LAUDS Factories. What we do and our objectives

Focus on involving people in co-design processes to make LAUDS factories more creative, collaborative, and better at manufacturing.

Build a manufacturing system that uses both digital tools and physical spaces by improving technology, expanding operations, organizing areas, and keeping track of the infrastructure.

Identify new types of jobs, ways to include everyone, and future job opportunities to meet the needs and concerns of everyone involved, and provide training and skill-building activities.

Demonstrate the capacity to scale up LAUDS factories and increase their capacity to be reliable industrial partners within an urban manufacturing ecosystem.

Conduct open calls to find, select, award, and onboard impactful external creatives/artists and SME circularity projects for sustainable transition of urban footprint and value creation.

Create outreach and a business plan for LAUDS factories to benefit creatives, artists, and technology providers (SMEs, makerspaces), reducing the distance between consumers and producer

The term “factory” refers to open and sustainable manufacturing facilities that specialise in small series-production.

This aspect emphasises the geographical proximity of the factories to urban and metropolitan areas. By being local, LAUDS factories minimise distribution costs and environmental impact associated with transportation. They also tap into local resources and materials, fostering a sense of community and supporting the growth of local businesses. The focus on locality encourages the incubation of new business activities within the neighbourhood, contributing to economic development.

Accessibility refers to both physical access to the factories and the availability of opportunities for experimentation and collaboration, LAUDS factories prioritise small-batch production, allowing for flexibility and adaptability in manufacturing processes. The “open lab” business model encourages experimentation and prototyping, enabling businesses to tailor their production methods to suit their specific needs. This accessibility fosters innovation and supports the growth of diverse businesses.

The urban aspect of LAUDS factories highlights their sole as social hubs that bring together diverse communities, including artists, SMEs, mid-caps, and star-ups. By leveraging the cultural richness of urban centers, these factories facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing across different disciplines. This collaborative approach fosters creativity and innovation, driving forward solutions to local and global challenges.

Digitalisation plays a key role in the LAUDS concept, enabling collaboration, data generation, and access to digital tools. While the focus isn’t on digital solutions (development of digital products), LAUDS factories leverage digital innovations to enhance the collaboration process. Digital tools enable distributed design and co-creation, allowing stakeholders to work together coherently and smoothly across different locations. This digital infrastructure supports efficient production and promotes innovation in manufacturing processes.

Sustainability is another core concept of the LAUDS factories, both socially and environmentally. Social sustainability is achieved through accessibility, empowering individuals and communities with the tools they need to participate in the manufacturing process. Environmentally, LAUDS promotes circular transformation by utilising local raw materials and embracing principles such as recycling, remanufacturing, and the use of secondary materials. By adopting sustainable practices, LAUDS factories minimise their environmental footprint and contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable economy.

Case studies report detailing the implementation of the co-creative workshops and lessons learnt.
Due Date (month): 8

LAUDS-factory readiness level scale and requirements for implementation of LAUDSfactories.
Due Date (month): 1

Definition of metrics and indicators that allow the evaluation of the success of LAUDS factories.
Due Date (month): 18

The (technical) requirements for will be structured in the form of a map as basis for further analysis of functionalities.
Due Date (month): 9

A generic framework for LAUDS manufacturing readiness (including digital/physical infrastructures, processes, and standards) will be elaborated.
Due Date (month): 18

Description as UML diagram of derived soft- and hardware components and applications.
Due Date (month): 27

Factors influencing urban transformation.
Due Date (month): 12

Adapted LAUDS framework (incl. Evaluation, validation, consolidated insights from WP2 and WP 1).
Due Date (month): 36

Training and knowledge pool for makerspaces and innovators.
Due Date (month): 36

Guide for Applicants, Model Contracts, Proposal Template, Call text, Evaluation plan for the open calls.
Due Date (month): 7

Presents the evaluation outcomes from call launched: a ranked list of applicants, decision on funding and call statistics and updates of the call text (if applicable).
Due Date (month): 10

Guide for Applicants, Model Contracts, Proposal Template, Call text, Evaluation plan for the open calls.
Due Date (month): 14

Presents the evaluation outcomes from call launched: a ranked list of applicants, decision on funding and call statistics and updates of the call text (if applicable).
Due Date (month): 17

Summarise outcomes of funded projects, highlight overall performance and impact of the action and incl. overall statistics and lessons learned and final LAUDS framework.
Due Date (month): 25

Summarise outcomes of funded projects, highlight overall performance and impact of the action and incl. overall statistics and lessons learned and final LAUDS framework.
Due Date (month): 35

Design specification and methods of the web experimental interface.
Due Date (month): 13

Projects communication and disseminate through innovative community engagement formats.
Due Date (month): 6

Bottom-up definition and mapping of business plan for validating the scalability of the LAUDS factories.
Due Date (month): 33

Set-up of a Web Experimental Visual Interface to process and visualise the project’s contents and through semantic and visual methodologies and collaborative design processes with AI.
Due Date (month): 36

Organisation and Participation to dissemination events on art, design and manufacturing innovation.
Due Date (month): 36