Lithuania – discover new supply chain partners. Engineering and technology success stories and the latest achievements

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Baltic Automotive Components Cluster together with German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (AHK), Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Germany and LINPRA organized an online webinar for companies in engineering and technology fields.

The seminar is useful to all businesses interested in doing business in the Baltic States.

Lithuanian automotive production is currently enjoying the most favourable conditions for growth, yet the market remains far from saturated. Local and German companies are invited to take a look at the country’s rich traditions in engineering, strengthened by the recent arrival of major industry players like Hella and Continental, establish collaborations and discover the latest achievements in Lithuania.

Find the MS Teams webinar video and speakers’ presentations below in the agenda.

November 17, 2020, Agenda:

1) Dr. Kurt-Christian Scheel, Managing Director of German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA): introduction and welcome speech.

2) Alenas Gumuliauskas, Chancellor of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania: overview of Lithuanian eco-system.

3) Florian Schröder, CEO of German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce (AHK): introduction and welcome speech.

4) Giedrius Valuckas,  President of the Lithuanian Association of Free Economic Zones: Lithuania – place for expansion or gateway for German companies.

5) Tobias Pohlschmidt, CEO of HELLA Lithuania: case study of expansion to Lithuania.

6) Darius Lasionis, CEO of Baltic Automotive Components Cluster (BACC): Development of automotive sector in Baltics – engineering achievements and success stories with examples of latest developed solutions for electric vehicle technologies.

7) Q&A.

Moderated by Šarūnė Šablevičienė, Commercial Attaché of the Republic of Lithuania in Germany, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania.

Full video: 

LINPRA is a member of the EIT Manufacturing Consortium

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LINPRA is a member of the EIT Manufacturing Consortium

From 2018 LINPRA is officially part of the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) EIT Manufacturing. A consortium of 17 European countries and 50 partners implement ambitious project “Made by Europe”. LINPRA is currently a partner in 4 EIT Manufacturing projects, in which we invite members of association and other stakeholders to participate.


EIT Manufacturing, Europe’s leading industry innovation network, involves more than two million businesses and almost 30 million persons directly. Its aims are to enhance competitiveness, sustainability and productivity in the manufacturing sector.

The initiative has headquarters in Paris and offices in the Basque Country, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Italy. The aim of EIT Manufacturing is to foster and support cooperation in R&D, training and enterprise creation, robotics, digitalisation, zero-defect manufacturing and additive manufacturing.

More about EIT Manufacturing HERE.


More about the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT):

The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) is an independent body of the European Union set up in 2008 to deliver innovation across Europe. The EIT brings together leading business, education and research organisations to form dynamic cross-border partnerships. These are called Innovation Communities and each is dedicated to finding solutions to a specific global challenge.  EIT Innovation Communities develop innovative products and services, start new companies, and train a new generation of entrepreneurs. Together, we power innovators and entrepreneurs across Europe to turn their best ideas into products, services, jobs and growth.

More about the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs):

The EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities are partnerships that bring together businesses, research centres and universities. They allow:

  • innovative products and services to be developed in every area imaginable, including climate change, healthy living and active ageing
  • new companies to be started
  • a new generation of entrepreneurs to be trained

Through our Knowledge and Innovation Communities, we strengthen cooperation among businesses (including SMEs), higher education institutions and research organisations, form dynamic pan-European partnerships, and create favourable environments for creative thought processes and innovations to flourish. Real sustainable products, services, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, companies, revenue, profit and jobs are emerging from our Innovation Communities, right here in Europe – concrete results from Europe’s, if not the world’s, largest innovation network.

EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities are dynamic and creative partnerships that harness European innovation and entrepreneurship to find solutions to major societal challenges in areas with high innovation potential – and create quality jobs and growth. Since 2010, we have launched eight Innovation Communities.

The Knowledge and Innovation Communities carry out activities that cover the entire innovation chain: training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to the market, innovation projects, as well as business incubators and accelerators. The EIT’s role is to guide the process and set the strategies, but it’s up to the Innovation Communities to put these into practice and provide results.

There are currently eight Innovation Communities and each focuses on a different societal challenge:

LINPRA and INTECHCENTRAS image updated

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The ambassador of the Lithuanian engineering industry, LINPRA, is entering the new year with determination and modernity. The logo, which has been used for many years and represents the association, has changed. Starting from the New Year, the Association and the INTECHCENTRAS technology center, founded by LINPRA, introduces with new logos and a new image.

The previous LINPRA brand has already gained credibility and market recognition. As the LINPRA community grows, as its members improve in technology and beyond, it is high time to bring change to the association’s image. The new LINPRA logo was designed to reflect LINPRA’s core value – its members. The new design is dominated by elements of the movement that symbolize the strong links between organizations: larger and smaller, but equally significant and forming the basis for a successful association. In order to remain recognizable, the new LINPRA logo has the same colours that convey vigour, robustness and constant development.

