Bringing together a consortium of 14 partners from 8 EU countries, the project introduces an ecosystem that seamlessly merges AI edge intelligence with human-centric manufacturing. Designed in compliance with the EU AI Act and GDPR, MANUFACTOR aims to protect industrial workforces, reverse demographic talent erosion, and slash new operator onboarding times by more than 35%.

Modern factories face severe structural strains, including digital skills shortages, high job turnover among younger generations, and ergonomics burden due to the physical stress, strain, or wear-and-tear. Musculoskeletal disorders currently affect three out of five industrial workers in Europe. MANUFACTOR addresses these interlocking crises by replacing clumsy, body-worn physical hardware like exoskeletons with an elegant, intelligent, and unobtrusive human-adaptive assistance layer.

Expected Benefits:

• For workers, it reduces physical pain, lowers mental stress, and boosts confidence by over 20%.
• For managers, it saves up to €1M annually per medium-sized plant by cutting employee onboarding times by 35%, reducing manufacturing errors by 20%, and lowering injury-related absences.

Our solution will be validated across two learning factories and three major industrial pilots: Hitachi Energy, Volkswagen Autoeuropa, and FILL.

MANUFACTOR starts from the belief that future manufacturing should strengthen people’s skills, confidence, and well-being. By focusing on trust, usability, and adaptability, the partners of the project aim to help make manufacturing across Europe more inclusive, attractive, and ready for the needs of tomorrow’s workforce.

Partners