Belgium now counts 65 Factories of the Future
On 8 February 2024, for the tenth year in a row, the most future-proof factories in our country were celebrated with an award. A total of ten Belgian companies can now proudly call themselves 'Factory of the Future.' These awards recognize the most advanced and forward-thinking manufacturing companies in Belgium. Additionally, a few companies could renew their titles.
The ten laureates of this 2024 edition of the Factory of the Future Award are Alpha Innovations, Alpro, Anziplast, Bridgestone Aircraft Tire (Europe), Daftrucks, GSK Formulation, Imerys Minerals, Mockel, Oleon, and Ziggzagg. They received their awards, in the presence of an audience of up to 650 people, from Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon and Walloon Vice President Willy Borsus.
Factories of the Future are companies that heavily invest in digitisation, talent development, smart processes, sustainable products, and world-class production. They carefully manage energy and materials, promoting employee engagement, creativity and autonomy. Winners must score at least 8 out of 10 in each of these areas. They can hold the title 'Factory of the Future' for a period of three years, subject to a new audit at the end of that period to determine if the title can be renewed.
This was the case for five other manufacturing companies: Cargill, Danone, Delhez, L’Oréal, and Niko successfully renewed their titles. Borit can now claim the title 'Factory of the Future' for the third time, while Newtec/ST Engineering and Continental have achieved this recognition for the fourth time.
Over the past ten years, the exclusive group of the most forward-thinking manufacturing companies in Belgium has grown to include 65 enterprises.
The Factories of the Future Awards have been an initiative of Sirris and Agoria since 2015, now in collaboration with industry federations Fevia (food), Fedustria (textile, wood, and furniture), and essenscia (chemistry and life sciences), along with innovation clusters Centexbel (textile technology), Wood.be (wood and furniture industry), and the spearhead clusters Flanders’ FOOD (agri-food), Catalisti (chemistry and plastics), the Walloon Agence du Numérique and the 'Industrie du Futur' partners.
Watch the video of ten years of the Factory of the Future Awards.
