Market trends
European Project Formed to Boost Competitiveness of the Plastics Industry
▲ The European project Samt Sudoe aims to boost the competitiveness of the plastics and molds industry in the Southwest Europe area (© Samt Sudoe)
The plastics and molds sectors of Southwest Europe are facing some common problems reducing its capacity to compete in a global market. The difficulty to be involved in R&D activities, problems to implement industrially innovations developed in universities or technology centres, obstacles to update the technology and develop the competences of the human resources, etc. are just some of them. The European project Samt Sudoe, funded by the Programme Interreg Sudoe through the European Regional Development Fund, aims to boost the competitiveness of the plastics and molds industry in the Southwest Europe area.
Samt Sudoe “Spread of Additive manufacturing (AM) and advanced materials Technologies for promoting industrial KET in plastic processors and mould industries within Sudoe space” encourages the application of additive manufacturing and advanced materials KET (Key Enabling Technologies) in the plastics and molds industry within the Southwest Europe area by creating nets and links between companies, R&D centers, higher education and public bodies. For that purpose, it will implement advanced production systems and new materials in the technological industries of these regions, present in a wide range of sectors, like the automotive, health, textile, footwear and consumer goods, among others.
This initiative is led by AIJU, The Toy Technology Centre. Together with the Centro Tecnológico da Indústria de Moldes, Ferramentas Especiais e Plásticos – CENTIMFE (Portugal) and the Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Délégation Aquitaine) - ICMCB CNRS (France), they will provide knowledge and expertise in additive manufacturing and advanced materials. On the other hand, the Clúster de Empresas Innovadoras del Valle del Juguete – CEIV (Spain) will provide the vision and knowledge of the sectors of the project sectors and the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial – IVACE, responsible for transferring this knowledge to all the productive sectors of the region.
