EFPF (European Factory Platform) | European Connected Factory Platform for Agile Manufacturing

EFPF ensured that the Factory platform complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Aligning project objectives and activities with existing laws and standards is a crucial component of EFPF. In order to ease data sharing and standardisation procedures, it also engages in significant engagements with national and European regulation and standardisation organisations on smart industrial automation, data processing, and analytics. The question of which of the increasingly overlapping standards to use as a reference for every particular platform solution confronts researchers and technicians at EFPF. This is a typical issue in any field where standards are in conflict or overlap. 

The strategy used by EFPF is to closely monitor the development of various standardisation initiatives. With the assistance of experts (like ASI, a core partner of EFPF), RTD activities are aligned with ongoing standardisation activities with the goal of adopting existing standards and, when possible, contributing to their development. Based on the nature of technical activities in WP3 to WP7, the following aspects of EFPF are considered relevant to the ongoing standardisation and regulation activities:

• Connecting multiple digital manufacturing tools, services and platforms through APIs and service interfaces to realise a federated platform;
• Exchange of data by the diverse tools, systems and platforms that need to be federated through the Data Spine;
• Establishing interconnectivity and interoperability to most widely used industrial data exchange standards and systems;
• Smart contracting in agile value networks through the use of blockchain technology; 
• Security and privacy of information exchanged between partners in collaboration and also, the information exchanged through the platform;
• Linkage and interoperability of commonly used security protocols; and
• The use of Cloud services for storage and marketplace solutions.

The EFPF project has undertaken standardization activities during its implementation in order to promote interoperability and support the development of new standards. Some of the specific standardization activities that were developed include drafting of documents for the CWA (common workshop agreement) 'European connected factory platform for agile manufacturing interoperability (EFPFInterOp)', which are listed in a dedicated project deliverable. The project did not encounter any significant risks or difficulties related to standardization activities, as the NSB (project partner) applied sound risk management and provided clear guidance on how to mitigate any potential risks. 

After the project's completion, the partners will continue to promote the CWA and the standard way of establishing federated platforms. Additionally, the project has produced deliverables such as the CWAs developed by the CEN-CENELEC workshop EFPFInterOp. 

To strengthen the links between research, innovation, and standardization in the future, it is important to raise awareness of existing standards. This can be done by making more people aware of the standards that are currently in place and reminding them that the standardization process is ongoing. Additionally, encouraging more collaborations between research, innovation and standardization organizations in order to promote research and innovation in a standard-compliant way can also be beneficial.

The project has shown how to integrate the architectural features of several platforms, and how to facilitate cross-platform business activities. The interoperable Data Spine is already constructed and will shortly be verified. By offering tools for data sharing, intelligence exchange, and process optimisation, the project increases the agility of the targeted value networks. A comprehensive federated platform is created by combining the traits of current platforms. Using the open-call mechanism, The Data Spine gives the federated platform an extensible component that enables the integration of other platforms and collaborative tools to be provided through a unified user experience. An ideal alignment between the EFPF tools and relevant standards is made possible by participation in standardisation committees developing standards for strategic areas, but it must be continually evaluated and updated. By participating in strategic standardisation groups, EFPF becomes more visible to important stakeholders and has easier access to information that is directly relevant to the project. The idea of a CEN Workshop Agreement as a deliverable for standardisation has directly benefited EFPF as an ecosystem of digital platforms.