• Lortek, Competence Centre in Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Joining Technologies, coordinates DISCMAM, ensuring the final success of the project.

The DISCMAM project has assembled a multidisciplinary consortium aimed at establishing a pioneering business model for remote assisted on-site maintenance operations. Leading this ambitious initiative is LORTEK, serving as the project coordinator and managing various technical tasks with a team of highly specialized researchers throughout the three-year project.

Lortek’s contribution to DISCMAM: leading coordination, management and technical innovation

Founded in 2002, Lortek is a private technology center integrated into the Mondragon Corporation as a cooperative. Specializing in generating knowledge on manufacturing processes and their digitalization, Lortek’s mission is to transfer this knowledge to the industrial sector, enhancing competitiveness, reducing environmental impact, and promoting sustainability.

Within DISCMAM, the areas of expertise of LORTEK in Digitalization Technologies and Metal Additive Manufacturing will collaborate. The project involves the participation of highly specialized researchers from the company, including Dr. Juan Carlos Pereira as coordinator, Dr. Marta Muñiz Mangas from the Additive Manufacturing Technologies Group at LORTEK, and Dr. Miriam García, European project manager at the company.

As project coordinator of DISCMAM, Pereira outlines:

“Our role is to focus on the project objectives by ensuring that the project runs smoothly, that we are on track to achieve our goals, and that all team members are informed and focused on their objectives”.

In addition, LORTEK plays an important role in technical tasks related to DED-LB/M methodologies for repairing damaged parts on-site, including 3D scanning and process monitoring systems. This ensures that DISCMAM uses a highly efficient repair technology that can later be applied in the field with a deployable concept.

Collaboration with other EU initiatives

LORTEK, recognized as a Competence Centre in metal AM and joining technologies, boasts extensive experience in EU projects. Over the past decade, LORTEK has coordinated 10 European projects, including 5 related to AM, and participated in 10 others, of which 6 were AM-related. The organization has actively participated in European programs such as H2020/HE, Clean Aviation, Interreg, and EDF. Currently, LORTEK participates in an EDF-2021 funded project named ROLIAC within the defense domain, with our partner DISCMAM, Danish Technological Institute, serving as the coordinator.

The participation of the centre in these diverse projects and initiatives has enabled it to accumulate a set of best practices that it will apply in DISCMAM and continually review. These practices include:

• Implementing a secure infrastructure to protect sensitive information
• Improving operational efficiency by embracing technological advancements like remote assistance and additive manufacturing,
• Investing in research and development to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies.

Moving Forward: Challenges on the horizon

As DISCMAM has already reached its midpoint and sets its sights on the future, the entity is working intensively on creating the project management plan and procedures to ensure the project’s success.

LORTEK, in continuous coordination with the other nine partners of the consortium, is also defining usage scenarios and creating maintenance plans, specifying requirements for selected use cases, and participating in selecting process monitoring systems to include in PBF-LB and DED-LB for developing project innovations. Furthermore, LORTEK actively collaborates to define data flow and IT requirements for the secure digital thread that will be developed in the coming years.

• Project partners convened at the TU/e facilities to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the project’s progress during the initial six-month period, focusing on achievements and planning strategies to tackle future challenges.

The second Consortium Meeting of DISCMAM took place at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Campus in Eindhoven (Netherlands) on the 21st of May, 2024. Hosted by TU/e representatives, the meeting saw the participation of consortium partners from various organizations and institutions involved in the project.

During the gathering, attendees exchanged recent advancements achieved within the first six months and engaged in collaborative discussions aiming to steer progress towards the project’s primary goal: to establish a secure digital thread for remote assistance in defence field operations.

Progress, insights, and next steps

The meeting began with a warm welcome from Rob Basten, the TU/e representative, followed by Juan Carlos Pereira, the project coordinator, and Marta Muñiz, both from Lortek, initiating a day of extensive discussions and decision-making. During this session, DISCMAM organized both the consortium meeting and the second Project Technical Committee to present the current project status and share various ideas to achieve the final objective of DISCMAM.

The first presentation by Lortek focused on management aspects, providing updates on project status, ongoing technical work, and forthcoming milestones and deliverables to ensure agile and effective project progress aligned with predetermined objectives.

Technical presentations by TU/e, Innotec Security, Part of Accenture, Fieldmade, and Lortek stimulated in-depth discussions on preliminary results, maintenance plans for rapid response to equipment failures, and specifications for parts to be manufactured or repaired using metal additive manufacturing (AM). The morning session concluded with an exciting visit to the TU/e facilities, where various activities and the latest machinery in use were showcased.

Guided tour of the TU/e facilities.

Concluding the gathering, partners Zabala Innovation and CenSec provided comprehensive insights into numerous communication and dissemination actions undertaken during the project’s initial phase, including stakeholder analysis and engagement strategies. These efforts encompassed the creation of the official project website, social media campaigns on LinkedIn, and supporting communication materials to enhance the project’s visibility on an international scale.

The session concluded on a positive note, marking significant progress under DISCMAM. While the research is still in its early stages, pivotal strategic decisions have been reached, and forthcoming challenges identified for the upcoming months. Consortium members were encouraged to maintain the productive conversations initiated at the project’s onset and remain dedicated to achieving DISCMAM’s ambitious goals.