Industrial NEXUS develops solutions to support learning and decision-making, as well as lifecycle services
Stream 2 of the Industrial NEXUS program focuses on developing solutions that support human learning and decision-making, as well as new lifecycle services. Valmet seeks ecosystem partners to collaborate with on innovations in areas such as human-machine interaction, the circular economy, and the electrification of industry.
Industrial NEXUS is Valmet’s five-year research and development program designed to address the industry-wide skill and labor shortages, as well as strengthen competitiveness. Stream 1of the program uses data, measurement, and analytics to drive production toward connected and self-operating mills. Stream 2, which is being presented now, focuses on people as data users and decisionmakers, as well as the circular economy and lifecycle services.
“The process industry collects massive amounts of data. We need to find ways for people to utilize this data and make the right decisions without needing 30 years of work experience,” says Karoliina Haapaniemi, Senior Manager, R&D, leading the Stream 2 at Valmet.
People and digital learning solutions are key to using data
Retirement and employee turnover present challenges for the industry in terms of how to transfer expertise to new employees. The Industrial NEXUS program explores the use of artificial intelligence to transfer tacit knowledge and digital learning solutions for skills development, for example. At the same time, the program is developing collaboration between people, systems, and machines.
“Digitalization and artificial intelligence play a major role in both research areas. Our focus is on the user: making data easy to utilize while also making industrial work attractive and meaningful to new talent,” Haapaniemi explains.
Service design, circular economy, and lifecycle solutions accelerating the transition
Stream 2 focuses on developing predictive maintenance services and solutions that leverage lifecycle data, the circular economy, and the electrification of industry. These efforts promote sustainability and the transition to fossil-free processes.
Industrial NEXUS is seeking partners whose areas of expertise complements Valmet’s. These areas include pedagogy, customer and user experience, service design, and the interaction between people, systems, and machines. In the program, the partners’ expertise is combined with Valmet’s industrial and process know-how, as well as its extensive customer base.
“Collaboration can accelerate innovation when a partner brings expertise that would otherwise take years to build. Since the same challenges affect different industries, we can work together to find new solutions and learn from one another,” says Haapaniemi.
Our focus is on the user: making data easy to utilize while also making industrial work attractive and meaningful to new talent.
- A five-year program led by Valmet, developing the industry of the future in collaboration with an ecosystem consisting of companies, startups, research organizations, and other partners.
- The program focuses on people, expertise, and technology, as well as solutions for the transformation of industrial work.
- The program operates through two streams: Connected and self-operating mills and plants and Self-learning processes and full lifecycle
- Business Finland has granted the program 15 million euros in funding. 40 million euros have been allocated to ecosystem projects.
- The program’s estimated global export potential is 6.5 billion euros by 2035.