€5.6 million project announced to advance remanufacturing in industry

Led by Spanish engineering company Idener, the recently announced CREDIT project seeks to develop a digital platform that will make industrial manufacturing more circular, sustainable, resilient, efficient and socially responsible.

The digital platform will facilitate the remanufacturing of products and components in the automotive, telecommunications, aerospace and white goods sectors.

It will integrate a ‘suite of remanufacturing-enabled digital services’, including AI-based decision support systems, predictive maintenance and support tools such as Augmented Reality.

Traceability and quality control will be enabled by distributed ledger technology (DLT), a secure, decentralised system in which information can be stored and accessed simultaneously across a network of computers in different locations.

The platform will also make use of digital twins (virtual copies of physical objects); develop an open-source Information and Communication Technology platform; and use a comprehensive education and upskilling methodology to ensure an effective level of training and experience at manufacturing sites.

CREDIT project coordinator, Lidia Parrilla Benitez, believes the use of digital twin technology could have a significant impact on sustainable manufacturing: "Remanufacturing and circularity-enabling initiatives are crucial for reducing waste and extending the lifecycle of products.”

“By integrating digital twin technology, we can optimise these processes and innovate with precision, setting a precedent for future advancements towards a greener industry".

CREDIT’s objectives are fully aligned with the Made in Europe innovation agenda - a partnership between key players in Europe’s manufacturing sector designed to encourage transformation towards global leadership and sustainability.

The CREDIT project hopes to deliver environmental benefits - such as reduced waste, reduced raw material consumption and reduced emissions - as well as economic benefits - including improved efficiency, increased competitiveness and reduced production costs.

Five manufacturing-focused business use cases will be developed to demonstrate the platform’s potential for widespread impact and hopefully contribute to CREDIT achieving Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL7).

Michael Browne, CEO of CREDIT partner Crowdhelix, believes that the project’s multinational approach across a range of manufacturing arenas is key to innovative research. 

“Innovative projects like CREDIT drive groundbreaking research across multiple manufacturing industries by promoting international collaboration and first-rate science”. 

“The project also speaks to the ambitions of the Made in Europe innovation agenda, bringing together leading organisations from European manufacturing ecosystems to nurture their leadership in circular industries, ensuring that Europe has a competitive, green manufacturing sector”.

“Crowdhelix is privileged to contribute to such a significant project by helping to bring key stakeholders from across the project’s lengthy value chain together”.