History

The project is funded by the European Union through the COS-CLUSTER-2020-3-03 call – European Cluster Excellence Programme with the ClusterXchange scheme connecting ecosystems and cities. The activities over the 24-month project will support collaboration between manufacturers of construction materials, furniture, lighting devices, and home automation solutions. EXCELIVING promotes a multidimensional approach to living environments, focusing on a set of elements that have a direct impact on healthy, age-friendly, and sustainable environments. The project aims to address the challenges of the sector by strengthening the transfer of innovations, excellence in cluster management, and interregional collaboration. The ultimate goal is to transform the habitat sector into a greener, more competitive sector.

Involved partners: Habitat Cluster Barcelona (Spain), Smartech Cluster (Spain), Cluster Habitat Sustentável (Portugal), Wellfare Tech (Denmark), Transylvanian Furniture Cluster (Romania)

Implementation period: February 2022 – January 2024
Total project value: Euro 617,490

FGOI is the tangible result of the activation of the European network of clusters in the furniture and wood sector. The project is funded by the COSME program of the European Union, based on the COS-CLUSINT-2020-3-01 Clusters Go International call.

Objectives:

• strengthening collaborations in the European Single Market
• support for European SMEs to enter new non-EU markets
• developing supply chains and business partnerships outside the EU

Furniture Go International aims to help SMEs reach new markets through collaboration and innovation. The project is based on a European strategic partnership between 8 clusters, to enhance cooperation in the furniture sector and related industries within the European Union and in four focus countries: the USA, Canada, Egypt, and South Africa.

Furniture Go International (FGOI) is a project with ambitious objectives, during which partner clusters from 6 European countries mutually share, for the first time, all their knowledge and market experience. The purpose is to design and implement internationalization activities dedicated to SMEs that are members of the clusters and to provide useful and customized tools necessary for approaching markets outside the European Union, particularly the United States, Canada, Egypt, and South Africa.

Involved partners: Transylvanian Furniture Cluster (project coordinator), HABIC – Association cluster of habitat, wood, office and contract sector (Spain), Wood Industry Cluster (Slovenia), Cluster of Czech Furniture Manufacturers (Czech Republic), Interior Cluster Sweden (Sweden), Pro WOOD Regional Cluster (Romania), Bulgarian Furniture Cluster (Bulgaria), HABITAT Cluster Barcelona (Spain).

Implementation period: September 2021 – September 2024
Total project value: Euro 610,274.4

Visit the dedicated website: fgoi.eu

The implementation of the INTRIDE project – Designers as Innovative TRIggers for SMEs in the manufacturing sector has begun, funded by Erasmus+, Soft, Digital and Green Skills for Smart Designers, carried out in partnership with the University of Art and Design – UAD – in Cluj-Napoca, along with other institutions from Spain, Poland, and Italy, and coordinated by the University of Florence. The project’s objective is to create a strong link and continuous interaction between higher education institutions, industry, and intermediaries by developing a common curriculum for software, digital, and sustainable skills designed to activate innovation processes and manage the collaboration ecosystem.

Implementation period: January 2020 – December 2022
Total project value: Euro 975,174

Visit also the page: clustercollaboration.eu and the dedicated site intride.eu

The preparation of the Better Factory project has begun, funded through H2020 – DT-2018-2020 Digitising and transforming European industry and services: digital innovation hubs and platforms. The contracting period is ongoing, with implementation set to start in October 2020. The project aims to provide an integrated innovation framework and a European network that offers manufacturing SMEs a standardized solution to manufacture new and customized products and create services connected to those products. The project is carried out in partnership with 27 other European entities.

Implementation period: October 2020 – September 2024
Total project value: Euro 8,576,163.75

Visit also the page clustercollaboration.eu and the dedicated site betterfactory.eu

Start-up and implementation of the new research project Development of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster through research and innovation services, funded by PN III, Program 2 – Increasing the competitiveness of the Romanian economy through RDI. The project’s aim was to ensure the sustainability of the cluster by developing project management capacity for research-development-innovation (RDI), developing a new product at the cluster level (static-dynamic chair), and providing support services for the internationalization of its members.

During 2019, the PN III project team carried out specific research and development activities for the smart chair, activities finalized with the creation of the prototype and its market launch. This led to the development of MyTesla, an ergonomic chair with built-in pressure and distance sensors for detecting and preventing incorrect posture. The chair is currently patent pending at European level, with the patent application number 19000394.7/EP19000394 submitted.

