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The MARS Platform is being built by the MARS consortium. The goal is for it to be a Digital Marketplace for the Manufacturing Sector and we are on the journey to build this platform. What you will find here is our vision of how this platform could look like in the future. If this is interesting for you, sign-up and join us!

 

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MARS Platform

Explore the MARS Platform

MARS

USP

MARS Platform Prototype

Objectives

Operational Details

EU Project MARS

Investor

Industrial Impact

From order to delivery

MARS PLATFORM

What can MARS do for you?

Are you a Buyer, Customer or an SME?
Click on the buttons and find out what MARS can do for you.

I'm a Buyer

I'm an SME

I'm an Investor/Stakeholder

What is the MARS Platform Prototype?

The MARS Platform Prototype tests a part of the MARS platform, which is a virtual marketplace that connects European SMEs in manufacturing, enabling them to receive and fulfill orders collaboratively. Large orders can be split into smaller lots and distributed across multiple SMEs, allowing smaller manufacturers to participate in supply chains they could not handle alone. Using digital twins, real-time production, and supply-chain data, the platform ensures transparency, optimizes production scheduling, and increases resilience. Its flexible architecture integrates with existing IT systems and can scale across different sectors, helping SMEs survive and thrive in a competitive market.

What is MARS?

The MARS platform is a virtual marketplace that connects European SMEs in manufacturing, enabling them to receive and fulfill orders collaboratively. Large orders can be split into smaller lots and distributed across multiple SMEs, allowing smaller manufacturers to participate in supply chains they could not handle alone. Using digital twins, real-time production, and supply-chain data, the platform ensures transparency, optimizes production scheduling, and increases resilience. Its flexible architecture integrates with existing IT systems and can scale across different sectors, helping SMEs survive and thrive in a competitive market.

Unique Selling Point

Transparency through Explainable AI

Traceability via Federated Learning

Security through Blockchain Storage

What is the MARS Platform Prototype?

The MARS Platform Prototype tests a part of the MARS platform, which is a virtual marketplace that connects European SMEs in manufacturing, enabling them to receive and fulfill orders collaboratively. Large orders can be split into smaller lots and distributed across multiple SMEs, allowing smaller manufacturers to participate in supply chains they could not handle alone. Using digital twins, real-time production, and supply-chain data, the platform ensures transparency, optimizes production scheduling, and increases resilience. Its flexible architecture integrates with existing IT systems and can scale across different sectors, helping SMEs survive and thrive in a competitive market.

Objectives

Goal 1 – Validate the bidding model

Goal 2 – Collect operational of the use of the platform and do a user survey

Goal 3 – Create a MARS cookbook
for potential investors

Goal 4 – Improve the platform through feedback

Operational Details

How the MARS Platform will operate 

Customers can submit requirements and receive matched offers from qualified manufacturers, supported by transparent comparison of key criteria such as cost, lead time, and sustainability performance. The platform facilitates the full procurement workflow, from request and matching to selection and execution, while linking relevant data across the process to ensure traceability, quality assurance, and trust between partners. Integrated feedback mechanisms allow both customers and manufacturers to continuously improve decision-making and platform performance based on real usage insights.



 

EU Project MARS

MARS (Manufacturing Architecture for Resilience and Sustainability) was conceived in response to the COVID crisis and the resulting challenges in supply chains. It is a Research and Innovation Action funded by the Horizon Europe programm. Its aim is to develop an industrial production system that addresses logistic issues while incorporating resilient and sustainable architecture and production methods. The four institutions ENSAM (France), MTI RWTH Aachen (Germany), inspire AG (Switzerland) and MTL NTUA (Greece) form the four production facility platforms.
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Why trust MARS?

  • Radical transparency
  • Traceability & audit trail (blockchain)
  • Trust & certification (digital certification + blockchain mechanisms)
  • Secure data by design (encrypted data + authorized access)

Industrial Impact

Near-Perfect Product Quality
High-resolution sensors teamed with AI-enhanced image interpretation ensure optimum quipment conditions and surface accuracy

Twin Green and Digital Transition
MARS targets substantial reduction in CO2 and waste by monitoring direct machining energy and auxillary infrastructure flows via machine-level Digital Twins.

Fractal Manufacturing Resilience
Manufacturing units dynamically reconfigure and calculate optimum routes based on available capacity during supply-chain crises

From order to delivery

AI-Driven Process Planning (CAPP)
Automatically transforms workpiece features into optimized alternative process chains

Multi-Attribute Auction & Allocation
A Multi-Agent System (MAS) facilitates fest, multi-attribute auctions where manufacturers bid based on price, lead time and carbon emissions.

Proactive Quality Control
Real-time process steering uses Reinforcement Learning and Digital Twins to adjust machine parameters in situ, preventing part scrapping.

Digital Calibration Certificate
Digital Certificate replaces manual certificate ensuring full integration into the industry 4.0 digital ecosystem

MARS for Customers

Did you know that MARS allows you to have extreme flexibility while maintaining product requirements, quality, and sustainability?

  1. Request: Describe the part you need and set what matters for your business: cost, speed, and carbon footprint.
  2. Plan: Before you commit, MARS proposes a feasible process plan (CAPP) so you know the job can be made as specified – reducing rework and quote churn.
  3. Bids: You receive comparable offers from qualified manufacturers on price, lead time, and CO₂, ranked via multi‑attribute optimization – so trade‑offs are explicit, not hidden.
  4. Select: Choose the best‑fit for your objective (fastest, greenest, cheapest – or a balanced option) with a transparent view of the trade‑offs you set.
  5. Produce: The selected partner manufactures the part; quality and process data are captured as evidence, building a tamper‑evident audit trail.
  6. Verify: You get delivery plus verifiable documentation (orders, bids, measurements) linked by smart contracts, strengthening compliance and trust with internal and external stakeholders.

MARS for SMEs

Did you know that MARS allows you to deliver with confidence, and turn every job into proof that boosts your next bid?

  1. Onboard: Present your capabilities, machines, and certifications so the right RFQs can find you.
  2. Match: Receive RFQs that align with your capacity and skills – fewer mismatches, better win rates
  3. Bid: Compete on what buyers actually value: price, lead time, and CO₂ performance -clearly and comparably.
  4. Make: Execute the job and stream process/quality data through the platform’s UI to keep stakeholders informed and reduce disputes
  5. Prove: Your performance is logged with smart‑contracted audit trails – evidence you can reuse for compliance, customer assurances, and differentiation
  6. Repeat: Each successful delivery strengthens your reputation signal on the platform and feeds better recommendations for future bids