Innovation Hub
The factory of the future is bright!
Our industry faces fundamental challenges: labor shortages, increasing variability, geopolitical uncertainty, and the growing need for sustainable production. Dark factories do not currently offer a comprehensive answer to the high-mix, low-volume reality in which our companies excel.
Our factories of the future are therefore human-centered, smartly automated, and fully data driven. They combine advanced automation, intelligent planning, flexible employees, and efficient use of raw materials. Technology supports people, not the other way around, so that creativity and expertise yield maximum returns.
Within our powerful innovation network, knowledge partners, government, sector federations, manufacturing companies, and solution providers work together on the productivity of tomorrow. With expertise in digitization, robotics, operator support, and smart planning, more than 1,000 experts are ready to guide companies.
At Indumation, we demonstrate how People, Machines and Production come together in one bright vision, where technology is once again at the service of people, enabling sustainable and future-proof manufacturing.
Visit our booth and:
Discover how technology increases your company’s productivity and sustainability by enabling people, machines, and production to work together more intelligently.
Meet our experts and learn about our broad ecosystem, and benefit from accelerated innovation through collaboration and cross-pollination.
Be inspired by success stories from other companies. Meet up-and-coming talent.
Working together on the future, with and for companies, that is our ambition. Each partner is a gateway to the entire ecosystem and can guide your company to the appropriate support for your technological innovation.
Program
Continuous
Info point & demonstrations on the Innovation Hub
Expert classes on the connectivator stage next to the Innovation Hub
Highlights
Wednesday 4th
11:15-11:45 Photonics as a key digital technology for innovation in various industry sectors | Prof Jürgen Van Erps, FLANDERS MAKE @ VUB
13:30-14:00 Digital success can be built | Peter Verhasselt, Sirris
16:00-17:30 Interactive Matchup Technical Schools, Tech Suppliers & Tech Talents on Indumation 2026 with RTCs
Thursday 5th
15:30
Event: The factory of the future is bright: lessons learned from China
• Keynote Pascal Coppens, China expert
• Debate: Industry & Innovation Partners
17:15 Networkreception Innovation Hub with guided tour
Friday 6th
10:30-11:30 Start 2 AR/VR/XR with demo | Pieter Schutijser, XR expert – VIVES
13:00-14:00 Start2AI operate | Jeroen Smets, engineer Smart Assembly – Sirris
Floor plan
1
Flexible, modular automation for HMLV
Meeting point & Make the Future
19 Vision controlled mechanical separation
17 - 18
Optical and electrical measurements for modeling
Flexible Automation
Productivity through automation and robotics.
With integrated sensors, AI and machine learning, robots can “sense” their environment, interpret data, make autonomous decisions and function in changing, unstructured environments.
2 - 3
Automated quality inspection & defect detection
14 - 15 - 16
Analyse energy, fluid flow and production flow
4 - 5
AI powered support, instructions and training
13 Production planning in high variability
Smart Production Control
Agility through intelligent, data-driven production control.
In a fully digitalised factory, smart planning systems are crucial. They ensure transparency, enable decentralised decision-making and dramatically increase the responsiveness of production processes.
11
AMR’s and Vision
12 Functional Surface texturing
6 - 7 - 8
XR for training and ergonomics
9 - 10 Smart Assembly
Human centered organisation
Flexibility thanks to people. Machines excel at repetitiveness, but it is the creativity, experience and problem-solving skills of people that create true flexibility. Formalising the implicit knowledge of operators is essential for faster training, increasing multi-deployability and efficiently coping with changing circumstances.
Demos
Flexible Automation
1 Flexible, modular automation for HMLV
2 Automated quality inspection
Infraflex is an automation concept in a high-mix, low-volume context, using task-based robot programming, vision-based control and custom tooling integration.
How deflectometry and AI enable precise, fully automated inspection of glossy surfaces, revealing hidden defects and setting a new standard for quality control.
Flanders Make
3 Defect detection without labels
12 Femtosecond Laser
Our vision pipeline uses 3D reconstruction and generative AI to create richly labelled training datasets, reducing cost and setup time for robust vision systems.
This demo shows the potential of texturing surfaces with femtosecond lasertechnology. In this case, we show that we can create a functional surface that increases the quality of the oilfilm, which reduces friction, which increases efficiency and lifespan
Flanders Make
17 Advanced Non-Contact Measurements
Closing the infinity loop for a 3Dprinted robot by using modular CAD design, optical 3D scanning and hyperspectral imaging to verify geometry, identify defects and track wear
Flanders Make
18 From Signals to
19 Automated mechanical separation
The Infinity Lab connects signals in real-time from mechatronic systems to physics-based models and AI analytics, turning raw data into actionable system health insights
Using machine vision and milling machines to automatically separate complex plastics. Targeted machining enables high-quality recycling, which is essential for circularity. VIVES
Sirris
KU Leuven
Demos
Human centered organisation
4 Techtalk: AI-powered technical knowledge
Techtalk outperforms chatbots like ChatGPT by delivering accurate, context-aware answers to technical questions using knowledge graphs that link enterprise data with expert knowledge.
