European manufacturing industries have to compete with Far East countries. In recent years, approx. 5% of the turnover from this sector has moved from the EU to the Far East, per annum. This EU sector realizes a 1,200 billion Euro turnover with a workforce of 24 million people.

To fight competition effectively, the manufacturing sector of Europe has to transform by moving from:
– resource-based driven manufacturing to knowledge-based driven manufacturing (Lisbon)
– mass-produced single-use products to new concepts of higher added value, custom-made, eco-efficient, and sustainable products, processes, and services (Gothenburg).

Developing and integrating a completely new and breakthrough manufacturing process based on Rapid Manufacturing (RM) achieves this. The IP focuses on products that increase the quality of life of the (European) citizen. The emphasis is on medical and consumer products, customized to the shape of the human body.

CUSTOM-FIT contributes to the Joint IST-NMP Call 1:
– 3.4.3.1-3: This IP deals with one of the central tenets: Rapid Manufacturing
– 2.3.3.1: This IP aims at a more holistic approach to products and associated services creation based on IST. Besides enabling a vertical integration in the value chain and horizontal integration by the ability to transfer the knowledge to other industrial sectors, this IP results in three main technical breakthroughs:
– Automated design system for knowledge-based design of Custom-Fit products.
– Processing of graded structures of different material compositions.
– Rapid Manufacturing for Instant and On-Demand manufacturing of graded Custom-Fit products.

CUSTOM-FIT drastically changes how and where products are designed and made. It creates sustainable, knowledge-based employment, which plays a critical role in safeguarding Europe’s manufacturing industry.