Smart Industry; Dutch Industry fit for the future

2014 – In April 2014 the report ‘Smart Industry. Dutch Industry Fit for the future’  was presented at the Hannover Messe. The accompanying Action Agenda was published in November of that year. The initiative to make the Smart Industry report came  from FME the employers association in the Metalectro), TNO (Institution for applied research), the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, VNO-NCW (general employers association) and the Chamber of Commerce. Later ICT Netherlands and various companies joined.

Report
The report concerns a study by the said parties in collaboration with stakeholders from the Dutch industry. The report is written in English.
The focus of the report is the Dutch Manufacturing industry but it also – with a “slanted eye" – looks at the Agro-food, Logistics and Chemical industries.
In three workshops and numerous interviews important stakeholders, including industry leaders, were interviewed to describe the situation in the industry in the Netherlands.
Smart Industry is about the intelligent use of new enabling technologies, such as: Sensor and Cloud technology and Big Data Solutions, the Internet of Things and Cyber Physical Systems and new human-machine interactions.
But Smart Industry is also about changing attitudes towards more customer orientation and more cooperation; it requires courage, entrepreneurship and ‘out of the box’ thinking.
The study shows that the development of a Smart Industry is very important for the Dutch economy.
‘Smart’ are companies that can achieve a high degree of production flexibility in terms of product characteristics (specifications, quality, design), volume product, timing, in efficiency in resource use and costs and thus enable to honor the customer demand and who can use the entire production chain to create value.
This is supported by a network in which use is made of information disseminated by the modern ICT which can also facilitate making use of the latest manufacturing techniques.
The report concludes with the outlines for an action agenda, which is written in Dutch.

Action Agenda
For the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mister Kamp the report was reason to ask the Team Smart Industry to make a concrete Action Agenda. This agenda aims to contribute to a Dutch industry that reaps the fruits of the digital techniques and so becomes competitive in the world, now and in the future. The Action Agenda was presented in November 2014.
The action agenda includes three types of action:
1) Capitalising on existing knowledge, 
2) Establishing accelerating Field Labs
3) Strengthening the foundation.
Ad 1. In order to convert knowledge into business two things should be done. Handles to make use of knowledge should be handed to companies. Second, entrepreneurs should be made aware of the opportunities of the digital revolution that is going on around them. This will only work if the topic Smart Industry is wide on the public agenda.
Ad 2. The central ambition in the Action Agenda is: creating ecosystems – interlinked networks of companies and knowledge institutions – around the core principles of Smart Industry such as automation, zero defect manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, supply chain collaboration, customer intimacy, value-creating on the basis of big data and a number of core technologies such as 3D printing and robotics.
Ad 3. To support the development towards a Smart Industry the foundations need to be strengthened in three areas: knowledge, skills and conditions (ICT, including cyber security).

Reference
The PDFs of the Report and the Action Agenda are  attached. Added are  two publications (August 24, 2015) by: FME, CNV-professionals, FNV and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment as part of the action agenda:
The leaflet about the Fieldlab Social Innovation. Another view of labor, industrial relations and labor market.
The pamphlet: High five for a different perspective on labor relations and employment.

Themes: Labour relations, Collaboration with external partners, Smart working
Branches: Industry, Agrofood, Logistics, Chemical Industry
Source: Report

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