Better Factory experiment FOLD replacing polluting alternatives with stone paper is the winner of the I4MS Disruptors Awards

FOLD introduces modular cobots in the manufacturing process of their innovative products

A Bulgarian manufacturing company, Europack Bulgaria M EOOD, a Dutch artist, Isaac Monte B.V., and a Romanian technology supplier, Oviso Robotics SRL, are the team behind FOLD, the Better Factory Knowledge Transfer Experiment (KTE) that creates stone paper innovative products with modular cobots, winner of the I4MS Disruptors Awards.

Europack has developed and patented a new type of wicket bag from paper made out of stone: stone paper. It is an ecological and recyclable product with characteristics like resistance to water, acids, moth and insects, made from CaCO3, used to produce grow tubes for protection of young vines and trees.

Stone paper grow tubes are sold in the Bulgarian Market, in very limited quantities, after a handmade production process that decreases the competitiveness of the product and avoids quick replacement of plastic based waste in the agro field. That is why Oviso Robotics, a leading provider of bespoke robotic and automation solutions developing solutions with a high degree of flexibility, versatility and adaptability ready for industry 4.0, joined the experiment. As Isaac Monte B.V did, who’s work combines technology, art and science, showing how art can contribute to a strategy of sustainable development.

Collaborative robots to automate the production process

The three of them, under the FOLD experiment, are expanding the production and usage possibilities of a new and promising sustainable material: stone paper. The KTE aims to work on a modular robot, leading the way in using stone paper to replace current plastics and paper in packaging solutions.

With the collaborative robot, they can reduce the human error, speed up the production process, optimize the resources, create a safe interaction with human operators and improve the productivity.

Besides, this collaboration with automation solutions allows them to achieve maximum efficiency in a sustainable cost-saving factory, increase the production volume in 10 more products per unit of time, and provide a cleaner and more ergonomic working environment. It also opens the possibility to expand to new markets with new type of products out of stone paper, such as flowerpots and stationary, with real benefits for the ecology, and new countries.

I4MS Disruptors Awards, boosting innovative projects digitalizing our society

I4MS (ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs) is a European-funded initiative supporting the digital transformation of manufacturing SMEs and mid-caps.

The I4MS Disruptor Awards reward those projects financed under the I4MS umbrella with a more innovative approach, greater business capacity and promoting the digital transformation of our society.