BRAIN: Cross-border AI momentum for manufacturing SMEs
BRAIN is a new project connecting organisations in Sweden, Poland, Estonia and Lithuania to build practical knowledge, methods and networks for AI in manufacturing. The goal: create structures that help companies adapt in a fast-changing market.
The focus is simple-make AI understandable, useful and deployable on real shop floors, not just slide decks.
The shared SME challenge
Across the Baltic Sea region, industry is built on small and mid-sized companies with similar constraints-limited time, tight budgets and teams already at capacity.
"We know that many smaller companies are curious about AI but lack the time, resources and the right skills to get started. That is where we want to make a difference".
National support exists, but it's fragmented. By working transnationally, BRAIN pools experience, resources and expertise so companies get a coherent path to AI adoption. "The starting point is that AI must be understandable and directly applicable for manufacturing companies in order to create value".
What the project delivers
The partners are building a shared training model and running hands-on work with companies to validate what actually works. The collaboration helps surface patterns that a single country or company wouldn't see alone. "Working together allows us to see patterns that do not emerge within a single company or country. This creates better conditions for developing methods and structures that actually work in different contexts".
- Data foundations: OT data collection, MES/ERP integration, event logs, labeling basics, and data quality routines.
- Practical starters: Predictive maintenance on time-series data, computer vision for quality checks, production scheduling, inventory and demand forecasting, and energy optimization.
- Tooling and delivery: Model selection, evaluation, monitoring, edge vs. cloud trade-offs, PLC/SCADA integration and API-first patterns.
- Governance and risk: Data protection, audit trails and model risk practices aligned with the EU AI Act.
- Value and adoption: Quick-win pilots, unit economics, KPIs, change enablement and workforce upskilling.
How companies participate
Workshops and joint activities create focused meeting points for companies, cluster organisations and support actors to test, learn and share.
- Hands-on workshops with concrete use cases and reference architectures.
- Sandbox pilots using real (or representative) production data and OT/IT setups.
- Peer reviews and code/model exchanges inside the network.
- Templates, checklists and playbooks companies can apply the next day.
Building the Baltic AI Centre
Even as a preparatory project, the work is setting the foundation for a transnational network-the Baltic AI Centre. It will act as a shared platform for cooperation, knowledge exchange and continuous development.
"The goal is to build long-term structures that companies across the Baltic Sea region can benefit from even after the project ends". Experiences and tools from BRAIN are intended to scale to a wider group of manufacturing companies.
Who's involved
- Countries: Sweden, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania
- Sectors: Manufacturing SMEs and their support ecosystems
- Funding: SI Baltic Sea Neighbourhood Programme
- Source: Based on an original text published by IUC Syd
Upskilling your team
If you're planning training paths for engineers, data teams or operations, explore structured options here: AI courses by job role.
Last updated: 27 January 2026
Your membership also unlocks:
