Labs & Centers

The Industry4.0Lab is made by a fully automated assembly and manufacturing line. The high flexibility of the system and the modularity of the configuration allows to test and replicate virtually any variety of manufacturing and assembly system for discrete manufacturing. Moreover, the configuration of the system can be reshaped very quickly and with ad hoc modelling and simulation tools.

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The IoT Lab is dedicated to applied and basic research on topics related to the Internet of Things (IoT). It focuses on the research and design of “open” and “flexible” hardware and software platforms for the implementation of IoT complex systems in support of different vertical application scenarios. The most important of these is Energy Management in Smart Homes/Buildings, with strong connections to the Smart Grid and Smart City themes.

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The objective of the Urbanscope Lab is to help renewing the link between know-how and action in the decision-making processes, public and private, which concern and produce the cities and the urban, as complex spatial, social, economic and institutional processes.

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The BEF Bureau of Entrepreneurial Finance arises from a collaboration agreement signed between Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino with the aim to advance and disseminate world-class scientific research on entrepreneurial finance issues.

The collaboration focuses on initiatives regarding the study of the characteristics of financial actors and internal financing dynamics of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, investment methods and strategies by private equity operators, venture capitalists, business angels and other investors, as well as the analysis of new scenarios linked to the fintech revolution and social impact finance.

BEF undertakes research projects sponsored by central banks, bank foundations, Italian and European government agencies, and private companies.

The centre is dedicated to logistics supporting B2C e-commerce and, more broadly, omnichannel systems. Its research and project development activities focus on designing distribution networks, warehouse solutions (storage, picking, and packing), and last-mile delivery within B2C e-commerce, as well as urban logistics solutions in general.

Special emphasis is placed on the three dimensions of sustainability — economic, environmental, and social — adopting a Supply Chain perspective.
The objectives of the centre are:

• To support sector operators (logistics service providers and retailers, whether online pure players or traditional ones) in understanding current trends and developing effective logistics solutions.
• To develop theoretical frameworks and impact assessment models (economic, environmental, and social) to advance academic knowledge.
• To communicate and promote accurate information to citizens/consumers, increasing awareness of more sustainable purchasing behaviors.

More details: https://www.b2clogisticscenter.polimi.it/

At DEFT Digital, Entrepreneurial and Financial Transformation Competence Center, we set forth to investigate how the interplaying forces of Digital Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Finance strategically disrupt and transform whole industries, firms, and related business models, as well as individual cognition, behavior, and action.

In a context characterized by heavy uncertainty, we recognize how transformation, spanning from the ecosystem level to the individual one, is enacted through the combination of human and technological factors of Digital Innovation (i.e., how digital technologies enable the introduction of novel solutions in the market), Entrepreneurship (i.e., how resources are gathered and organized around new ventures and startups to capture emerging opportunities) and Finance (i.e., how financial resources are allotted and managed).

The multidimensional impact of such factors is analyzed and assessed by applying a wide range of research methodologies (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, experimental, and mixed) and a combination of theoretical lenses stemming from social sciences and computer science, with a cross-industry perspective covering Banking, Insurance, Life Science, New Space and beyond.

The Dunning Centre Europe for International Business is the European subsidiary of the Dunning Centre for International Business based at the Henley Business School in Reading (UK).

Together with the Dunning Centre South Africa, the three centres constitute one of the world’s leading research centres in International Business, active for almost 60 years.

The Economic MInDSET Centre represents a range of economic specialties, including microeconomics, macroeconomics, monetary policy, international economics, international business, industrial economics, innovation, institutions, development, sustainability, econometrics, entrepreneurship and trade.

The Centre  applies a common perspective in both the framing of economics-related problems and the analysis of economics-driven phenomena with the ultimate aim to draw implications for the economic social welfare.

The Centre addresses the issues related to the globalization of economies and firms, the functioning of institutions, industries and markets and their impact on the society, the role of public policies in the economy.

The Energy & Strategy centre supports businesses, professionals, and institutions in fully understanding the enabling trends of environmental sustainability and energy transition as new sources of competitive advantage.
Since its establishment in 2007, it has occupied a nationally recognised position as a centre of excellence for research, integrating skills that enable it to: assess current innovation trends and the economic and environmental sustainability of new technologies; understand and anticipate evolutions in the regulatory framework from the perspective of business operators; study supply dynamics and innovations in the business models of market players; and develop short- and long-term market forecasts, identifying key business opportunities for industry players.
This expertise can be applied to areas ranging from renewable energy and energy efficiency to sustainable mobility, smart ecosystems and decarbonisation pathways for hard-to-abate sectors, as well as the circular economy, digital energy and decarbonisation policy agenda setting.

