The ADMANTEX2i partnership is composed by six European clusters: three advanced textile materials clusters (AEI Tèxtils in Catalonia as project coordinator, ATEVAL in Valencia and CITEVE in Portugal) and three advanced manufacturing clusters (PRODUTECH in Portugal, EMC2 in France and AFIL in Italy).
AEI TÈXTILS is a cluster with a non-profit association structure, formed by Catalan companies in the advanced textile materials value chain and other innovation support organizations. Its mission is to promote innovation with the aim of improving the competitiveness of its members, as well as cooperation, complementarity, and communication among them.
Its members comprise SMEs of the whole manufacturing chain of technical textiles, universities, research centers textile trade associations and other kind or organizations related to the field.
It works in 4 strategic lines: Innovation: Promoting cooperation amongst its members, increasing the taking on level of innovation support initiatives; promoting the participation of the Catalan technical textiles sector in technological cooperation European projects. Internationalization: Improving access to international markets; access to knowledge through international R&D and technological partners and access to research and key production infrastructures in third countries. Skills: Increasing the training of current employees and improving the level of qualifications and providing unique and specific training on technology and market in the technical textiles sector. Business development: Promoting the exchange of best practices amongst local enterprises; improving the image of the sector in Catalonia; promoting its strengths and capabilities to other manufacturing sectors of the territory.
EMC2 is the French competitiveness cluster for advanced manufacturing technologies. Created in 2005 as part of a national initiative for industrial competitiveness, the association brings together some 400 innovation actors around key markets and technologies, in order to create knowledge spillovers and foster the emergence of collaborative R&D projects. The aim is to reinforce the territorial innovation ecosystem by structuring 6 principal sectors (aerospace, shipbuilding, yacht building, energy, industrial capital goods and ground transportation) in a common and transversal approach – advanced manufacturing technologies.
The vision of the cluster is to promote business and technological development through collaborative innovation, mixing skills, markets, and technologies to generate R&D projects and leverage investment in innovation, while integrating digital, human, and environmental issues to promote competitiveness.
EMC2 also boosts the internationalisation of its companies through key international partnerships with stakeholders in target countries, mobilisation of delegations for international business conventions and trade-fairs, as well as the organisation of Learning Expeditions to explore new markets and meet future technology partners.
ATEVAL is a private industrial association located in Ontinyent –Valencia, founded in 1977. It has more than 330 associated textile companies and represents almost 10.500 persons employed.
ATEVAL is the coordinator of the actions promoted for the Spanish Home textiles in the CIE (Consejo Intertextil Español), carried out under the name of Home Textiles from Spain.
Ateval has an internationalization department to give advice in terms of internationalization and commercial promotion to associated companies. It coordinates trade fairs activities in foreign markets for textile companies associated at regional level and for home textiles at national level: grouped fairs, monographic exhibitions, inverse missions, …
Our Vision is to lead and boost the transformation process of the Valencian Textile Cluster, being a reference point as an entity that generates, promotes and manages innovation and internationalisation in the business world. One of our aims is to improve access to international markets and increase the capacity of companies and their employees to face the current challenges of the sector and the markets.
AFIL (AFIL) is an Italian private association, recognized by Lombardy Region as the regional technological cluster for Advanced Manufacturing. AFIL is the outcome of a Lombardy-Region-led, process aiming to set-up a network of clusters interested in carrying out, at national and at international level, an integrated and sustainable system of infrastructures, competences and methodologies supporting research and innovation. It is a private, non-profit legal entity representing a network of companies, universities, public or private research institutions and entities (including financial ones) operating in the field of the intelligent factory (Advanced Manufacturing). AFIL operates as the private part of a public-private network with Regione Lombardia dedicated to advanced manufacturing and its members are located in different territorial areas and focused on specific application fields. The cluster aims at promoting and facilitating research and innovation as regards to best practices and enabling technologies for the manufacturing sector in order to support and develop the Lombard production system’s leadership and competitiveness.
The mission of the cluster can be summarized as follow:
- To set up a stable community by connecting companies, universities, research institutions and associations, thus favouring cooperation by promoting research and innovation projects and initiatives
- To be a reference actor for the region for the defining of research and innovation strategies in the manufacturing sector.
- To support the development of a research and innovation extra-regional network through the participation to CFI – intelligent factory national cluster and the connection with different European regions within smart specialization strategies.
CITEVE, the Technological Centre for the Textile and Clothing Industry of Portugal, is a private non-profit organization active since 1989 being a reference at National and European level, regarding research, innovation, and technology transfer promotion for the Textile & Clothing (T&C) Industry as well as helping on the definition of industrial public policies. Since April 2017, CITEVE is the managing authority of the Portuguese Textile Cluster strengthening the engagement and cooperation with the T&C value chain. The Portuguese Textile Cluster is a platform where entities establish win-win relationships, with the ultimate objective of producing and sharing knowledge as a support for innovation and competitiveness. Portuguese Textile Cluster is officially recognized by the Portuguese Government, as the entity responsible for managing and promoting the development, innovation and competitiveness of the Textile and Clothing value chain acting as:
- Strategy influencer and roadmaping;
- Bridge for the definition of industrial policies and smart specialisation strategy (Regional, National and European);
- Tool for economic development, to seed innovation, competitiveness, and new business models enabler.
PRODUTECH – Production Technologies Cluster – is a national cluster, officially recognized by the Portuguese Government as a Competitiveness Cluster, having been signed in this context a “Sectorial Pact for Competitiveness and Internationalization”. The initiative is promoted by the Portuguese Industry of Manufacturing Technologies and aims at innovating, qualifying and modernizing the developers and end users of the sector, by boosting innovation, cooperation and networking among its key stakeholders.
As a key partner in several projects, PRODUTECH’s mission is to promote the sustainable growth and internationalization of the Portuguese industry of manufacturing technologies by developing initiatives and actions fostering the international competitiveness and synergies between companies and other relevant stakeholders of the sector. Currently, PRODUTECH has more than 120 associated members.
Internationalization is one of the strategic axes of PRODUTECH’s multi-year action plan and comprises the implementation of projects and initiatives aimed at: the reinforcement of the national and international visibility of the sector, the demonstration of the capacities held by the sector and of the innovative products and solutions developed by its companies, the promotion of the companies insertion in global R&D+I networks and global supply chains, the development of interclusterisation initiatives, the promotion of business missions of strategic interest and investment attraction, the participation of companies in international R&D projects and strategic partnerships, among others.
Some examples of internationalization projects and European funded initiatives participated by PRODUTECH and its Associate members are the following projects: PRODUTECH Internationalization 2020, PIMAP, PIMAP+, DIH2, DIH4CPS, MANUSQUARE, DISRUPTIVE, CLAMTEX and GALACTICA. Also, PRODUTECH is a nationally recognized DIH, candidate for recognition by the European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) network.”
