‘Robotics for Floor Tile Placing’ is an innovative and sustainable solution for the construction sector. During the GT4SME online project meeting, consortium partners worked on the business model that can be designed around this technological product.

The third transnational project meeting (TPM) of GT4SME took place online in the middle of the last month, April 2021. As the strategic partnership aims at working on a case-SME during thematic TPMs to boost work-based learning, a case from Serbia was chosen for the virtual workshop.

‘Robotics for Floor Tile Placing’ is an innovative and sustainable solution for the construction sector and, during the project meeting, the case was at the stage of making a third-party funding application for the initiation of a business around this technological product. As presented to the meeting participants, construction workers who are working to place tiles on the floor suffer from various health problems. The digital transformation of this work from ‘manual-human-work’ to ‘robotics’ would contribute to the sustainability of the construction industry by diminishing related health problems. During the workshop, participants worked with the Business Model Canvas tool and identified main components of the future business model, ranging from customers, to partnerships, to revenue models, as well as communication channels. One of the main issues raised was the ‘upskilling / reskilling of workers’ who would either lose their jobs or need to transfer their ‘handwork skills’ to ‘digital skills’ of operating with robotics. The feedback and input of the consortium partners have been gathered and later presented to the case-representatives, in order to improve the business application of the product.

Working online on this case provided the project partners with a virtual work-based learning experience. The consortium had the chance to apply and test the workshop methodology and tools virtually, and to determine the points-to-be-improved until the next thematic TPM.