• The Packaging Cluster has participated in the elaboration of 9 AEI project proposals, in the call for public funding granted by the Ministry of Industry for the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs
• The call had a total budget of 54 million euros
• The 9 proposals amount to more than 2.1 million euros, with a grant of 1.7 million euros and more than 35 agents involved

Recently, the Packaging Cluster - an entity that represents 133 companies in the packaging sector in Catalonia - attracted up to 9 project proposals for the call for public funding from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the process of competitive improvement with a Connected Industry model, through Innovative Business Groups. This call had a budget of 54 million euros.

The cluster has presented the projects SMARTENPAL, AIPROCESS, TYSEC, MADAM, MES 5.0, PACKIMPACT 2.0, DUOMO 2.0, SMART BATTERY CASE II and INDUREC4.0, with a total budget of 2.168.774 € and a required aid of 1.691.103 €, involving more than 35 companies and entities of the packaging sector and transversal industries.

Last April saw the end of the five AEI initiatives that were underway: 1) BOWSER, an investigation into the variables in the extrusion process for greater production efficiency; 2) DATA-DRIVEN MAINTENANCE, a commitment to in-plant digitalisation through data analysis and the support of Artificial Intelligence for the prevention of breakdowns; 3) LAYERTECH, the study of the technical feasibility of separating material in a multilayer container for greater recycling of the same; 4) PETINJECT, the development of an integrated system that allows the manufacture by injection of post-consumer recycled PET packaging; and 5) SMART BATTERY CASE, a further step towards electromobility with the battery box for the shipbuilding industry, much more efficient and monitored.  

From  Clusters.es

Clusters present collaborative industrial innovation projects for double the available budget

Expectations for proposals for the Innovative Business Clusters support programme have been greatly exceeded

Spanish clusters have managed to mobilise more than a thousand SMEs by submitting 446 collaborative innovation projects to the call of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. With their proposals, the clusters want to support the green and digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the country. The applications highlight the potential of collaboration between companies through clusters.

Once again, clusters have demonstrated their ability to understand the needs of companies and translate them into innovation projects for the green and digital transition. Innovative clusters responded with 446 applications, with a total amount requested of more than 96 million euros from the Innovative Business Clusters (AEI) support programme administered by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. This amount is close to double the amount covered by the call and exceeds the expectations of the innovative ecosystem.

The call for the Support Programme for Innovative Business Clusters (AEI) was published on 15 April 2023 and has a budget of 54 million euros, of which 46.44 million euros come from the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The aim of the programme is to improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises through innovative clusters. Supporting the creation and strengthening of clusters is part of the European strategy to promote SME competitiveness and innovation.

Clusters provide services to companies and are an excellent tool for accessing projects of common interest to member companies. 97% of the applications are projects submitted in collaboration between different EIGs and their member companies. Most of the projects seek to foster the digital transformation of companies and aim at incorporating digital knowledge and technologies for industrial research activities, experimental development activities, organisational innovation and process innovation.  

Press release from MINCOTUR: https://www.mincotur.gob.es/es-es/GabinetePrensa/NotasPrensa/2023/Paginas/la-convocatoria-de-ayudas-al-programa-de-apoyo-a-las-Agrupaciones-Empresariales-Innovadoras-ha-recibido-446-solicitud.aspx  

More information on cluster policy: https://clusters.ipyme.org