The Entrepreneurship, Finance and Innovation is engaged in cutting-edge research at the intersection of entrepreneurship, finance, and innovation.

The primary focus areas include entrepreneurial finance and corporate finance, the organization and growth of high-tech startups, the study of innovations in emerging high-tech industries, the economics of science and the social studies of science and technology.

Additionally, the Centre investigates the impact of gender stereotypes on entrepreneurship.

The Centre promotes primarily empirical research, based on econometric techniques, artificial intelligence and qualitative studies.

The research has significant academic impact and practical implications for stakeholders, contributing to a deeper understanding of the dynamics driving innovation, economic growth and societal wellbeing.

The Centre is conducted by the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering Giulio Natta at Politecnico di Milano.

The Centre aims to contribute to the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems, through research, awareness-raising and training activities, which focus on the role of innovation.

It promotes applied research projects and dissemination initiatives, engaging the scientific and student communities, companies and business associations, non-profit organizations and public institutions.

Those initiatives include the Food Sustainability Observatory, which proposes a program of research and dissemination activities, updated annually, on innovation topics for sustainability together with a Community of companies and other key players of the agri-food sector, and the Neighborhood Hub Project Against Food waste, aimed at developing a system of redistribution of surplus food for people in need in urban areas.

Research embraces solutions for circular economy along agrifood supply chains, sustainable and circular food packaging innovations, cross-sector partnerships for food recovery and redistribution in cities and sustainable urban food policies, strategies and tools for the sustainable and inclusive management of agrifood supply chains, sustainable performance management systems, sustainable and collaborative business model innovations and the role of startups and digital technologies.

The Center is internationally known for its pioneering multidisciplinary research at the intersection of technology, medicine and management, with the ambition of fostering a competitive life sciences ecosystem and contributing to an equitable and sustainable health and social system.

The research areas include key topics such as value-based health care, digital and ecological transitions, artificial intelligence challenges, digital therapies, and platform-based innovation.

The Center also works on technology forecasting and future scenarios for the health careecosystem, clinical research and impact assessment of innovations, technology transfer from bench to bedside, new business models, open innovation and startup scaling up. Other areas of research include co-production and management models for chronic diseases, integrated and community-based care, the evolution of health care professions, and new organisational paradigms in health and social care.

The Center works closely with the "Digital Health" and "Life Science Innovation" Permanent Observatories and maintains partnerships with leading institutions, research centers, companies and startups. It aims to innovate the life and health sciences ecosystem by harnessing the transformative power of new technologies, with a focus on digital technologies.

The IMPACT - Strategic investments policy evaluation centre is dedicated to developing and applying a new generation of impact assessment methods. These methods are rooted in the study and understanding of social, economic, and financial relationships and interdependencies.

The Centre leverages a wide array of qualitative and quantitative tools and approaches, including predictive analytics, forecasting, machine learning, statistical inference, econometrics, optimization, network theory, and complex systems. These skills are applied to the development of decision-support systems (ex-ante) and impact evaluation and result reporting systems (ex-post).

The primary areas of application for these competencies include:
• Evaluation of public policies, precision policies, and regulatory impacts.
• Assessment of large-scale strategic investments and infrastructure projects.
• Design of programming models and service management frameworks.

The Innovation & Strategy group integrates three synergistic research areas to understand and enhance the ability of firms, entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurial families to address today’s major competitive challenges:

• Strategic transformation: We study the processes of defining and implementing Purpose—the raison d'être of an organization—which facilitate the alignment of firms' goals, values, and strategic choices.
• Innovation: We explore strategies and organizational choices that foster innovation in firms, with a particular focus on the pivotal role of Open Innovation in driving growth and strategic development through collaborations with external partners.
• Governance: We delve into the distinctive characteristics of Family Firms, with a special emphasis on the role of Family Offices in ensuring the continuity of families, businesses, and wealth across generations.

The center is distinguished by the international excellence of its research activities, as evidenced by numerous publications in prestigious international journals and its leadership roles in high-impact projects and initiatives. It is also characterized by an approach that leverages continuous interaction between research and practice to generate meaningful implications for the strategic development of firms and entrepreneurs.

The impact of the center is realized through numerous workshops, webinars, conferences, report publications, and other collaborative initiatives that annually engage more than one hundred companies and thousands of entrepreneurs and managers in Italy and worldwide.

