The new laboratory, “Proactive Factory Lab”, allows TECNALIA to increase its capacity by 62% compared to the previous laboratory. Furthermore, the Basque Technology Centre and QUBIZ.team are joining forces to bring the laboratory's industrial quantum sensors to market. Additionally, TECNALIA is contributing to improved safety in the Avanzada tunnel in Bizkaia.
Leader in Advanced Manufacturing
The TECNALIA Technology Centre has inaugurated its new Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory. This new space was created to respond to the growing demands for applied and scalable innovation that industry currently faces.
This expansion will allow TECNALIA to increase its capacity by 62% compared to its previous space, growing from 765 m² to the current 1.241 m², and respond to the growing industrial demand for advanced manufacturing required by companies. This demand is estimated to increase between 8 and 10% annually, driving the adoption of new smart technologies and strengthening TECNALIA's position. TECNALIA As a strategic partner to organizations in the development of key technologies that improve the productivity, sustainability, and competitiveness of the industrial sector, we anticipate a 30% increase in the number of industrial tests that can be carried out annually, significantly improving the maturity of the technological developments for their transfer and scalability in the market.
With an investment of €5,5 million in equity and a new surface area of 476 m², the new laboratory, located in the TECNALIA building at Paseo Mikeletegi 7 in the Gipuzkoa Science and Technology Park, was created to proactively anticipate the needs of companies, helping them transform new smart manufacturing technologies into sustainable competitive advantages. Specifically, it aims to reduce the development and validation time of new technologies and increase their maturity for industrialization in key sectors such as machine tools, automotive, aerospace, and energy.
This new space, called “Proactive Factory Lab”This approach is characterized by testing and refining pre-competitive technological solutions in fully functional and scalable environments. It involves conducting tests on both proprietary and other organizations' machinery and production equipment under the most realistic conditions possible, replicating a factory environment to validate the already competitive solution, ready for deployment. This reduces implementation risk and accelerates the process. In fact, a 30% growth in the number of companies served over the next four years is expected in developments related to advanced manufacturing projects.
The fundamental element and key characteristic of this “Proactive Factory Lab” is to optimize performance through the optimal use and integration of artificial intelligence, with the aim of maximizing the productivity of companies.
The design of this new space aims to enhance knowledge transfer to the market, achieving higher levels of technological solution maturity than were previously possible with existing resources. It combines excellence in processes and resources with the possibilities of digitalization and intelligence. All of this allows for a much greater reduction than before in what is known as “death valley”, which separates research from industrial implementation, serving as a bridge between innovation and the market.
TECNALIA It seeks to shorten the time and reduce the risks of that critical phase in which many ideas and technologies stagnate, allowing with this new advanced manufacturing laboratory to move from the theoretical phase to demonstrable reality in a productive environment and making it easier for companies to validate and scale new competitive technologies in a more agile, economical and safe way.
“Proactive Factory Lab” is structured around three main areas available to companies: Advanced and Intelligent Robotics, Design and Optimization of Intelligent Machines, and Intelligent Production Processes. These areas allow companies to address the main technological challenges of the industry from a comprehensive perspective. It is a dynamic and versatile environment that adapts to the requirements of companies based on the needs of their projects.
Advanced and intelligent robotics facilitates the development of solutions based on industrial and collaborative robotics, with a flexible and adaptive approach and advanced interaction with the environment and operators. Furthermore, it allows companies to make the leap to intelligent robotics with high adaptability to production needs and changing environments, deploying robots with learning capabilities to respond to complex processes.
Furthermore, the Intelligent Machine Design and Optimization area is a space equipped for companies with advanced design, development, and experimentation solutions. It focuses on developing future generations of more productive and precise machines, while integrating new functionalities to make them more flexible and adaptable to different production needs. In addition to powerful design and calculation capabilities, it integrates, for the first time, a high degree of machine digitization based on AI. This provides the intelligence required to adapt to the demands of different manufacturing processes and enables user-friendly and intuitive interaction with operators.
Finally, in the area of Intelligent Production Processes, work is underway on the development and optimization of both established and emerging processes such as machining, welding, additive manufacturing, and waterjet cutting. All of this is integrated with a next level of advanced digitalization that enables continuous, real-time process control and optimization to guarantee the quality and integrity of the final product. This leap to an intelligent process allows for greater autonomy in the manufacturing of demanding components and provides operators with support to improve quality and productivity.
“Proactive Factory Lab” is an open and collaborative space where companies are the true protagonists. This morning, the first thematic session organized by [the Proactive Factory Lab] took place. TECNALIAwhere more than 60 companies got a first-hand look at the new laboratory. They also attended various demonstrations of solutions including adaptive welding, machine digitization, flexible robotics, cable robotics, advanced user interfaces, and more. Some of these solutions are already implemented in industrial settings, such as with companies like Ibarmia, Jaso, MTorres, Irizar Forge, Inmapa, Zeatz, Astilleros Murueta, TrebezIA, and Airbus.
During the event, several demonstrations were presented illustrating the proactive factory concept: an adaptive welding solution with iWeld; a mobile collaborative robotics solution with automatic programming based on the part and the operation to be performed; a cable robot solution controlled by a voice interface for automated handling and assembly; and a machine and component digitization solution for advanced diagnostic, monitoring, quality control or maintenance functionalities.
