The CALIE project (Conversational Assistant for Logistics and Inventory Enhancement) is a concrete response to the challenges of digital transformation in industry. It proposes a new way for operators to interact with digital systems in a production context.

Funded by the WASABI programme (White-Label Shop for Digital Intelligent Assistance and Human-AI Collaboration in Manufacturing) under Horizon Europe, CALIE aims to enhance logistics and inventory management processes within the manufacturing sector.

Operational complexity into digital simplicity

The project addresses a critical issue: the incompatibility between physical tasks and digital systems in industrial environments. In many operations, operators rely on manual interfaces, necessitating constant interruptions to tasks for data entry and action validation.

To address this, CALIE proposes developing a conversational, hands-free assistant based on natural language and integrated with MES systems. This approach enables more intuitive and efficient interactions aligned with operational reality, helping to reduce errors, improve productivity, and increase the overall efficiency of processes.

The role of INOVA+

As a partner and Digital Innovation Centre (Attract EDIH), INOVA+ is playing a cross-cutting role throughout the WASABI project.

Its main responsibilities include supporting the project’s management and coordination, ensuring alignment with the WASABI programme’s requirements, and defining and implementing the strategy for disseminating and exploiting the results.

INOVA+ is also responsible for promoting the project within the innovation ecosystem and among SMEs, and for supporting the replication of the solution in other companies. Meanwhile, it is helping to establish CALIE as a showcase for the application of conversational artificial intelligence in industry and industrial processes.

Next Steps

The CALIE project is being developed by a consortium comprising three entities with complementary expertise:

  • Conservas Pinhais & Cia (the industrial leader)
  • Foodintech, the technology leader
  • INOVA+, responsible for disseminating and coordinating the project.

The consortium will now focus on developing, validating and implementing the solution in a real industrial environment to ensure its effectiveness and promote its adoption in different business contexts.

Thus, CALIE represents a significant step in bringing technology and industrial operations closer together, contributing to a more ground-level digital transformation.