The Centre groups together researchers in different disciplines working on internationalization and its effects at different levels. It balances the necessity of a deep theoretical grounding with the added value of a strong applied focus.

With our network of partners, we address both economic, management- and policy-related real-world challenges, working with firms, national and international organizations and institutions.

LOEX - Logistics Excellence  promotes research projects related to logistics (funded by companies, institutions, government bodies, and associations), addressing the challenges posed by global mega-trends.

Logistics is defined as encompassing both its industrial and business dimensions, as well as its critical role within the supply chain, which includes relationships with suppliers (of both products and services) and customers. LOEX stands out for its ability to tackle strategic, tactical, and operational challenges, supporting organizational excellence.

The main areas of research and project development include:

• Strategic Design: designing logistics networks, configuring global supply chains, make-or-buy decisions, and defining automation strategies;
• Tactical Planning: planning logistics activities and applying advanced demand forecasting techniques;
• Operational Optimization: improving logistics processes and implementing data-driven approaches to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

The activities of the know-how centre are closely aligned with current mega-trends and transformations, including:

• Sustainability, addressing both environmental and social dimensions, with a focus on reducing impacts along the supply chain;
• Digital Transformation, and the integration of advanced technologies to enhance transparency, traceability, and collaboration in logistics and supply chain processes;
• Artificial Intelligence, including the adoption of techniques (such as machine learning models and natural language processing) and project design (make-or-buy decisions and data lake development);
• Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0, with a particular focus on human-machine interaction and the development of strategies ensuring a transition toward more resilient, flexible, and human-centred logistics and supply chains;
• Omnichannel Strategies, including the design of solutions that enable efficient and integrated management of physical and information flows to meet the needs of an increasingly interconnected market.

LOEX is characterized by a multidisciplinary research team, which includes professors, researchers, and PhD students. The team employs a diversified methodological approach, combining quantitative tools, qualitative analysis, and field and laboratory experiments. The centre maintains an extensive network, actively collaborating with leading companies, institutions, national and international research groups, and the Observatories of Politecnico di Milano, including: "Contract Logistics Gino Marchet," "B2C E-Commerce," "Food Sustainability," "Digital B2B," and "Internet of Things."

With its unique combination of academic rigor and practical relevance, LOEX contributes to advancing scientific knowledge, training professionals equipped to face future challenges, and providing decision-making support for managers and policymakers.

The Manufacturing Group aims to transform the manufacturing sector by developing advanced practices based on emerging automation and digitisation technologies, such as intelligent automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing and digital twin simulation.

The centre specialises in operations management, product and asset lifecycle management, and service design and management, ensuring comprehensive and efficient solutions.
Through collaboration with industries, universities, and international research centres and laboratories, the centre strives to bolster industrial competitiveness, foster innovation, enhance efficiency and quality, and mitigate environmental impact.

Its interdisciplinary environment promotes cutting-edge research, technical expertise, and specialised training to drive the digital transformation of management and engineering processes. By optimising the entire life cycle of products and assets and integrating smart technologies, the centre contributes significantly to the global digital transition (Industry X.0), promoting sustainable, highly efficient solutions that embrace the principles of the circular economy to ensure a resilient, sustainable 'Manufacturing of the Future'.

On the one hand, the Center analyzes the role that digital and immersive technologies play in the dynamics of the business-market relationship, proposing innovative strategies for building attractive engagement experiences for individuals, thanks to laboratories capable of detecting biometric signals.

On the other hand, it is proposed to identify innovative models for the use of data to support marketing and communication decisions in an omnichannel sense.

The MOSAIC - Managing Organizational Systems for Innovation and Change focuses on studying organizational systems—including networks, supply chains, platforms, and ecosystems—and the complex interactions within these systems among people, technologies, and the environment. Its goal is to envision and guide potential design and transformation pathways to achieve improved performance while contributing to a desirable future for society.

Within this conceptual framework, the Centre has developed research in several areas, including:

• Leadership, design, and innovation
• Sustainability in system building
• Organizations and the future of work
• Supply, procurement, and production networks

On these topics, the Centre conducts pioneering scientific research, designs research platforms in collaboration with companies and institutions, offers educational programs, and leads transformative innovation projects.

The OPEX - OPerational Excellence center studies and disseminates knowledge about operational excellence approaches, practices, and tools.

In particular, it focuses on:

• Lean Thinking and how to create value, reduce waste, and develop people for continuous improvement;
• Six Sigma to promote the value of data, improve process control and increase quality;
• Agile to respond quickly to change, adapt to variation, and collaborate with customers to solve a problem.