“Rapid changes on the outside encourage us to improve ourselves. We are convinced that the renewed identity of the Association is a step forward – seeking to be recognized in the context of the global engineering industry as a modern and reliable partner. We are ready for change and for new projects in 2020,” says Darius Lasionis, director of LINPRA.

The identity of the organization has been carefully designed not only to bring modernity to the image, but also to preserve the basic principles and recognizability of the association.

Lithuanian Engineering Industry at Hannover Messe exhibition

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LINPRA together with 10 companies, members of association, will take part and represent the Lithuanian engineering industries sector in one of the largest world’s trade fairs Hannover Messe on April 1–5. Find us at Hall 4, Stand 51 F.

LINPRA also initiates an introductory event focused on doing business in Lithuania. German companies that are already operating in one of the prominent Baltic markets – Lithuania – will share their unique experience. The event will occur on April 2 and will be followed by a networking session.

Find out more about the Lithuanian companies in this list: Hannover_Messe_LINPRA_companies.

For more information regarding the event and LINPRA stand at the exhibition contact rokas.bekeris@linpra.lt.

 

International engineering matchmaking event in Lithuania, March 21

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Kaunas, Park Inn Hotel, K. Donelaičio str. 27 | March 21, 2019 
International B2B matchmaking event  

Lithuania has deep manufacturing and engineering industry traditions – it is capable to deliver quality products with an attractive quality-to-price ratio.

An international engineering B2B event, co-organized by the Engineering Industries Association of Lithuania LINPRA and Enterprise Lithuania, will take place on 21 March 2019 in Kaunas. It will host TOP Lithuanian companies from metal, plastics, electrical, machinery equipment, robotics and other sectors. The matchmaking session is open and kindly invites international guests, interested in finding new suppliers from the Baltic States.

Companies participating in the matchmaking event will be able to book a series of 20-minute meetings with the companies of their interest, in search for opportunities of mutually beneficial cooperation. The event enables a company to meet with up to twelve other companies in just one-day’s session – which is an easy and cost-effective way to find reliable business partners in the Baltics.

Field of interest and main sectors:

  • Metal, plastics and rubber processing
  • Electrical and machinery equipment
  • Automatization, robotics and lasers

The day before the B2B event all guests are also welcome to the international conference “Making Industry 4.0 Real”. Save the date for a two-day business professional event in Lithuania: digital transformation conference on March 20 and B2B matchmaking event on March 21 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

More information HERE.

Registration for the B2B event required. Register HERE.

ORGALIME GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD IN VILNIUS: EUROPE REQUIRES AN AMBITIOUS INDUSTRY STRATEGY

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In order to enable the European technology industry to make a full contribution to the evolution of the Old Continent’s economy and society, in the European Union and its Member States, targeted investment in industrial digitization and innovation must be strongly promoted. Such a position was heard at the General Assembly of members of one of the largest and most influential European industry organizations, the engineering industry association ORGALIME. Orgalime’s General Assembly is the time for the European technology industry to meet, exchange and discuss. This year’s summer edition took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted by LINPRA – Orgalime’s member association.

Delegates from more than 40 organisations of engineering industry gathered to plan the organization’s activities and to participate in a conference, addressing the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, changes and trends in the industry and society.

The event on 12-13 June brought together CEOs from across Orgalime’s members to explore the latest industry trends and burning policy issues at European level, while charting the future for the association in the year ahead.

The meeting began in closed-door sessions where members reviewed the past year’s achievements and discussed a roadmap for the future.

The public event that followed saw representatives from select companies share their experiences and discuss how transformation in the technology industries is driving positive change in Europe’s economy and society.

Contributions from Gintaras Vilda, Lithuania’s Vice Minister of Economy, and Lasionis on behalf of LINPRA gave participants an insight into Lithuania’s status as an emerging powerhouse in industrial engineering and its enormous growth potential.  To cite just one impressive figure: the national industry output jumped by a massive 18 % in the last year alone.

A diverse programme of keynotes and panel debates gave participants the chance to hear directly from some of the country’s most successful technology industry entrepreneurs – with case studies ranging from innovative digitised production models to low-carbon building systems.

Participants of the conference, representatives of engineering industry associations and companies shared their experience on the implementation of technological solutions, which could improve the efficiency of industrial and manufacturing enterprises in several ways. The production volumes of Lithuanian companies operating in this sector have increased by one third, 34 % over the past decade. However, in order to ensure further development of the sector and global competitiveness, it is necessary to focus both private and public sector efforts on creating an investment-friendly environment in the area which has so far been under-emphasized.

The ORGALIME Association, founded in 1954, unites engineering industry organizations. The industries represented by ORGALIME employ nearly 11 million people in the EU and in 2017 accounted for some €2000 billion of output. Association members create about 28 percent of European goods, accounting for about one-third of European Union production exports.

Read more about the General Assembly on ORGALIME page.

