The ambition of DIY4U is to address the blockers of product customisation and small-scale manufacturing and capitalise on the business opportunity by developing an Open Innovation (OI) digital B2B/B2C platform & fablabs (Fabrication Laboratories) for collaborative design and production of personalised or customized Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). The OI B2B/B2C digital platform will allow the European FMCG supply chain, including manufacturers, innovation stakeholders and consumers, to seamlessly collaborate on the digital design and testing of new powdered and liquid FMCG products. The proposed platform will use a hybrid network combined with secure multi-party computation protocols, dealing with sensitive data available on top of an access layer. This approach will open a world of use-cases for integrating the output with digital formulation design tools, including soft matter modelling, process simulation, digital twins, cost and environmental modelling, and artificial intelligent data analytics. The fablabs (Manufacturing Demonstration Facilities-MDFs) will be used for on-demand production of new personalised or customised FMCG products designed using the DIY4U digital platform.

The main objective of DIY4U is to develop and promote the adoption of collaborative production engineering approaches (OI B2B/B2C digital platform & fablabs) in the FMCG sector, spurring rapid production and commercialisation of new/innovative personalised or customised products for the benefit of consumers. To realise this, the consortium will work along strategic objectives, as follows:

• Development of an Open Innovation Digital Platform: The DIY4U digital platform aims to establish and propose clear and transparent links between professionals, consumers and other stakeholders. OI technologies will be deployed and adapted to first design and then realize the digital interfaces, enabling industry users/manufacturers to ‘plug-in’ models for any soft matter products and protecting their IP rights.

• Development of a Knowledge Base (KB) & Open Innovation Technologies: DIY4U aims to develop a data management plan (DMP) enabling the end to end use of disparate collated data, allowing different actors to interoperate seamlessly. Integrated Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Parametric Life Cost Calculation Analysis (LCCA) models, Plug-in soft matter modelling, simulation tools, digital twin of fablabs will be used to develop the knowledge base.
• Ensuring Secure Open Data Exchange & Cybersecurity: The data exchange and skills sharing between designers, makers, users, communities, manufacturers and other actors will be secured in an effective and transparent way, by deploying Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and Blockchain Technology.
• Development of Fablabs (MDF) & DIY4U Training: After analysing user demands and needs, initial small-scale manufacturing trials of the early personalised/customized formulations designed on the platform will be produced and characterized at digitally enabled MDFs.
• Empowering Different Actors in DIY Growth & DIY Products Acceptance: DIY4U will increase involvement of makers, customers and stakeholders by enhancing public and end-user awareness on the DIY creativity aspects by identifying and understanding the needs, behaviours and demands through data collation tools. Non-consortium SMEs will be encouraged to build additional functionality atop the DIY4U platform through series of Open Innovation Competitions (OICs).
• Development of Tailored Business Models to Commercialise DIY4U Concept: Market segments, target customers, tailored business strategy and exploitation plan for the transfer of outputs to other FMCG domains and other consumer product manufacturing sectors will be defined. A post-project business plan and business model for DIY4U business operation will be defined.