5 Competenceaware training & instruction
6 VR Tire Technician
7 XR for smart training
8 XR analysis for ergonomic workstations
9 Gamified Smart Factory
Flanders Make
10 Application lab Smart Assembly & Production
The Skilled Operator framework shows how AI transforms operator training with automated, competence-based instructions and personalized training to boost productivity and speed up onboarding. Flanders Make
Learn how to correctly replace and adjust heavy vehicle tyres in VR, with immediate feedback during each step. Vives
Train operators in a virtual environment. This XR case simulates maintenance procedures and new technologies, giving insights into behaviour and workplace efficiency.
Want to identify or proactively prevent ergonomic risks in the workplace? Our XR app lets you test workstations virtually and provides instant ergonomic analyses.
Game-based learning for Industry 4.0: through 24 interactive missions, you restore a factory after a cyberattack using AR, digital twins and e-learning
A compact live demo of a connected production setup. This demonstrator shows how assembly, internal logistics and digital connectivity work seamlessly together. It clearly illustrates that getting started with digitalisation and AI as well, can be accessible and practical.
Sirris
RTC WestVlaanderen
Demos
Smart Production Control
11 AMR’s and vision
13 Production planning under high variability
14 Mapping your production flows
Evaluate the potential of advanced vision systems, smart processing algorithms and AMR’s
Playfully test the impact of planning parameters such as reserve capacity and work-in-process reduction on key indicators like throughput and delivery reliability.
Map your production flows. This campaign analyses and improves material flows using real-time data capture and visualisations of buffer levels and machine downtime.
UGent
15 Mobile Energy Monitoring
See live what you consume and produce. The first step towards efficiency.
UGent
16 Turn flow data into actionable insights
20 Autonomous acoustic inspection
21 Access control for operators in OT
The portable, clamp-on system measures up to 2 fluid flow rates and temperatures simultaneously, without interupting processes, real-time and cloud based. The ultimum to optimize the fluid balance and make data driven decisions. Howest
Robotdog with integrated acoustic camera for autonomous inspections. Locates and visualizes audible and ultrasonic anomalies. VIVES
SecuWeb strengthens data security in Flanders, Wallonia and France, and explores how Solid, Blockchain, quantum internet, 5G, AI and IoT contribute to safer data usage.
TUA West
Sirris
We help you innovate!
Running projects, validate your innovation
Thanks to the support of the European Union, Flanders, and the Province of West Flanders, companies can test and validate their innovations within the framework of the following projects:
Manufacturing Excellence 4.0
To remain competitive, manufacturing companies pursue Manufacturing Excellence through continuous improvement in product quality, cost efficiency, delivery reliability, and sustainability, while seeking to anticipate and respond to disruptions. The Manufacturing Excellence 4.0 project addresses this challenge by combining mobile and laboratory infrastructure to demonstrate expertise and technologies on-site and to facilitate and validate industrial research tailored to company-specific cases.
Product Lifecycle Management
End-to-end digitalization - The project develops, in collaboration with companies, a future-proof ecosystem that enables end-to-end digitalization in the manufacturing industry. It focuses on the digitalization of Product Lifecycle Management across the three crucial phases of a product’s life cycle: product design and creation, production, and product validation.
Unlocking Digital Potential
Unlocking Digital Potential supports SMEs in West Flanders in their digital and technological transformation. The project focuses on making the expertise of the university colleges Howest and VIVES accessible, enabling companies to easily respond to the latest developments.
Make the future
Make The Future helps manufacturing companies optimise, digitalise and make their operations more sustainable. It is a joint initiative by Agoria and Sirris for members, offering concrete steps towards a more efficient and future-proof organisation through company analyses, targeted recommendations and hands-on guidance, fully tailored to the company’s own pace.
Financial support
VLAIO helps your business grow. Through financial support in the form of grants, loans and guarantees, VLAIO supports companies that want to innovate, invest and expand internationally. This gives entrepreneurs the support they need to turn ideas into success. Get in touch with one of our business advisors.
With the support of EFRO-Vlaanderen, VLAIO- Fonds voor Innoveren en Ondernemen and Provincie West-Vlaanderen.
Contact us
POM West-Vlaanderen
Bert Vlaminck | bert.vlaminck@pomwvl.be | +32 486 47 22 11
Flanders Make
Hans Descamps | hans.descamps@flandersmake.be | +32 476 48 28 21
Sirris
Karl Verhelst | karl.verhelst@sirris.be | +32 479 36 80 83
Agoria
Tjorven Denorme | tjorven.denorme@agoria.be | +32476 93 58 54
KU Leuven
Dries Vanoost | dries.vanoost@kuleuven.be | +32 497 23 75 89
VIVES
Jonas Lannoo | jonas.lannoo@vives.be | +32 494 03 19 44
UGent
Johannes Cottyn | johannes.cottyn@UGent.be | +32 476 51 90 70
Howest
Charlotte Larmuseau | charlotte.larmuseau@howest.be | +32 472 34 44 32
TUA West
Emmelie Houzet | emmelie.houzet@tuawest.be | +32 485 06 74 94
RTC West-Vlaanderen
Sammy Decoene | sammy@rtcwestvlaanderen.be | +32 493 54 45 92
VLAIO
Koen Verhaeghe | koen.verhaeghe@vlaio.be | 0800 20 555
innovation for ward