Prospects 5.0 – Implementing Industry 5.0 technologies to automate processes in large and complex composite parts manufacturing

Use Case

Project Overview

The project focuses on facilitating the widespread adoption of Industry 5.0 concepts, which emphasize human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience.
This is achieved through the development of PROSPECTS 5.0, a set of tools and services designed to help companies assess their maturity in these areas,
and provide a roadmap for the effective implementation of digital transformation strategies.
The overall goal is to enhance Europe’s industrial competitiveness and transform businesses into more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive entities.

Timeline & Status

The project is currently at its midpoint, approximately 18 months into its timeline. Regarding this specific use case, TRYGONS has been asked to refine or add to the provided data, according to the KPI Assessment framework developed in the Project, to ensure consistency with the data from other project use cases.

Objectives & Goals

The key objective for the company was to establish a structured KPI framework to effectively identify inefficiencies and guide improvements across key Industry 5.0 areas. This framework aims to:

• Facilitate data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Enhance transparency in production and management.
• Contribute to overall strategic planning by providing a structured approach for the entire project.

Expected Outcomes & Business Value

• Strategic benefits: The company anticipates lasting improvements in its ability to adapt to production variability and market shifts.
• Workforce empowerment: The project aims to enhance operator engagement and decision-making through intelligent, supportive technologies.
• Competitive advantages: By aligning operations with Industry 5.0 principles, TRYGONS strengthens its position as a forward-looking, sustainable manufacturer, offering high-quality, traceable products with reduced waste, increased responsiveness, and greater added value for clients.
• Support for a clear integration strategy: The project provides a structured framework for the company’s digitalization journey.

Impact Summary

• The use case successfully tackled skill gaps in advanced technologies.
• It overcame employee resistance to automation by focusing on human-centric design.
• It led to the development of adaptable, modular production lines.
• The project enhanced operational efficiency, ensured workforce adaptability, and strengthened production resilience.

Technical Stack & Development

The company had already been working on digital transformation through automation and wants to focus on AI-driven monitoring, and predictive maintenance.

Data Strategy

• The documents detail that the PROSPECTS 5.0 project uses both quantitative and qualitative data.
• The data, collected from use case providers like TRYGONS, includes interview transcripts, notes, photos, and videos.
• This information is used to establish a structured KPI framework to guide improvements and make data-driven decisions.
  Data management follows FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and adheres to the grant’s regulations.

Solution Development & Challenges

Problem addressed: The solution addresses key challenges such as limited integration of smart digital systems, reliance on manual processes, and the need to reduce material waste and upskill workers.

How the solution was built: The solution was developed based on a structured approach that integrated human-centric, sustainable, and resilient manufacturing principles, shifting the focus from solely performance-driven initiatives.

Challenges overcome: The project faced and overcame several barriers, including integrating AI and automation, gaining workforce acceptance, and managing the high costs associated with green technology.

Results & Lessons Learned

Quantitative/Qualitative KPIs: The company has successfully digitized key production processes. The KPI tracking tool introduced in Task 2.3 has been integrated into internal workflows and is used regularly to monitor key indicators across human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience. This helps the company visualize progress and make data-informed decisions.

Major Takeaways: The project proved that a structured approach using Industry 5.0 principles is a successful way to manage digital transformation.
A key lesson was that foundational elements, such as data collection and analysis for a KPI framework, are just as critical as more advanced models.
This approach helped the company shift its perspective, proving that digital solutions can be used to balance performance with human-centric, sustainable, and resilient outcomes.

Implementer & Use Case Context

Detailed Activities / Operations / Products / Services

At AETHON Engineering, our core mission is to deliver cutting-edge AI, data science, and software engineering solutions for clients in critical sectors—energy, infrastructure, environment, and industry.
We offer: Data Engineering & Integration, AI/ML Consulting & Modelling, Custom Middleware / Platforms,
Deployment & Operations, and Support & Maintenance. AETHON Engineering is a beneficiary of the PROSPECTS 5.0 project.

Challenges

The primary challenge for AETHON was how to translate the complex, multi-dimensional Industry 5.0 principles (human-centricity, sustainability, resilience) into a quantifiable and practical digital assessment tool.

Identified Needs

AETHON needed to develop a robust custom platform — the PROSPECTS 5.0 web application, capable of integrating diverse data types (interviews, reports, wiki articles, photos, videos) following FAIR principles.

Digital Technologies Maturity

AETHON will develop the PROSPECTS 5.0 platform for organisations that want to assess their progress in Industry 5.0 adoption. It will be a web application where a user can log in, provide information about Industry 5.0 adoption, receive his/her ranking based on the provided data and also receive the use case descriptions of organisations that are at the same and next level and how they evolved (starting from a pool of the project’s use cases) including recognized patterns.