Apps

Description:

The manufacturing industry is continuously being challenged by the ever changing circumstances, such as the individualization of products, the complexity of regulations, and the dependencies in a globalized market, among others. These challenges can only be overcome if the manufacturers develop the capacity to rapidly adapt and innovate their processes and productions under different conditions. ICT-driven solutions are becoming key enablers in the manufacturing industry toward strengthening their resilience and their ability to cope with new challenges.

Bringing manufacturers and experts together is key to boost the innovation and efficiency and as such the competitiveness of the industry, equipping them with the suitable tools and techniques to tackle today’s challenges. Streamlining the discovery, the connection, and the exchange among manufacturers and experts through different perspectives and means fosters an open and transparent space where the stakeholders can build long-standing and trusted relationships. We conceive a digital B2B space for manufacturers and experts called the Digital Agora that features manifold functionalities to promote technology expertise and capabilities, to upskill and guide manufacturers, and to facilitate interactions among manufacturers and experts while learning from one another and nurturing a supportive and empowering community.

A special characteristic of the Digital Agora is that it aims to facilitate the delivery of the expertise through the platform itself (although it also supports requests for quotations). Furthermore, it does not only focus on the technologies and capabilities of the experts but it also addresses the manufacturers’ needs for upskilling staff and for guiding the adoption of new solutions (i.e. consulting projects). In addition, it also enables the exchange of manufacturers, experts, and among them, in order to leverage the collective intelligence within the community.

This Digital Agora is a B2B cloud-based platform that seeks to streamle the access to and adoption of ICT technologies and solutions, thanks to its dedicated functionalities to support Community interactions and Marketplace services around ICT-driven solutions.

The Community of the Digital Agora aims to empower its members to share and to interact with one another and to benefit from the collective intelligence of other participating manufacturers and experts. The Community has the following custom functionalities:

• “Insights” enable the members of the Community to share content with one another;
• “Panels” facilitate the creation of and the participation in purpose-aligned discussions; and
• “Matches” connects consumers with providers via calls for solutions.

The Marketplace of the Digital Agora focuses on enabling the exploration of the technology experts’ capabilities, in order to boost the innovation and competitiveness of the manufacturers’ production processes. The Marketplace has the following tailored functionalities:

• “Apps” allow the promotion and showcasing of software applications;
• “Consulting” supports the individualized configuration of projects to digitally accompany and support consultancy processes; and
• “Partners” feature the individual expert companies with their profile, allowing the manufacturers to learn about their expertise, solutions, and offerings.

Use Case:

A manufacturing end user is challenged by the innovation speed within their development and manufacturing processes; thus, the representative of the manufacturing end user visits the Digital Agora to explore how other manufacturing companies are increasing their competitiveness and innovation. By reading the experience of other manufacturers and by interacting with some related discussion panels, the end users decide to start a call for a solution. This is answered by some technology experts, informing the end user about possible options and the possibility to start a one-to-one consulting project or to go through some training courses before start using the technology. After doing this, the manufacturing end user starts using the cloudified solution and shot after, the innovation speed and competitiveness start improving.