Industry 4.0 intends to provide an answer to a technological revolution following the digitalisation of products, processes and services, called the fourth industrial revolution or industry 4.0 (i4.0). Industry 4.0 is offering interesting possibilities. However, for many companies it is a major challenge, including the companies belonging to the chemical, plastic converting and life science sectors. This target group is very heterogeneously composed: although the chemical industry is mainly concentrated in a few gigantic multinationals, it also includes many PMEs. The interaction between large, middle-sized and small companies is one of the major assets of the chemical sector in Flanders. Therefore, the project focusses on assisting both large and small companies on their way to i4.0.

Development of a collective innovation plan in the field of i4.0 for the Flemish sector of chemical, plastic converting and life sciences companies, sketching the outlines of further actions to accelerate the integration of i4.0 technology.

The project will apply structure in the challenge and define the necessary collective trajectories, the priorities, the best actors to perform the collective actions, and the most appropriated tools.

Drafing an i4.0 innovation plan in collaboration with actors from the entire value chain will allow to identify and realize the collective business-opportuniteiten (= new value chains).

Therefore, innovation plan i4.0 is the assessment and reference framework to estimate the feasibility, advisability and affordability of future innovation trajectories in the field of i4.0 for both the Flemish authorities and the individual consortium members or research centres.

The long-term objective is to allow as many companies as possible to integrate the digital possibilities in their business processes, according to their needs. This project will contribute to the awareness of companties that a transition is needed. It will also map all possible roads and offer the necessary guidelines to start a transition within their own companies. The project shall also allow companies to select the most appropriate partners to do so.