Cas d'èxit de l'empresa Vottun

DMD Solutions approached ACCIÓ – EEN in 2018 seeking advice to apply for an SME Instrument Phase 1. The project is called: ROBIN, Boost and exploit the value of aircraft failure data.

The project consists of a failure analysis tool to collect operational and failure data from revisions, maintenance, and spare parts of a plane in order to create a database. With this data, they will be able to automate notifications about deadlines for revision and when to replace a part. They are also foreseeing further development of the solution and are able to predict when there are going to be technical failures.

ACCIÓ – EEN team reviewed the SME Instrument Phase 1 proposal and in 2018, the ROBIN project was finally awarded the Seal of Excellence of the SME Instrument program within the Horizon 2020 funds.

EEN provided an assessment of IP protection strategy with the support of a patent agent. The state-of-the-art report delivered by the patent agent reflected that there were family patents that were relevant and could be infringed. It was recommended to DMD Solutions to conduct a freedom-to-operate and a detailed infringement report in the markets where they were willing to operate. It was stated that the solution, as it was planned at the moment, was not patentable. However, it could be subject to a patent if they planned to further develop predictive maintenance.

The ROBIN project was launched into the market in 2019. In December 2019 the EEN partner AD'OCC (France) and ACCIÓ - EEN organized a company mission to Toulouse and learned more about the strong scientific ecosystem in the aeronautics and space fields. An agenda of B2B meetings was also scheduled between Catalan and French companies. DMD Solutions participated in the company mission. The aeronautics sector was one of the most affected and harmed due to COVID-19. DMD Solutions was looking to diversify its engineering services. They had insights that the medical equipment also needed failure and safety analysis to certify its parts/components. They suggested that this analysis could also be done with their RAMS system. ACCIÓ offers a program to subsidize the services of experts on innovation market diversification. We recommended to apply for the service and they are currently working with an expert in the health sector who is helping them identify who are the actors in this new sector and how the failure and safety analysis is currently done so they can search for an adaptation/fit of their system.

"We believe that ACCIÓ – Enterprise Europe Network shows a high level of responsibility to perform their task as a competitive agency with the maximum quality, professionalism and dedication to Catalan companies."

Finally, ACCIÓ – EEN provides legal assessment services with the support of a law firm. DMD Solutions needed legal support for the revision of an agreement with an American company. They want to use the American company’s database as a source of data for their ROBIN solution as it provides added value to their solution. The client-centered approach used with DMD Solutions demonstrates how valuable and useful it is to be in regular contact with the company. The objective is to support the company every step of the way in their needs and provide them with the right service/subsidy to help them step ahead.

DMD Solutions is a good example of the positive impact of the Network services and how it has helped DMD Solutions to make a transition to diversify their innovative offering to other sectors. Thanks to the legal services provided, DMD Solutions has now signed a contract and can work with a valuable database that provides added value to their solution. They expect an increase of the 1.7% of their market share and 3% of their turnover in a year thanks to this contract. In addition, the expected impact of diversifying their business to the health sector will imply to increase in their workforce by 10%.

The company’s ROBIN solution is an efficient failure analysis tool to collect operational and failure data and analyse it using state-of-the-art algorithms based on a new approach to the standard processes of the aeronautics industry. The objective is to support manufacturing, maintenance, and operation companies in the aeronautics industry with their many challenges: optimal maintenance planning, an organized logistic chain, an exigent provider follow-up, and sound reliability for each system of the customer’s tech product, whether it’s an aircraft, a rotorcraft, a UAV or a drone.

Their goal now is to adapt and use ROBIN’s solution to detect failure and analyze the safety of the medical equipment.