Competitiveness in a sustainable way

Manufacturing industries are the backbone of the Finnish economy. According to Technology Industries of Finland, its member companies employ 300 000 people directly and 700 000 people in total. This equals to about 30% of the entire Finnish labor force. The technology industry makes up 51% of Finnish exports.

Accelerating productivity growth requires active efforts from companies. In the long term, the program aims help to create a more positive atmosphere and favorable conditions for the growth of production activities in Finland.

Target groups

The program was targeted to manufacturing ecosystems. Although the program covered manufacturing industries widely, emphasis was placed on machine tool industries, (opto) electronics and photonics, and companies in the industrial digital transformation industry.

Companies and research organizations of all sizes were invited to participate the program. We were looking for collaboration that provides industry with new solutions to increase efficiency, productivity and environmental friendliness.

Key services

1. Promoting innovation nationally

The program helped companies in finding partners and building networks. In addition, the program provided funding for R&D&I activities, and offered help in improving the project plan before submitting the funding application.
More information: Business Finland funding services

2. Promoting innovation internationally: EU funding opportunities

The program helped companies in utilizing EU funding instruments and European cooperation networks. This includes Sustainable Manufacturing EU themed events, that are tailored to meet the needs of Finnish manufacturing industry.

International networking events

EU funding instruments offer numerous opportunities to Finnish manufacturing companies, ranging from scientific to rather close to market actions.

The Finnish national level EU funding advisory service offers free general-level information and advice on EU funding programs and instruments. The most relevant funding instruments for the manufacturing industry include:

• The Digital Europe Programme focuses on bringing digital technology to businesses, citizens, and public administrations.
• The Innovation Fund focuses on highly innovative technologies and big flagship projects with European value added that can bring significant emission reductions.
• The LIFE Programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action.
• The European Regional Development Fund provides funding to public and private bodies in all EU regions to reduce economic, social and territorial disparities.

Horizon Europe is the largest RDI funding instrument in Europe. The National Liaison Office for the Horizon Europe EUTI and national contact points (NCP's) operate in Business Finland and offer free-of-charge services to all Finnish actors interested in Horizon Europe funding.

EUREKA is the world's biggest public network for international cooperation in R&D and innovation, present in over 45 countries. Contact EUTI (euti (at) businessfinland.fi) for advice.

3. Exploring new markets and business contacts for business groups

The program helped companies to find partners and build networks, to enable sharing of ideas for accelerating innovations as well as building new value chains. The target countries of the program were Germany, France, Poland, Japan and Turkey. Sustainable Manufacturing program organized company delegation visits and activities to groups of companies in each of the target countries. To find out more, please contact the Head of Program Toni Mattila.

Germany
German Machine and Equipment business sector is leading in Europe with its EUR 229 bn. value. Germany has a high export rate with relatively low rate of digitalization. Current trends in manufacturing industry are supply-chain diversification, automation and electrification.

France
The second largest economy in the EU offers many opportunities for Finnish manufacturing companies. The manufacturing industry represents 10 % of France’s GDP and invests annually 23 billion to R&D. Growing challenges in France include relatively low rate of digitalization especially amongst large and mid-cap manufacturing companies, industrial automation and IoT, private networks, connectivity and robotics.

Japan
Japan is the 3rd largest economy in the world with 20,7 % of GDP manufacturing industry and 747 million DX related investments (2019). The manufacturing industry in Japan employs more than 10 million people. Current trends in Japanese manufacturing include decline in facility investments, outdated existing manufacturing machines and needs to re-build resilient supply chain, influenced by external factors such as covid crisis, global economic instability and climate change.

Türkiye
Türkiye is the 2nd largest country in Europe with 18 % of GDP manufacturing industry and 8,5 % GDP growth. Growing challenges in Turkish manufacturing include strengthening the international competitiveness and criticality of increasing exports. Current trend in the market is investing in advanced manufacturing solutions, such as cloud/SaaS, IoT platforms and connectivity, analytics & AI and data visualization.

4. Attracting foreign experts to the industry

The aim of the Sustainable Manufacturing Finland program is to help Finnish manufacturing companies grow and internationalize. Companies that are eager and ready to grow and willing to find new markets are welcome to join the program activities. All the activities Sustainable Manufacturing program is organizing can be found below.

Companies can also apply for funding. Please contact our expert through this site.