VERTIKAL Group, listed on the Xtend platform of the Budapest Stock Exchange, has been awarded a grant as consortium leader in the Ministry of Culture and Innovation's "Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas" tender. The consortium - which, in addition to the company, is made up of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Óbuda University - will develop special wheels made of recycled materials and their production technology in large series at the company's Dombóvár site. The value of the grant awarded after a positive evaluation exceeds HUF 674 million, while the total eligible costs are close to HUF 927.5 million.

The Ministry of Culture and Innovation awarded the consortium a grant of HUF 674,058,292 from the NRDI Fund under the "Support for Innovation Projects in Focus Areas " application "2023-1.1.1-PIACI_FÓKUSZ". The total eligible cost of the project is HUF 927,442,636 and its subject is "Development of hybrid production technology based on Industry 4.0, with the value-added use of domestically sourced recycled raw materials".

VERTIKAL is one of the first companies in the domestic environmental management market to implement the concept of the circular economy in its activities, and the project to be implemented under the awarded grant therefore fits in with the company's approach: the development of special wheels and their production technology, made of recycled materials, which can be produced in large series. The main requirement is that the wheels must be suitable for use in applications with high static loads and low speeds. The main focus of development will be to maximise the cost-effectiveness of the product in large series and to maximise the sustainability of the raw materials used. In practice, this will involve significant manufacturing technology, raw material development and data processing to produce a high quality product using recycled raw materials.

To ensure quality in production, Industry 4.0 tools are also needed to analyse production characteristics and predict possible changes in production, in order to react immediately to improve production stability and product quality. The main objective of the consortium is to develop by the end of the project a wheel and the associated Industry 4.0 system that can be produced entirely domestically, in large series and economically, from domestically sourced recycled materials.