We evaluate our cooperation with startups as very successful, as we managed to join the international consortium of a young dynamic Ostrava company TastyAir, which was previously dedicated to the development of mobile games and now specializes in virtual and augmented reality in industry. Together with clusters from Spain and Portugal we are developing an application for learning LEAN processes and modern elements in Industry 4.0. Erasmus+ projects are both beneficial for the development of the clusters and have unquestionable benefits for the members. The so-called gamification of vocational training is a trend that will set the trend in the coming years. Education should entertain students and, above all, engage them and encourage them to continue their education.

Photo from the development of the application on a tablet for a student and his station in the game LEAN40SG, where he assembles his component from lego pieces, according to the manual and monitors the stock level, orders transport to the next station, where another student is already playing. The goal is to assemble as many cars as possible in the given time. The game has a total of 4 rounds where elements of lean methods are introduced and virtual helpers are added in the form of industry 4.0 elements such as collaborative robots or 3d printers, predictive maintenance and others.

Autoklastr successfully organized in Ostrava the final 2-day matchmaking event of the Intonomous project from the COSME ESCP 4i programme aimed at supporting the internationalization of SMEs in third markets in the field of autonomous mobility. During the covid period, we managed to successfully complete trade missions to the USA and the United Arab Emirates, only the mission to Canada was online, where we had the only representative from the Czech Republic, the Autoklastr member company ROBOAUTO. Ostrava as a gateway for innovation for the CEE region and its Innovation Centre (MSIC) together with Autoklastr established cooperation with regions in France for the future development of innovation activities.

Managing Director of Autoklastr Libor Dobes discusses cooperation with the largest automotive cluster in France (NextMOVE), which is a great inspiration for us in many areas.

Autoklastr is also active in other European projectsand networks and is consolidating its position as a trusted and competent partner. We are members of the European Automotive Cluster Network (EACN) and are represented on the Board of Directors and actively participate in working groups. We are partners in the first league of European innovation projects from the HORIZON 2020 INNOSUP call with the AMULET project, which seeks and supports SMEs in the design and construction of lightweight products, with the secondary objective of saving CO2 emissions. We are partners in the COSME European Cluster Excellence project called EVOLUTE, where the main objective is to improve the services offered to members, to develop and provide members with the opportunity to participate in Cluster Exchange. We are presenting the EVOLUTE partnership at our stand at the Cluster Conference in Prague. As the very last achievement, we have joined the first pilot wave of EUROCLUSTER with the RESIST project from September 2022. Five European clusters from France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Austria have launched the first Eurocluster approved by the European Commission for the mobility, transport and automotive ecosystem. The Eurocluster RESIST: “REsilience through Sustainable processes and production for the European automotive InduSTry” aims to help SMEs in their green and digital transition process, as well as to increase their level of resilience in the face of upcoming challenges. To do this, it will mobilize more than 1 million euros in cascading funds through different calls related to five specific areas: networking,
innovation, adaptation, training and internationalization.

Adam Priechodsky, Project Manager, www.autoklastr.cz/en/