The World Manufacturing Forum Foundation was presented today at the Politecnico di Milano’s Aula Magna. Its founding members are Confindustria Lombardia, the Politecnico di Milano, and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (with the support and co-financing of the European Commission and the Lombardy Region).

The Foundation, based in Lombardy—a cradle of the manufacturing sector since the 18th century—is a prime example of collaboration between businesses, academia, institutions, and trade associations. It was established to generate and disseminate a global culture of manufacturing, which serves as a primary driver of wealth and a social equaliser, as a means of further developing advanced economies, and as a fundamental tool for the growth of less developed regions.
Among its many activities, the Foundation will be directly responsible for drafting an annual Report on manufacturing and presenting it during the Annual Meeting, an event that will be permanently hosted in Lombardy from this year onwards. Another core focus of the Foundation’s activities will be the organisation of international regional events, which serve as tools for spreading manufacturing culture.

On the sidelines of the press conference to present the Foundation—attended by Professor Ferruccio Resta, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano; Marco Bonometti, President of Confindustria Lombardia; Dan Nagy, Managing Director of IMS International; Professor Marco Taisch of the Politecnico di Milano; and Fabrizio Sala, Vice President and Regional Minister for Research, Innovation, Universities, Export and Internationalisation of the Lombardy Region—the articles of association for the World Manufacturing Forum Foundation were signed, and Alberto Ribolla was appointed President of the World Manufacturing Forum Foundation.

For Confindustria Lombardia President Marco Bonometti, “The World Manufacturing Forum will establish Lombardy as the global heart of next-generation manufacturing and will represent a model for disseminating our system’s industrial priorities by networking the various regional production specialisations and industrial promotion policies (clusters, supply chains, etc.). For these reasons,” Bonometti continues, “the Confindustria Lombardia system believed in the WMF from the very beginning, promoting the creation of the foundation and providing human and financial resources to the project. Our goal is to enable Lombardy to engage consistently with the most dynamic and innovative regions in the world and to steer not only Lombardy’s industry, but that of Italy and Europe, towards the manufacturing of the future.”

“As a global centre of excellence for innovation, Lombardy is the perfect place to launch this new Foundation and the international headquarters to advance production for all nations,” observed Dan Nagy, Managing Director of IMS International. “Since our first event in 2011, our dream has been to expand the mission, reach, and resources of the WMF. Together with the additional resources from our new partners at Confindustria and the Politecnico di Milano, we will realise this dream. We also intend to reach out to further regional partners to create local events to highlight and seek solutions to local manufacturing challenges. Thanks to the creation of a Steering Committee and General Assembly, we now invite global innovation leaders to join us in shaping the industrial landscape.”

The Vice President and Regional Minister for Research, Innovation, Universities, Export and Internationalisation of the Lombardy Region, Fabrizio Sala, emphasises that “internationalisation for the Lombardy production and industrial fabric is no longer a choice but a necessity. By virtue of the connections it can create, the WMF offers the opportunity to look beyond our borders with ease and develop Lombardy’s potential, enhancing our efficient small and medium-sized enterprises. We must support and promote small businesses and craftsmanship, which require specific measures for innovation, territorial and supply chain aggregation, and digitalisation. We must leverage technology to promote what Lombardy’s hands create worldwide and, in today’s world of work, encourage employers to develop new ideas and technological applications while simultaneously stimulating workers to act with flexibility and a digital mindset,” concluded Sala.

For the Rector of the Politecnico di Milano, “The birth of the World Manufacturing Forum Foundation is fully in line with the initiatives that mark our University’s progress in a context of significant renewal. The challenges posed by Industry 4.0 and the potential of digital technology in advanced manufacturing are among our priorities,” comments Resta. “Challenges that we will face by systematising our skills and human capital, integrating the Foundation into a broad and shared project that sees the university increasingly at the centre of change, with initiatives ranging from the Competence Centre to the redefinition of the Bovisa campus as an innovation district. These shared projects bring together research and business, public and private investment, and project Milan and Lombardy as protagonists on the international stage.”

The World Manufacturing Forum Foundation is an open platform that aims to stimulate and disseminate industrial culture worldwide as a means of ensuring economic equity and sustainable development. The WMF aims to raise awareness and outline cooperative solutions to global manufacturing challenges through dialogue and the sharing of best practices among leading figures from government, industry, and innovation.

The World Manufacturing Forum will be held in Cernobbio (Como), at Villa Erba, on 27 and 28 September 2018.

Attachments

• WMF_Press release 21May18_ITA.PDF
• WMF_General Flyer.pdf