Project implementation period: July 2018 – July 2020
Total project value: Euro 95,000

Visit also the page: MyTesla the first intelligent office chair (RO)

The creation of a regional structure model able to formulate and promote alternative proposals to public policies in the field of competitiveness. The project 8xS3=Smart Romania, funded by the Operational Program for Administrative Capacity, was implemented by the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, in partnership with the Transylvania IT Cluster and AgroTransilvania Cluster, under the public name Smart Romania. The results include the formulation by the clusters of three public policy proposals on the themes:

• public procurement of food from certified local producers,
• the digitalization of public administration and non-IT SMEs,
• the internationalization of SMEs by the establishment of external representation offices.

Implementation period: October 2018 – January 2020
Total project value: lei 947,447

Visit also the pages:
ForSmartRomania
The Cluj clusters want to change the laws in Romania
Romania could have global business representation offices
Smart Romania – public policy project produced by clusters

The Transylvanian Furniture Cluster became a partner in the Cluj – Future of Work project, the first in Eastern Europe funded by the European Commission through the Urban Innovative Actions research and development program. The project is coordinated by the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and the Cluj Cultural Center and implemented in a consortium of 10 partners. Within this project, 3 scenarios were developed:

• Culturepreneurs 2020, through which 60 entrepreneurs benefit from training courses and a grant to develop and implement their projects;
• Informal labor through which 4 typologies specific to the Pata Rât community were identified: people working in waste collection and sorting, construction workers, skilled workers, and unskilled workers. It is aimed at proposing changes in the organization of work at the city level by integrating marginalized social categories;
• Work 4.0, a scenario generated by the high percentage of jobs that are at a high risk of automation, seeks to facilitate the transition to industry 4.0 and the development of new skills for people in jobs that are at risk of disappearing due to automation.

Project implementation period: November 2018 – December 2022
Total project value: Euro 5,536,808

Visit also the pages:
Cluj future of work: Euro 56 million will be invested to prepare employees for the jobs of the future
diviziadeinovare.ro

The Transylvanian Furniture Cluster – Innovative Cluster of European interest received funding through the Operational Program Competitiveness 2014-2020, Action 1.1.1 – Large R&D infrastructures.

The infrastructure developed through this project consists of two laboratories intended for:

• functional coatings applied to increase the lifespan of furniture and achieve special visual effects, such as premature aging of wood effect, vintage effect
• conducting studies and experiments to develop new materials and composite materials used for the production of plastic furniture with superior characteristics

In addition, the project included activities for innovation and the development of new products in partnership with researchers from other countries, as well as cluster exploitation activities.

Implementation period: September 2016 – January 2022
Total project value: lei 11,575,603.55 (Euro 2.6 million)
Also visit the pages:
The North West Region hosts Romania’s first gold cluster;
TFC – Innovative Cluster of European Interest

Extinderea programului de training și formare de competențe în rândul tinerilor prin accesarea unei finanțări în cadrul Programului Operațional Capital Uman 2014-2020, cu scopul de a sprijini antreprenori la început de drum prin cursuri, traininguri, mentorat și finanțări. Proiectul, denumit formal Learn2DO4Entrepreneurship, a fost implementat cu numele Partener StartUp.

Proiectul a fost realizat de Cluster Mobilier Transilvan, în parteneriat cu CIVITTA, ARIES Transilvania, AgroTransilvania Cluster, Impact HUB Bucharest, Universitatea de Științe Agricole și Medicină Veterinară Cluj-Napoca și Universitatea din Oradea, a demarat în 2018, având o durată de 3 ani.  Grupul țintă al proiectului a acoperit 440 persoane care au beneficiat de cursuri, sesiuni de mentorat și activități practice. Dintre planurile de afaceri propuse de grupul țintă au fost selectate 49, care au fost susținute financiar și prin mentorat și consultanță de specialitate. Cei 49 de antreprenori au primit finanțări de până la 36.000 euro.

Perioada de implementare: ianuarie 2018 – ianuarie 2021
Valoarea totală a proiectului: 12.986.953 lei

Expanding the training and skills development program among young people by accessing funding under the Human Capital Operational Program 2014-2020, aimed at supporting early-stage entrepreneurs through courses, training, mentoring, and funding. The project, formally called Learn2DO4Entrepreneurship, was implemented under the name Partner StartUp.

