Seven European SMEs and companies in the sheet metal forming industry have been selected to receive free services to better characterise sheet metal properties and predict the formation of defects in an early stage of design, forecast part performance and prevent production losses.
The awarded companies applied to the FormPlanet Open Call, which was launched on January 15th and closed on March 31, 2021, offering up to 140,000 euros of financing to SMEs and companies for applying to innovative services. Each applicant proposed a problem to be solved with FormPlanet service offering and applied to receive technical services and advisory support in better characterising and model their materials and parts / components to upcome formability and quality challenges.
The applications were evaluated by an expert committee consisting of six experts from the FormPlanet consortium partners with specific expertise in different areas of knowledge in the sheet metal forming industry and FormPlanet service offering. Proposals were assessed based on the overall fitness of the problem and proposed services to FormPlanet objectives, materials, challenges, resources and its potential replicability and transferability to a number of industrial production sectors, among others.
Out of the 14 applications received from several EU countries, 7 were selected for its high-quality and relevance. The companies selected to receive support from FormPlanet partners include:
| COMPANY NAME | COUNTRY | SECTOR |
| Aerobase Innovations AB | Sweden | Transport |
| Coskunöz Holding | Turkey | Transport |
| Gestamp Spain | Spain | Automotive |
| MA. SRL – Gruppo CLN | Italy | Transport |
| Mubea spol. S.r.o | Czech Republic | Transport |
| Pol-Welding Sp | Poland | Machinery, manufacturing |
| Replasa | Spain | Home Appliances |
FormPlanet partners, together with companies selected, are working now on signing legal contracts and defining the scope of the collaboration. The execution of the services will start in the following weeks and will last until November 2021.
Among the services selected, companies will have access to novel and differentiated metal characterisation tests, in-process control systems and new modelling approaches, as well as materials information and other complimentary services, including consulting or on-demand training.
By getting access to these services, FormPlanet partners aim to help companies in the sheet metal forming industry to solve current formability and quality issues and support the usage of advanced high-strength materials in sheet-metal forming end-users’ sectors.
