

By the numbers

EUR 4,055,840

Total EU contribution for R&D and industrial testing

Consortium partners collaborating on the platform

Countries represented in the consortium

Industrial partners where demonstrators were tested

Different mass production sectors covered

Total project deliverables produced

The business problem

What needed solving

Equipment manufacturers serving mass customization markets need to exchange design knowledge rapidly between engineers, suppliers, and customers spread across multiple countries. Without a unified platform, feedback gets lost, redesign cycles stretch out, and smaller manufacturers cannot keep up with customization demands that larger competitors handle through brute-force engineering resources.

The solution

What was built

A cloud-based product-service engineering environment combining cloud manufacturing, PDM/PLM integration, and social software tools for real-time knowledge sharing across distributed teams. Demonstrators were implemented and tested in the business cases of 3 industrial partners across 3 mass production sectors, with 17 deliverables including public case study reports.

Audience

Who needs this

SME equipment manufacturers producing machines for mass-customized consumer goodsPackaging machinery builders serving FMCG brands with frequent product variationsManufacturing software vendors looking to add collaborative cloud features to PLM platformsIndustrial machinery companies with engineering teams distributed across multiple countriesTechnology parks and clusters supporting manufacturing SME digitalization

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Industrial machinery manufacturing

SME

Target: SME equipment makers producing machines for mass-customized consumer goods

If you are an equipment manufacturer struggling to collect feedback from your business customers and end users across multiple countries — this project developed a cloud-based engineering environment that combines product lifecycle management with social software tools, tested across 3 industrial partners in 3 different mass production sectors. It lets your distributed teams share design knowledge in real time and respond faster to customization requests.

Consumer goods packaging

mid-size

Target: Packaging machinery producers serving fast-moving consumer goods companies

If you are a packaging machine builder dealing with constant product variations demanded by retail brands — this project created tools that let your designers capture and reuse knowledge from previous customization projects. Tested with 9 consortium partners across 5 countries, the platform connects your engineering team directly with customer requirements so you stop redesigning from scratch every time.

Manufacturing IT and PLM solutions

any

Target: Software vendors offering PDM/PLM or cloud manufacturing solutions

If you are a manufacturing software provider looking to add collaborative design and social knowledge-sharing features to your platform — this project built and validated a methodology for concurrent collaborative product-service design integrated with cloud manufacturing and PLM systems. The open architecture was demonstrated in real industrial settings with 3 manufacturing companies, giving you a tested blueprint to extend your own product.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement a system like this in my company?

The full research program cost EUR 4,055,840 across 9 partners over 3 years, covering R&D, software development, and industrial testing. Actual deployment costs for a single company would be significantly lower, but specific licensing or subscription pricing is not disclosed in the project data. Contact the coordinator for commercial terms.

Has this been tested at industrial scale or only in a lab?

The project delivered demonstrators implemented in the business cases of 3 industrial partners across 3 different mass production sectors. These were real-world test environments, not lab simulations. Public case study reports were also produced as part of the deliverables.

What is the IP situation — can I license this technology?

The project was funded under Horizon 2020 as a Research and Innovation Action with 9 partners. IP ownership typically stays with the partners who developed each component. You would need to negotiate licensing directly with the consortium, starting with the coordinator UNINOVA in Portugal.

How does this integrate with our existing PLM or ERP systems?

The platform was specifically designed to work alongside existing PDM/PLM systems, extending them with cloud manufacturing and social software capabilities rather than replacing them. Based on available project data, the architecture is built for interoperability with standard product data management tools.

Is this suitable for small companies or only large enterprises?

The project explicitly targeted small and medium-sized companies producing machines and equipment. Two SMEs were part of the 9-partner consortium, and the design methodology was built to help smaller manufacturers compete in mass customization markets.

What is the timeline to go from evaluation to deployment?

The project ran from 2015 to 2018 and produced 17 deliverables including working demonstrators. Since the project is closed, deployment would depend on the current state of the software components and how much adaptation your specific use case requires. Based on available project data, pilot-ready components exist but may need updating.

Consortium

Who built it

The 9-partner consortium across 5 countries (Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal) has a strong industrial orientation with 56% industry participation — 5 industrial partners including 2 SMEs, backed by 2 universities and 2 research organizations. The coordinator UNINOVA is a Portuguese research institute specializing in new technologies. The mix of southern and central European partners reflects the geography of equipment manufacturing SMEs in Europe. With 3 manufacturing companies driving real use cases in different sectors, the consortium was designed for practical validation rather than purely academic output.

UNINOVA-INSTITUTO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS-ASSOCIACAOCoordinator · PT
INSTITUT FÜR ANGEWANDTE SYSTEMTECHNIK BREMEN GMBHparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI BERGAMOparticipant · IT
NIKOLAOS BAZIGOS ANONYMI VIOTECHNIKI KAI EMPORIKI ETAIRIA KATASKEVIS KALOUPION KAI EXARTIMATON AKRIVEIASparticipant · EL
EKA SRLparticipant · IT
DESMA SCHUHMASCHINEN GMBHparticipant · DE
SINGULARLOGIC CYPRUS LTDparticipant · CY
CAREL INDUSTRIES SPAparticipant · IT
PANEPISTIMIO PATRONparticipant · EL

How to reach the team

UNINOVA - Instituto de Desenvolvimento de Novas Tecnologias, Portugal. Search for DIVERSITY project coordinator at UNINOVA for direct contact.

Order a report on this consortium See UNINOVA-INSTITUTO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE NOVAS TECNOLOGIAS-ASSOCIACAO profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to connect with the DIVERSITY team or explore how their cloud engineering platform fits your manufacturing setup? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction and help evaluate the fit for your business.

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