‘Rewire’ aims to double remanufactured output, lower resource use and emissions, and build new skills.

Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) will lead a new €6.9m pan-European project to help scale high-quality remanufacturing through robotics, AI and digital twins.

Called ‘Remanufacturing with smart robotics for Wide-scale Redeployment’, or ‘Rewire’, the project is coordinated by IMR with participation from University College Dublin (UCD) and Enterprise Ireland client Dromone Engineering from Ireland, as well as 10 other institutions from eight countries across Europe.

The project’s overall budget is nearly €7.7m, with almost €7m coming from the EU under the Horizon Europe programme.

Rewire aims to double the volume of remanufactured products in Europe, lower resource use and emissions, and build new skills and business models in line with EU net-zero and circular economy goals.

The project plans to achieve these goals by combining digital, automation and circular economy technologies alongside traditional methods to boost manufacturing and remanufacturing output.

Participating organisations, including Universita Degli Studi Di Genova from Italy and Linz Center of Mechatronics from Austria, will address key barriers against industrial adoption and scale-up such as poor traceability, fragmented digital systems, limited robotics, weak decision-support tools and skills shortages.

With funding available until April 2030, Rewire will be focusing on the heavy machinery, automotive and electronics sectors, areas where complexity, variability and cost have traditionally limited innovative processes adoption.

“Rewire represents an important step in building Europe’s capability in advanced remanufacturing,” said IMR CEO Barry Kennedy.

“By combining industrial know-how with robotics, AI and digital technologies, the project will help manufacturers recover more value from products and components, strengthen competitiveness, and support the transition to a more circular and sustainable industrial base.”

Dr Aswin Ramasubramanian, a robotics technologist at IMR, said: “As Rewire coordinator, I am proud to lead this multi-million euro project and bring together a talented European expert team to show that remanufacturing can be just as fast, flexible and trusted as first-time manufacturing, while keeping valuable products and components in use for longer.

“By combining advanced robotics, AI, digital twins and traceability, we want to make it easier for manufacturers in sectors such as heavy machinery, automotive and electronics to recover value, cut waste and build more resilient supply chains.”

Earlier this year, Ireland launched its first European Space Agency Phi-Lab at IMR in collaboration with Amber, the Research Ireland centre based in Trinity College Dublin. The lab is poised to become Ireland’s national platform for space technology development.

In March, University of Limerick joined forces with IMR to design and produce the first 3D-printed liquid rocket engine in the Republic of Ireland, the Lúin of Celtchar.

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