LITHUANIAN ENGINEERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LINPRA HAS ADOPTED NEW MANAGEMENT

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Tomas Jaskelevičius, the chairman of the Board of UAB “Progresyvūs verslo sprendimai” (Progressive Business Solutions), was elected as the president of the association LINPRA for the two-year term of office of the Lithuanian engineering industry. According to the newly adopted LINPRA head, the association would not only contribute to the improvement of the business environment and the promotion of exports, but would also help the engineering companies to create higher value-added products and establish themselves among European leaders.

“In recent years, we are witnessing a breakthrough in the Lithuanian engineering industry and growing investment in technological efficiency. However, international competition is also growing, and the output of many companies in this sector is yet to reach a higher added value. Therefore, together with the renewed Association’s leadership, we will strive to promote the competitiveness of the domestic engineering industry and help our companies to reach better positions in the European industrial supply chain. Both, the changing competitive environment and the fourth industrial revolution, mean new challenges for our companies, and LINPRA is ready to help them,” says T. Jaskelevičius.

According to him, although the Lithuanian engineering industry is increasingly recognized as an intelligent and reliable partner in the world, but to their customers they do not yet sell the final product that could be used immediately. Therefore, special attention is needed to change this situation. In addition, the Association’s priorities will continue to be the promotion of business-science partnerships and improvement of the working conditions, improvement of the quality of training of qualified specialists and improvement of education.

The newly elected Presidium and Vice Presidents were elected in the general assembly of LINPRA members, which took place in Vilnius on May 12. For the next two years, Kęstutis Jasiūnas, General Manager of Ekspla, and Arnoldas Šileika, General Director of the Western Shipyard, were re-elected as vice presidents. Also to act as a vice president, LINPRA members have entrusted Gintautas Kvietkauskas, the director of UAB Arginta Group, and the previous president of LINPRA.

“Several recent breakthroughs have taken place – the general Lithuanian engineering industry has grown and the association’s activities have expanded, influence has increased, and leadership has grown. If the engineering industry had been left behind in the margins of public attention, today we can firmly say that we are becoming more and more alert, our needs are taken into account, our aspirations are appreciated and recognized. I believe that the new Presidium of the Association and its executives will continue to successfully use the existing work results that have been reached so far, use all available means and continue their activities in the right direction, maintain and strengthen the influence of the engineering industry sector,” said G. Kvietkauskas, who has been chairing the association for the last four years.

LINPRA members have also appointed the Director of the Association. These responsibilities have been entrusted to Darius Lasionis, manager of the Baltic Automotive Components Cluster (BACC) and Plastics Cluster. D. Lasionis took over the position of director of the association from Gintaras Vilda, the present vice minister of economy of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Engineering Industry Association LINPRA unites over 90 members. An independent self-governing organization represents the interests of its members, working in metal, machinery and equipment, plastics, electrotechnology and electronics sectors on national and international scale.

The turnover of the sector represented by the association in 2017 reached 3.8 billion euro. More than 70 % of Lithuanian manufacturing industry output is exported.

LINPRA – publicly acknowledged at Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition

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LINPRA has been publicly acknowledged for the contribution as a Pledger at Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition and has a pledge in the Digital Skills for Labour Force category.

The Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition brings together Member States, companies, social partners, non-profit organisations and education providers who take action to tackle the lack of digital skills in Europe. Member States can support cooperation among different actors in their country by bringing them together in national Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions.

Specifically, we contribute to the development of vocational competences – including digital ones – for at least 100 trainees and at least 50 VET trainers in the metalworking sector, with the development of a new set of occupational standards, a new VET programme and educational material that matches the skills requirements of the manufacturing industry. In addition, we commit to actively work in the field of vocational guidance and reach at least 6,000 young people and vocational teachers with a mobile STEAM laboratory (InfoMobil), aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the engineering professions and the awareness of the need for digital skills in the manufacturing industry. In order to strengthen vocational training for engineering professionals we aim to establish a sector ‘Professional competence center’, gathering the vocational training centers that provide training programmes relevant to the sector.

Page of Lithuanian coalition.

List of all National coalitions.

 

Digital Innovation Hubs

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The European Commission launched on 19 April 2016 the first industry-related initiative of the Digital Single Market package. Building on and complementing the various national initiatives for digitising industry, the Commission acts to trigger further investments in the digitisation of industry and support the creation of better framework conditions for the digital industrial revolution. One of the more important pillars of the Digitise European Industry effort is the activity to develop a network of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH). A first draft version of the Digtial Innovation Hubs catalogue is online. Lithuanian Digital Innovation Hubs are also in the European DIH network. More information – on European Commission page HERE

Lithuania – in the list of initiatives for the digitisation of industry across Europe

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European Commission observes and provides an overview of National Initiatives for digitising industry. The full list and the map that reflects the status of national policy initiatives in the Member States is provided on European Commission page.

Fifteen national initiatives for digitising industry have been launched across Europe in recent years. With value chains increasingly distributed across Europe, the further digitisation of industry brings challenges that can only be addressed through a coordinated EU-wide effort. Read more about the digitising European Industry Policy HERE.