The Center deals with manufacturing and service industries of all sectors, both from a desing perspective, from an organizational perspective and from a management perspective (planning and scheduling of activities).
Particular attention is paid to the study of the interaction between operational excellence and the dual transition (digital and sustainable) and the use of Artificial Intelligence.

The PLA.NET - Planning Networks center promotes research, training and dissemination of innovative content in the field of value/supply chain planning (planning networks) in the light of digital transformation and the transition to a circular and sustainable economy.

The main research areas are:

• Supply chain planning;
• Value/supply chain transformation through the adoption and improvement of data-driven decision-making processes and the use of digital tools;
• Supply chain transformation to more sustainable models;
• Studying the alignment between the new product development process and supply chain design processes and related business models;

Pla.Net's activities have always aimed at the fusion of academic research and practical design in a continuous and fruitful collaboration with companies and institutions.

Pla.Net researchers contribute to the development of the activities of several Politecnico di Milano assets, such as the Supply Chain Planning Observatory, the Smart and Connected Mobility Observatory, the IotLab Laboratory and the AIRIC Competence Center.

The Re4IT - Reshoring Italy centre is an inter-university research initiative involving research units from four Italian universities: Politecnico di Milano, University of Bergamo, University of Bologna, and University of L’Aquila. It collaborates with the Centro Studi of Confindustria (the General Confederation of Italian Industry).

Coordinated by professors from each university, the center focuses on scientific research and the dissemination of knowledge on reshoring and the reconfiguration of value chains.

It also works closely with institutions and businesses to advance its objectives.

The ReMAPS - Rethinking Management in the Arts and Public Servicescarries is a knowledge center dedicated to innovative research in the Arts and Public Services.

The group works with leading institutions in Italy and Europe to promote research and training activities that support institutions and organizations in rethinking and innovating policies and management.

ReMAPS focuses on how policies and managerial practices are designed and implemented, responding to changes in society and technologies. The group aims to study how technological and digital transformation can lead public and cultural institutions and organizations to improve performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.

ReMAPS adopts a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach thanks to the wide range of skills and established networks of its researchers, which include management engineers, mathematicians, economists, and cultural heritage experts.

The R2MACS - Risk & Resilience Management of Complex Socio-Technical Systems center conducts fundamental and applied research to develop models and methods for managing risk and resilience in complex socio-technical systems - industrial, infrastructural, and service -, supporting decision-making across the entire system lifecycle.

Research specifically addresses uncertainties and challenges posed by the twin transition, climate change, emerging technologies and critical materials, in various industrial and service sectors. The center leverages extensive expertise in several application domains: Critical Infrastructure Resilience (energy, transportation, space), Supply Chain Resilience, Risk Management in complex projects business, and Healthcare Risk Management.

The dynamics and interactions among technical, human, organizational, and social risk factors are analyzed using advanced modeling techniques, as well as qualitative and quantitative assessment methods, including AI and Data Analytics. The center also employs proprietary models and tools.

The Sustainable Management in Fashion & Luxury Industries “Alessandro Brun” centre will create a physical and virtual place for the fashion and luxury industries to discuss sustainability. In doing so, the Centre will orchestrate various actions in four macro-areas: education (training courses and masters), research (projects and observatories), living lab and demonstrator, corporate projects and associations.

With luxury and fashion as the primary research context, the Centre will explore different issues and thematic areas at product, process and supply chain levels, generating policy, practical and theoretical implications.

Building on the 'Sustainability Luxury Academy' launched in 2017, the Centre will support the fashion and luxury industry to drive change in supply chain sustainability, including decarbonisation, circularity and traceability.

Of fundamental importance and relevance is the creation of a Living Lab to give life to the activities, which will be located close to the university campus to facilitate access for start-ups and individuals to benefit from the services and technologies there.

The Knowledge Centre will create ideas, projects, practices, tools, start-ups and trained human resources to thrive with sustainability in the fashion and luxury industry.

TIRESIA is the competence center of the POLIMI School of Management, established in 2013 with the aim of exploring the complex relationship between societal impact, innovation and technology. It positions itself as a benchmark in Italy and Europe in supporting the development of the impact economy.

Through scientific research, university and postgraduate education, training, and the application of innovative tools and methodologies, Tiresia supports the various players in the impact economy ecosystem. Its research areas include impact measurement, impact finance, social innovation, technological innovation, and governance tools for managing complex partnerships. Tiresia’s approach promotes knowledge transfer through an innovative, transformative, and critical perspective.