Expansion of the INTEMAC centre infrastructure

Kuřim is one of the largest industrial centres in the Brno hinterland and a main town for the surrounding municipalities. Many people from Brno commute to Kuřim every day. Part of the local industrial zone is the INTEMAC research centre, which focuses on applied research, experimental development and education in the field of engineering production technology. The purpose of the centre is to provide the necessary facilities for research and development as well as space for companies using the technical equipment of the centre.

Due to the full capacity of the centre, it has been expanded to include a new 4.0 production unit, which enables work with metal workpieces that are common in the engineering industry. The new unit has a larger footprint than the previous one, allowing it to work with larger equipment and products than before. The unit consists of a platform connecting the machine tool to the robot, a measuring station and a crane. It enables what is known as an adaptive manufacturing process – the measuring station can assess the quality of the product, and if it finds any imperfections, it will correct the product itself. It can also detect any malfunction in time. This is an innovative smart manufacturing concept that companies can then adapt to their operations hand in hand with the preparation for Industry 4.0. Interested parties can plug their own devices (e.g. a 3D printer) into the unit and use it to test their own technology or to develop features they would like to see in their company. 

The production unit has already been in operation for more than six years and its production was made possible by bringing together researchers from the INTEMAC centre together with staff from private companies. They provided the machine tool, measuring station or robot for the demonstration. In the future, INTEMAC plans to extend the functions of the production unit and experiment with them further.

The production unit demonstrates how the field of engineering production can be innovated. This is good news for companies operating in this sector. Thanks to this project, companies in the engineering industry have the opportunity to use design, testing and measurement technologies without the need for their own investment. These technologies represent large investment costs that individual companies would not be able to finance on their own. This opens the door for companies to use modern technologies and increases their competitiveness. The INTEMAC expansion project also included the addition of presentation and workshop rooms, which were designed to be within direct reach of the production unit. This was done to increase interactivity between the training and laboratory areas and to improve the practicality of training and presentations. In total, the project cost 56 million crowns, of which 21 million crowns were allocated through the ITI.

In the South Moravian region, these companies are associated in the group INDUSTRY CLUSTER 4.0. Studies suggest that the Industry 4.0 approach, also known as the smart factory concept, has the potential to significantly reduce maintenance costs by up to 40%, halve machine downtime and increase labour productivity by more than half. These benefits are particularly important in the context of the Czech Republic, which has long faced problems associated with low labour productivity, which has hindered its faster economic development. Therefore, the Centre’s primary focus is now on adapting companies to the new smart industry. In 2022, for example, INTEMAC opened an experimental space for Industry 4.0 in Kuřim. Companies thus have at their disposal, for example, an automated unit for the clearance of piece production, an autonomous supply truck, camera systems, quality control or localization of movement in space.

At the same time, a new cycle path from Lipůvka was built to the industrial zone. This improved the transport accessibility of the residents commuting to the industrial zone, schools and services. The trail builds on the existing network and leads cyclists to the train and bus station in Kuřim. In Lipůvka it connects to the existing section Lipůvka – Lažany. This creates an eight-kilometre section that allows cyclists to ride off the heavily congested I/43 road.  The cycle path cost CZK 31 million, of which CZK 20 million was subsidised through the ITI tool.