COS-DESIGN-2015-3-03

Call summary

This call for proposals is based on Article 4.1(c) of the COSME Regulation. Its main target is setting-up an action aiming at improving framework conditions for the competitiveness and sustainability of Union enterprises, particularly SMEs.

The challenge SMEs face is to not only master technologies, but also to exploit new ideas. It is challenging to create novelties and invent tools keeping up to existing technologies.

Design-based consumer goods SMEs need to react by continuously reinventing their business models, by changing production and distribution patterns to match the demand expressed by consumers and capture new market trends. In order to remain competitive, these companies have to continue moving towards higher added value products, processes and services. To take advantage of demographic changes and rapidly emerging new market trends, they need market-ready and consumer-oriented solutions.

The call for design-based consumer goods (WORTH) aims to shorten the time-to-market of innovative solutions, remove obstacles to wider application of creative solutions, create or enlarge markets for related products (or services) and finally improve the competitiveness of European SMEs in world markets. Moreover, there is an important potential to replicate the innovations not only in participating SMEs but also across the supply-chain while generating important spill-overs.

Design-based consumer goods SMEs are diverse. Borders between primarily design-driven versus primarily functionality driven consumer goods categories are often not clearly demarcated. They include value chains composed of design, product development, manufacturing and distribution operations of various sectors, including for example textiles, clothing, leather and fur products, footwear, bags and accessories, sports goods, games and toys, interior home decoration products (e.g. furniture, sanitary products, floor, wall and window coverings, table and kitchen ware, glassware), spectacles, watches, jewellery, various cosmetic and beauty products, etc. Not considered will be primarily function-driven consumer goods categories such as motor vehicles, consumer electronics or white goods, although these also increasingly turn to design and emotion to add products value and achieve competitive differentiation