The project was carried out by the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, in partnership with CIVITTA, ARIES Transylvania, AgroTransilvania Cluster, Impact HUB Bucharest, the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, and the University of Oradea. It started in 2018 and lasted 3 years. The target group of the project covered 440 people who benefited from courses, mentoring sessions, and practical activities. Out of the business plans proposed by the target group, 49 were selected, which were supported financially and through mentoring and expert advice. The 49 entrepreneurs received funding of up to Euro 36,000.

Implementation period: January 2018 – January 2021
Total project value: lei 12,986,953

Visit also the pages:
Facebook – startup partner
Startup Partner – inspiration for entrepreneurs from Ioan Iancu, Salice Cluj-Napoca
Startup Partner – presentation of businesses initiated through the project

The TFC management team, in consultation with member entities, updated the cluster development strategy in August 2015. The new objectives included the establishment of own research and development infrastructures through the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster – an innovative cluster of European interest project, which was submitted for funding through the Operational Program Competitiveness 2014-2020, Action 1.1.1 – Large R&D Infrastructures.

Obtaining funding for the integrated project package within POSCCE, Operation 1.3.1, which allowed for the implementation of 6 investment projects, 2 RDI projects, and 2 ”soft” type projects. These projects were carried out through a partnership between several members of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, under the coordination and monitoring of a project management team at the cluster level.

The two RDI projects resulted in 13 patent applications for new products filed with SOIT (State Office for Inventions and Trademarks), of which one application was also filed with European Patent Office (EPO), and 17 scientific papers published by the partner companies in the project. For example, among the results was the development of integrated solutions for reproducing colors and textures used in the furniture industry, for which new equipment was acquired and technologies less than 3 years old were utilized, as well as research for the design and production of plastic components for the furniture industry.

Implementation period: April 2014 – December 2015
Total project value: lei 48,826,196

Visit also the pages:
Common Strategy – Integrated Project Package
Funding of Euro 6.5 million for the Competitiveness Pole “Transylvanian Furniture Cluster”

Development of the Learn2Do course platform dedicated to young professionals and future professionals, to equip them in practical skills in line with the needs identified in the labor market, in consultation with cluster members.

One of the components of the program is the Learn Consulting Do Consulting course dedicated to students who want to test a career in consulting for access to grants.

The course was created by the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster, in partnership with Agro Transilvania Cluster, the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, “Babeș-Bolyai” University, and Hygia Consult, a member company of TFC. Annually, the course is attended for 4 months by a group of 10 students selected based on their application and interview. Attendance is free of charge, and at the end of the course trainees have the chance to start their careers by taking up a paid internship, where they can put to work their newly acquired skills. The course has had 6 editions until 2020.

Visit also the pages:
LearnConsultingDoConsulting
LCDC – the structure of the educational program

Preparation of the project submitted under POSCCE, Operation 1.3.3 – Support for the integration of enterprises into supply chains or clusters, which led to administrative consolidation, increased trust, and cooperation between TFC members, through participation in national and international trade fairs, as well as cluster visibility, by creating online and offline information and promotional materials.

Implementation period: April 2014 – November 2015
Total project value: lei 387,950

The year the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster was established, when the first common development strategy for the TFC’s reference sector was developed, which considered the extended value chain of furniture and furniture components production.

Preparation of an integrated package of 10 projects in order to obtain funding under the POSCCE, Operation 1.3.1 – Development of businesses support structures of national and international interest – Competitiveness Poles.

Once the project proposal was approved, the Development Strategy of the Transylvanian Furniture Cluster was appraised and validated, forming an integral part of the project package, which included in the operationalization phase: 6 investment projects, 2 RDI projects, and 2 “soft” type projects. The uniqueness consisted in project proposals developed exclusively in partnership between several cluster members, under the coordination and monitoring of a project management team at the cluster level.

Among the results related to the RDI component of the mentioned project package, we highlight: 13 patent applications for new products filed with SOIT, one of which was also filed with the European Patent Office (EPO), and 17 scientific papers published by the partner companies in the project.

Visit the page of the First Furniture Cluster in Northern Transylvania, created with the support of North-West Regional Development Agency