POM West-Vlaanderen – Fabrieken voor de Toekomst

The Provincial Development Agency West Flanders (POM) strengthens entrepreneurship by encouraging cooperation between companies and their organisations, knowledge institutions, regional policy bodies and social partners, in order to create a sustainable, innovative and internationally oriented economic fabric.

The Factories for the Future initiative focuses specifically on strengthening specific clusters with growth potential in the province, such as new materials, food, blue energy, mechanical engineering & mechatronics, drones, digital health and sustainable construction.

For each cluster, investments are being made in the development of a high-performance innovation network as an optimal breeding ground for the further development of companies in the cluster, both regionally and internationally. To this end, close cooperation between the business world, knowledge institutions and government is being pursued.

West Flanders, the centre of gravity for machinebuilding

Compared to Flanders as a whole, the Mechanical Engineering & Mechatronics cluster in West Flanders accounts for 43% of employees, 60% of self-employed people and 29% of companies in this sector.

 This makes West Flanders the beating heart of mechanical engineering and the manufacturing industry in Flanders. Due to the multitude of applications in various end markets, it is crucial to further strengthen and anchor this sector.

With Factories for the Future - Mechanical Engineering & Mechatronics, there is a strong focus on technological innovation for mechanical engineers, their technology suppliers and their end customers, with POM organising cooperation between industry, government and knowledge institutions.

House of Manufacturing, the gateway to the innovation network

In September 2024, House of Manufacturing was inaugurated in Kortrijk. This open house focuses on technology, innovation and collaboration, offering companies inspiration, support, advice, networking and talent development tailored to their Industry 4.0 challenges.

Located in the vibrant ecosystem of Kortrijk Weide – within walking distance of Howest, Ghent University, Flanders Make, KU Leuven, VIVES and HangarK – and with in-house partners Agoria, Sirris and PTI, the house is the ideal gateway to the entire innovation network with centres of gravity in Kortrijk and Bruges.

Together with the knowledge partners, infrastructure and expertise are being built up to support companies with their Industry 4.0 challenges in the application areas of smart machines, production, product design and operator support.

Visit our booth !

Discover how technology can increase your company's productivity and sustainability by enabling people, machines and production to work together more intelligently.

Meet our experts and learn about our broad ecosystem, and benefit from accelerated innovation through collaboration and cross-pollination.

Be inspired by the success stories of other companies.

Working together on the future, with and for companies, that is our ambition. Each partner is a gateway to the entire ecosystem and can guide your company to the appropriate support for your technological innovation.

Partners at the stand: POM West Flanders, Agoria, Sirris, Flanders Make, Ghent University, KU Leuven, Howest, VIVES, TUA West, RTC West Flanders, VLAIO