Near Vilnius – new Advanced Manufacturing Digital Innovation Center
On Vilnius Molėtai road, it is planned to build a new Advanced Manufacturing Digital Innovation Center (AM DIH / Center). The aim and purpose of this, like other similar centers to be set up across Europe, is to encourage industry and other public organizations to invest in digital innovation by providing them with up-to-date information, expertise, access to infrastructure and technology, and digital innovation testing of their products. processes or business models.
In this Center will operate various 200-300 sq. m. manufacturing laboratories such as electrical engineering and automation, additive manufacturing, environmental control, machining, robotics and integrated automation systems, quality control and others. The services such as automation, robotics, 3D prototyping, design and testing, digitalization consulting and many other services related to digitalization will be provided. According to AM DIH coordinator, technology center Intechcentras director Audrius Jasėnas, it will be one of the most modern research, experimental development and innovation centers in Lithuania.
All Lithuanian manufacturing companies that develop or implement digital technologies or products will be invited to use the Centre’s laboratory infrastructure, innovation support and consulting services. The Center will be fundamentally different from clusters or open access centers because it will allow all companies in the sector to apply directly to benefit from the services provided and to recover up to 50% using governmental de minimis funding for the purchase or implementation of digital services.
The project of the Advanced Manufacturing Digital Innovation Center will be partially financed under the measure “Digital Innovation Centers” by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, and LINPRA members, innovation group partners: UAB BaltLed, UAB Aedilis, UAB Elinta, UAB Proftools, UAB Vakarų centrinė laboratorija.
The purpose of this 9.7 million € joint investment of business and the state is to enable AM DIH to provide a full range of services to manufacturing companies (One Stop Shop). It is planned that during the project period more than 200 Lithuanian companies and organizations will use technological infrastructure, innovation consulting and support services provided by AM DIH. The provision of services is not defined only by the potential of the Lithuanian market, it is expected that the circle of customers should grow not only in Lithuania, but also abroad.
One of the partners of the innovation group of this project, the managing director of UAB Elinta group dr. Vytautas Jokužis states that such a center will help the entire Lithuanian industry to digitize much faster: “Currently, companies which are developing prototypes of new products face insurmountable obstacles that prevent the rapid and good production of a prototype of a product or digital-robotic system. Serial production companies are very reluctant to take unit orders, and if they do, their production is very expensive, takes several weeks, and usually not the best quality product is obtained. In order to accelerate the development of new products, such a center with a modern integrated R&D infrastructure for digital technology development is vital. ”
Mindaugas Jasiulevičius, the director of UAB BaltLed, also agrees with him: “Companies that develop innovative solutions and products find it increasingly difficult to keep up with large market players who have already accumulated such infrastructure over many years. Rapid product development is essential to remain competitive not only in the workforce but also in the innovations it creates. The development, testing, improvement and testing of new digital solutions in such a center will be significantly faster due to the infrastructure at a center and the joint accumulation of product development competencies”.
