SixLabs Playbook for Industrial Testing and Pilot Environments
About this good practice
The SixLabs Playbook is a comprehensive guide to maximizing the use and impact of Finland's research, development, and educational infrastructures. These infrastructures are crucial for driving industries' green and digital transitions, fostering innovation, improving efficiency, and supporting lifelong learning. The Playbook provides clear guidelines, operational models, and best practices to promote effective collaboration and use among infrastructure owners and users.
Finland has numerous advanced research and training environments, but many remain underutilized or poorly connected. This limits their potential, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often struggle to access and leverage these resources. The SixLabs Playbook addresses these challenges by offering structured methods to identify existing capacities, enhance their utilization, and avoid redundant investments.
Key benefits of the Playbook include:
* Agility and Cost-Efficiency: Faster access to infrastructures, bypassing lengthy investment cycles.
* Enhanced Collaboration: Improved networking between industry, research, and educational stakeholders.
* Strategic Focus: Specialized infrastructures tailored to industrial needs for impactful innovation.
By increasing visibility, establishing shared standards, and fostering networks, SixLabs transforms these infrastructures into dynamic ecosystems, driving growth, innovation, and new opportunities in Finland’s industrial landscape.
Expert opinion
Resources needed
The SixLabs Playbook was developed collaboratively with industry stakeholders, leveraging their expertise and existing resources. No direct funding was required for its creation, as the process utilized contributions in kind from participating organizations, ensuring cost-efficiency.
Evidence of success
SixLabs has addressed scattered information challenges in industrial testing by creating a centralized platform with 16 listed environments so far. It connects universities and companies, fostering collaboration and supporting new product development. By following the SixLabs Playbook, it ensures standardized operations, driving agility, cost-efficiency, and innovation, helping companies access vital infrastructure for growth and development.
Potential for learning or transfer
The success of SixLabs demonstrates strong potential for transfer to other regions, as its ability to address fragmented information and promote collaboration between universities and companies is broadly applicable. The standardized approach in the SixLabs Playbook ensures adaptability, making the model transferable across contexts. The benefits, such as enhanced business development, cost-efficiency, and innovation, are universally relevant. Though infrastructures may vary, maintaining consistent processes between infrastructure owners and users is crucial. Standardization clarifies collaboration, accelerates processes, and reduces risks, laying the foundation for effective infrastructure utilization. This makes SixLabs a scalable initiative for fostering interconnected ecosystems in manufacturing, research, and education globally.