The expertise and physical resources gathered in I*PROMS and the scale of operation will enable a wide range of new technologies and paradigms to be addressed, including:

Microfabrication technology. This will enable the cost-effective manufacture of microsystems products in large quantities in an Autonomous Factory.The European market for microsystem products is expected in the near future to exceed €550 Billion.

Rapid manufacturing technology. This will enhance the competitiveness of the Autonomous Factory by compressing the time-to-market of its products; extended time-to-market has hitherto been a weak area for industry in the EU compared to that in the USA and Japan.

Sustainable manufacturing technology. This will enable the Autonomous Factory to function in an enduring manner by abolishing waste, using resources efficiently, eliminating harmful emissions and manufacturing products that are kind to the environment.

Re-configurable manufacturing technology. This will help meet increased customisability requirements. Adaptable hardware and software components, modules, machine tools and robots that can be easily reconfigured will address a wide range of customer needs for special products, features, and services.

Next generation material processing technology. New materials processing technologies, together with improved co-operation between materials development and manufacturing, will enable manufacturing to meet future materials processing needs.

Multi-agent control technology. Multi-agent technology is inherently simple but robust and capable of handling high degrees of complexity. Its adoption will make possible the sustainable control of the complex distributed systems forming an Autonomous Factory.

Intelligent sensor technology. Intelligent sensors will be the quintessential components of the knowledge-based machines populating an Autonomous Factory. They will enable those machines to gain information about their own states and the state of their environment and optimally adapt their parameters to achieve sustainable operation.

Self-diagnostic, tuning and repair technology. This will contribute to the ability of the Autonomous Factory to operate safely and reliably for sustained periods without human operators.

Total design technology. This will enable close integration of materials, product and process design, as well as the consideration of manufacturing and other activities in the entire product life cycle, facilitating the holistic treatment of human, technological, economic, sociological, ecological and environmental factors.

Automated innovation technology. This will help designers in the creation of the new knowledge-based products that the Autonomous Factory will manufacture.

Advanced modelling and simulation technology. This will embrace methods of capturing total life-cycle product knowledge and creating sophisticated virtual products that can be quickly evaluated for performance, manufacturability, maintainability and marketability.

“Fit" Manufacturing paradigm. This will enable the Autonomous Factory to be responsive to changes in market requirements and reconfigure itself to make new products cost-effectively and rapidly.

“Virtual" Enterprise paradigm. This will allow the rapid, inexpensive and robust assembly of geographically-distributed but electronically-linked modular manufacturing units into a virtual Autonomous Factory to manufacture high value-added products.

Holonic Enterprise paradigm for the Autonomous Factory will produce a more efficient, robust, decentralised and less hierarchical manufacturing organisation. This “soft-systems paradigm will be investigated in concert with the “hard technologies of multi-agent control and reconfigurable manufacturing, which again demonstrates the holistic nature of I*PROMS.

"Individualised" Manufacturing paradigm. This will underpin the economic and fast production of bespoke, high value-added items to satisfy the requirements of individual customers.