Konecranes has launched its new Zero4 research and innovation programme to improve the industrial productivity and competitiveness of Finnish companies.
Finish public organisation, Business Finland, has granted €70 million ($76.4 million) to Zero4, as part of its broader Veturi programme that aims to boost research, development and innovation activities in Finland.
Funding from Business Finland will enable Konecranes and its ecosystem partners to grow their broader research and innovation activities during the next five years.
Konecranes also plans to reinvest €40 million ($43.7 million) into Zero4 during the next five years.
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Zero4 will be a Konecranes-led ecosystem of partners, universities, research institutes and customers working towards the vision of a unified material flow platform, according to the company.
The programme will focus on reducing four major deficiencies in material flows: information barriers, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy consumption and accidents.
The ecosystem is expected to consist of more than 70 partners by 2027.
Konecranes expects the programme to boost its own exports from Finland, and further strengthen its efforts to decarbonise its own operations and value chain as well as to accelerate circularity.
This announcement comes eight months after Konecranes handed over a new, eco-efficient Generation 6 Konecranes Gottwald Mobile Harbor Crane at the Port of Röyttä, Finland.
