Iris Ceramica Group in 2022 established a platform to develop joint research activities Joint Research Platform called IRIS.Lab in collaboration with Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, the Department of Design and the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB) of the Politecnico di Milano.

The JRP is concerned with:

> exploring opportunities created by open and user innovation scenarios in the home and future home at the level of product-service solutions related to Iris Ceramica Group’s industrial areas;
> co-produce design challenges to select new product-service ideas designed to curate or improve users’ life experiences;
> support the creation of multidisciplinary knowledge to develop areas of work that can be transformed into product-service ideas, working from the concept phase to materialization and prototyping;
> accompany prototype ideas toward industrial or neo-entrepreneurial development.

IRIS LOGIPACK project

One of the main initiatives of the JRP is the IRIS LOGIPACK project “Circular Solutions for the Sustainable Protection, Handling and Transport of Large Format Ceramic Surfaces,” funded in 2023 by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT) through the Notice of Agreements for Innovation.

The project coordinated by Granitifiandre, an Iris Ceramic Group company, has among its main consultants for Industrial Research and Experimental Development activities Polifactory of the Department of Design and the DEIB Department of the Milan Polytechnic.

IRIS LOGIPACK proposes a 36-month Industrial Research and Experimental Development plan aimed at creating innovative solutions -in terms of smart and circular product-service systems and processes -regarding packaging, handling, transporting and laying of large-format ceramic slabs.

Specifically, the project applies a systemic and experimental approach to the design and prototyping of innovative solutions for primary and secondary circular packaging and smart logistics, configuring an integrated system to identify and track ceramic slabs from the production phase to the logistics-distribution phase (inside and outside the factory), to the laying. These solutions will also have high compatibility with future sustainable goods handling and transportation systems on which Iris Ceramica Group.

ICG RenaisSience HUB

RenaisScience Hub is the Innovation hub of IRIS Ceramic Group. It is a multidisciplinary research and experimentation laboratory created in 2024 by IRIS Ceramic Group in collaboration with Polifactory, within the IRIS LOGIPACK project funded by the Ministry for Made in Italy (MIMIT).

RenaisScience Hub will explore, design, prototype and test innovative solutions for the production, logistics-distribution, installation, use, reuse and recycling of ceramic slabs, with a focus on digital transformation and the transition to the Circular Economy. The Hub will explore the new paradigms of Industry 5.0, the “collaborative industry,” representing a crucial stage of the LOGIPACK project.

RenaisScience Hub promotes a culture of innovation in the ceramic industry through the hybridization of different practices and knowledge in order to create ceramic products that improve the quality of environments and people’s lives while reducing environmental impact. It is an enabling space that promotes interaction between different knowledge and practices, and fosters collaboration between IRIS Ceramic Group, research centers, companies and professionals from different sectors and disciplines, such as design and engineering.

Located in Castellarano (RE), the Hub covers 300 square metres divided into four areas: a Digital Design area that experiments with the use of digital technologies for collaborative design, an Electronic Design area for designing, programming, prototyping and testing electronic and IoT components, and two areas for Digital Fabrication and Making where prototypes can be created, assembled and tested. A Factory Testing Lab, located in the production facility below the RenaiScience Hub, is equipped with machinery and equipment that simulate a production line, allowing for continuous experimentation and testing of new product and process solutions.