Quantum sensors in industry
On the other hand, TECNALIA and QUBIZ.team, the deep tech A pioneering company in quantum sensing and advanced metrology, based in Bilbao, has signed a framework agreement to promote the development of robust and traceable quantum sensors, ready to operate in real-world industrial environments. The goal is to accelerate the leap of quantum sensing from the laboratory to the market, with a direct impact on efficiency, safety, and quality.
The alliance is based on the Quantum Tech Lab TECNALIA, a pioneering laboratory for the design and manufacture of quantum sensors and a leading center in Europe, has established a unique scientific and technological infrastructure for ultra-resolution sensors based on nitrogen vacancy (NV) centres in diamond, operable under ambient conditions. The facilities are equipped for prototyping magnetometry applications, ranging from identification, magnetic measurement, image analysis, and metrology to positioning applications. These quantum sensors will be key to advancing new applications in the health field, such as drug development, and in industry, through the design of new materials.
The main markets are Biohealth (microscopy sensors, benchtop NMR spectroscopy, compact magnetometers, LabOnAChip, flow analysis systems, brain interfaces…) and Mobility (gyroscopes, magnetic navigation, accelerometers…)
For its part, QUBIZ.team develops devices based on ultra-sensitive quantum sensors, capable of detecting minute variations in magnetic fields, pressure, temperature, or characterizing specific molecules, and integrates them into devices that provide purposeful solutions—from embedded electronics to the edgeIIoT and the data layer— bringing detection accuracy closer to real-world industry problems.
This initiative is part of the BIQAIN strategy – Bizkaia Quantum Advanced IndustriesWith this initiative, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (DFB) is committed to quantum technologies as a lever for social development and business competitiveness, making infrastructure, knowledge and services available to the ecosystem to develop industrial use cases.
“With these innovative infrastructures, we have made a leap forward in the R&D of quantum sensors operable under real-world conditions. With QUBIZ.team, that leap becomes a measurable industrial value.”, says Joseba Laka, director of the Digital Unit of TECNALIA.
As Jorge de la Herrán y Crespo, co-founder and president of QUBIZ.team, points out, “This industrial execution capability is backed by QUBIZ.team's growing presence on the European scene as a benchmark in quantum sensors and metrology.”Recently, the Basque deep-tech company was elected to the Strategic Advisory Board for the European Commission's Quantum Technology FET Flagship, the body that defines the roadmap for these technologies on the continent. “Furthermore, QUBIZ.team leads the Expert Group on Quantum Sensing and Metrology of the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC – European Quantum Industry Cluster), positioning the Basque Country at the center of the sector's decision-making.”, he emphasizes.
“At BIQAIN and Lantik, we see this collaboration as a clear example of how an alliance between a major technology center and deeptech startups can become an engine of socioeconomic prosperity. Initiatives like the one between TECNALIA and QUBIZ.team help to drive the ecosystem, activate collaborative business projects, attract talent and investment, and position Bizkaia as a leading hub for quantum technologies applied to industry.”, emphasizes Valentín García, Director of Innovation at Lantik, the Technology and Innovation company of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia.
Furthermore, this alliance is part of the BasQ program, an initiative promoted by the Basque Government together with the provincial councils to develop and promote quantum technologies in the Basque Country.
Both organizations will work on use cases such as critical asset monitoring, non-destructive inspection, predictive maintenance and magnetic mapping, with pilot projects in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, health, pharma/genetics and rail.
Safety of the tunnels in Bizkaia
Likewise, TECNALIAAs a member of the Bizkaia Tunnel Safety Inspection Body (OITB), he has participated in the review of the safety requirements that the Avanzada tunnel in Leioa, Bizkaia, must have.
The Provincial Council of Bizkaia, responsible for the provincial road network, promotes and coordinates the necessary actions to guarantee compliance with the Provincial Decree on Tunnel Safety (DF135/2006) and its Technical Instructions, ensuring that the infrastructure meets the highest standards of safety and comfort for users. The Provincial Council of Bizkaia entrusts the OITB (Tunnel Safety and Inspection Office), which has been led by TECNALIA for over a decade, with the review of this regulatory compliance.
Thus, after two and a half years of construction, the Avanzada tunnel complies with the Bizkaia Provincial Decree on Tunnel Safety, which now incorporates improvements that increase safety, reduce noise pollution, and promote urban integration. This section of the BI-637, with an average daily traffic volume of nearly 100.000 vehicles, is key to connecting the right bank of the Ebro River with the Rontegi Bridge and the Txorierri corridor. This has presented a challenge in carrying out the work without disrupting traffic, and has included improvements such as: better lighting, ventilation, and emergency systems; evacuation galleries; updated signage; and sound-absorbing screens to reduce noise.
Likewise, the OITB that leads TECNALIA It has participated in the procedures for putting the tunnel into service, including the training of personnel and the carrying out of a full-scale drill with intervention teams and emergency services such as firefighters, Osakidetza, local police and Ertzaintza.
With this project, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has brought the tunnel into compliance with the Provincial Decree on Tunnel Safety in Bizkaia, improving tunnel safety, its integration into the urban environment, and reducing the noise impact generated by traffic in the area. This has resulted in a positive effect for users, both in terms of safety and quality of life.