SMILE-DIH

SMILE-DIH is a non-profit organization founded in Parma in 2018 as a non-profit association (legally recognized in 2022) which carries out networking, matchmaking, intermediation and dissemination activities in favor of all types of economic entities, in particular SMEs, and public Local administrations, with the aim of helping them become more competitive by improving the innovation of products / production processes / services, as well as the organization through new digital technologies. In particular, SMILE-DIH promotes the transformation of digital production and operational processes towards the Industry 4.0 approach and the sustainability of the value chain in general. The main activities are: - Awareness Dissemination (Meeting, Workshop, etc.) - Supporting activities to industrial companies for Industry 4.0-based project implementation - Support access to tax breaks provided by Piano Industria 4.0 / Transizione 4.0 - Supporting activities for assessing digital readiness - Supporting activities to facilitate manufacturing companies access to innovation regional ecosystem - Design and delivery of training initiatives - Coordination activities for implementing I4.0-based factories The vision of SMILE-DIH is the achievement of waste free «Lean and Smart factories», where the digital and the physical words are completely connected, data are always available and performance deviations can be monitored in real time and addressed immediately. In this cyber-physical system, people do not waste their time, but can devote themselves, completely, to high-value stimulating activities, delegating calculations and routine tasks to robots and computers. Indeed, in case of problems, the system promptly informs human experts and suggests possible solutions, which can be simulated, tested and finally assessed. The mission of SMILE-DIH is threefold: - Make it understood the importance of ICT technologies as the key element to carry on, conjointly, product and process innovation; - To support SMEs in their pathway toward an Industry 4.0 status, through the preliminary analysis of internal processes and the selection, implementation, integration and customization of emerging and/or innovating ICT technologies; - To develop a fully integrated «Digitally Enabled Lean Toolkit» for operational excellence and performance optimization, especially in MTO, ATO and ETO SMEs. SMILE-DIH is founded by Unione Parmense degli Industriali and University of Parma, granted by the EU (No EPCC2017 / LGH / MS) through the I4MS program. We are also part of the Italian network of Confindustria DIHs to support technological transfer between public and private research centers (Universities, Competence Centers, ecc.), part of the innovation ecosystem of the Emilia-Romagna Region and, since december 2022, partner in DIHCUBE (Digital Italian Hub for Construction and Built Environment) project, the EDIH co-financed by the European Commission and the Italian government, created to bring innovation to the world of construction and which aims to increase the levels of digitalisation of the sector through services aimed at the entire supply chain.