Threshold Innovation for Regional SMEs Building Toward Industry 4.0: Process Optimization and Technological Advancement for Post-Pandemic Recovery

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Camosun College serves students, communities, and businesses of Victoria, Vancouver Island, and British Columbia. According to the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, "Canada ranks poorly in both technology adoption and innovation in manufacturing," and this is especially true in smaller cross-sector businesses not connected to large metropolitan areas. Many local SMEs lag in productivity enhancement, process optimization, technology advancement, and innovation potential, so this project focuses on companies at the threshold of change, demonstrating persistence and poised to innovate in a post-pandemic economy. Camosun's project involves nine local SMEs and centres on process optimization and technological advancement, primarily in the areas of chemical modification, digital simulation, materials integration, and mechatronics & automation. Chemical modification focuses on the manipulation of chemical properties to improve taste in food and beverage production. Digital simulation centres on digital twinning (DT) and discrete event simulation (DES) to address efficiency and process analysis. Materials integration encompasses a broad range of options including 3D printing and composite fabrication for product redesign and prototyping. Mechatronics and automation will focus on the manufacturing sector to provide useful cost-effective solutions using standardized approaches to identify process requirements, assess safety considerations, evaluate risks, and provide options that utilize commonly available hardware, electronics, and open-source control systems. These four research streams combine to influence advanced manufacturing for SMEs moving from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 through small-scale process optimization impacting a wide variety of partners ranging from aquaculture and breweries, to electric vehicles and marine transportation, to the culture and the heritage sectors. Central to this project is a dedication to the training of students and employees, not only expanding the number of highly qualified personnel, but building a foundation of understanding, a local and regional learning platform that scaffolds SMEs as they build a more technologically advanced approach to the processes that underpin their businesses. Process optimization is a way of training businesses to think differently; threshold innovation is a way for local manufacturers in the early stages of I4.0 to learn how to grow sustainably and at scale after the recent global pandemic.