New SME & Artist Collaboration Guide launched by Better Factory project to transform European manufacturing

Better Factory, an EU-funded project, is pleased to announce the release of its new downloadable guide: “Creativity Meets Industry: A Practical Guide to Transformative Partnerships.” As a culmination of the last four years of this project, this is the ultimate guide to transforming industrial challenges thanks to art-driven collaborations, designed especially for manufacturing SMEs, artists, technology providers and intermediaries.

Connecting the Better Factory project to the guide

The “Creativity Meets Industry” guide is built on the experiences and insights gained from the Better Factory project. Over four years, the project brought together 48 SMEs, artists, and technology providers across Europe to collaborate on 16 collaborative experiments. Together they explored how artistic creativity can be integrated into industrial processes to foster innovation and develop new products and business models.

This guide serves as a practical resource for SMEs and artists who wish to replicate the successful collaborations facilitated by Better Factory. It offers step-by-step guidance on how to form and manage these partnerships, with a focus on solving industrial challenges in innovative ways.

*During Better Factory, team OCCE included a collaboration with Artist Govert Flint, whose chair prototype using wood can be seen here*

What’s inside the “Creativity Meets Industry” guide

The guide provides structured advice on several key areas, including:

Framing industrial challenges: Instructions on how to identify and define challenges within the industry.
Matchmaking: Guidance on connecting with artistic partners who can contribute to solving these challenges.
Team formation: Strategies for building effective, interdisciplinary teams that include technical, artistic, and business mentors.
Iteration cycles: A methodology for art-driven experimentation that supports iterative development.
Business modelling and innovation: Tips for developing sustainable business models and exploring new market opportunities.

Artist Jesse Howard and SME Fiction Factory worked together during Better Factory and used software to dynamically create objects from left-over sheet material in CNC production, making shelving units, stools and wall cladding. Photo by Iñigo Puerta Uranga.

About Better Factory

The Better Factory project was funded by the European Union to help manufacturing SMEs become more competitive through innovation. By facilitating collaborations between SMEs, artists, and technology providers, Better Factory has developed new approaches to product https://bit.ly/BetterFactorytoolkitdevelopment and industrial processes. The project tested 35 experiment results, producing 12 digital tools and an IoT platform. These outcomes demonstrate the potential of art-driven innovation in the industrial sector, and the guide aims to share these learnings with a broader audience.