On March 15th, 4flow attended a virtual closing ceremony for the research project ReKoNeT (Data-Based Regulation of Collaborative Value Creation Networks by Means of Protected Transparency) and the related project SmartCoNeT (Smart Control of Customer-Based Collaborative Manufacturing Networks with Secured Transparency). Over 80 project partners from multiple research projects came together to celebrate their success over the last few years.
By using data-driven models to recommend best practices and creating a reference architecture for future digital collaboration, ReKoNeT and SmartCoNeT have aimed to empower small- and medium-sized businesses to transform their value networks. Methods and tools for collaboration were evaluated in five use cases by the industrial partners. Rather than a collection of individual agents focusing on their own interests, networks can become collaborative systems working together and sharing information to improve the overall achievement of all business involved. This would ultimately result in a faster response to changing conditions, thereby improving product quality while shortening delivery times and increasing flexibility. At the same time, each business’s sensitive data are protected. 4flow research has been a partner in the ReKoNeT projects since its beginning in 2018 and SmartCoNeT since it started in 2019.
Project partners include Robert Bosch, Festo, Wittenstein and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. ReKoNeT was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. SmartCoNeT was funded by EUREKA, a network for pan-European research, and its SMART Cluster Program on Advanced Manufacturing.
