Made4U

MADE4U is a Collaborative Project within the EU Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), under the FP7-NMP scheme that funds Research focused on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). MADE4U started on July 1st, 2008 and is planned to finish at the end of June 2012. Indo International is the 13 Member Consortium Project Coordinator.

Made4U aims to research the key business and technology components for the production and bringing-to-market of custom made (personalized) spectacles. This spans two principal areas: a) the design and manufacturing of personalized spectacles (lenses and frames) and b) an innovative business model for bringing the new products to market:

a) Based on the end-user's face and head morphology data, obtained via purpose-made specialized measuring devices, innovative personalized frames will be designed with the help of 3D computer aided methods and techniques. Such products will also use Eyemade (Indo proprietary) progressive lens geometry design technologies. Further manufacturing technologies to be employed: free-form lens cutting and polishing, laser sintering for 'printing' composite and metal frames, small batch anti-reflex and hard-coating lens treatments, and finally, lens tinting and frame part decoration by using groundbreaking 3D inkjet printing technologies.

b) The project will also define and specify in detail an optimized "supply chain". This will span from end-users, and opticians, to RX-Labs, equipment-, lens blanks- and to raw material-manufacturers, to be flexibly configured inside a virtual factory modus operandi. It will eventually prototype and live-test this chain in a number of European markets.

k-int's role in the project is to act as the main systems integrators, providing software components which facilitate the exchange of data between partners in the supply chain and which allow the chain to adapt and devlop over time.