EcoSync – CORE IC’s Advanced Conformance Checking Tool developed under the AUTO-TWIN project

Athanasia Sakavara | January 29th 2025

EcoSync – CORE IC’s Advanced Conformance Checking Tool developed under the AUTO-TWIN project

What EcoSync solves and how it alignes with CORE IC's mission

In complex industrial and operational environments, organisations rely on control policies to ensure compliance, efficiency, and strategic alignment. Yet in practice, everyday operations often drift from these predefined rules. This gap between policy and execution can lead to compliance risks, inefficiencies, and hidden operational costs that are difficult to detect with traditional audits.

EcoSync, an advanced conformance checking tool developed by CORE Innovation Centre within the AUTO-TWIN Horizon Europe project, addresses this challenge by transforming compliance into a continuous, data-driven process. The tool reflects CORE IC’s broader mission: bringing research results closer to real industrial application through practical, deployable Industry 4.0 solutions.

EcoSync's Dashboard

1. From Policy to Practice: What EcoSync Solves

EcoSync enables organisations to systematically compare real operational behaviour with predefined control policies. Rather than treating compliance as a retrospective exercise, the platform supports proactive monitoring and decision-making, helping teams identify deviations early and act with confidence.

By combining process mining techniques with policy-driven analysis, EcoSync aligns operational reality with organisational intent, supporting both regulatory adherence and performance optimisation.

2. How EcoSync Works

EcoSync follows a modular, data-driven workflow designed for clarity, transparency, and action:

• User Input
  Users define compliance parameters and evaluation rules through an intuitive interface.

• Data Retrieval
  The platform connects to a System Knowledge Graph to access real-time process execution data.

• Conformance Checking
  Actual workflows are compared against expected behaviour defined by control policies.

• Actionable Reporting
  Results are presented through a clear dashboard, enabling both technical and non-technical teams to monitor compliance and track deviations in real time.

A key differentiator is EcoSync’s intelligent violation management. Detected deviations are automatically classified by severity, allowing teams to prioritise critical issues. For example, a high-severity alert is triggered when an object is misplaced beyond an acceptable threshold, signalling a major process disruption that requires immediate attention.

3. Flexible Policy Framework for Real-World Operations

To accommodate the complexity of industrial environments, EcoSync supports two complementary policy types:

• Optimal Policies, derived from optimisation engines and representing the most efficient workflows based on data.

• Custom Policies, defined by users to reflect specific regulatory, operational, or organisational requirements.

This dual approach ensures that compliance is evaluated not only against ideal efficiency targets but also against real-world constraints and industry-specific rules.

4. Proven in the Real World: From Pizza to Surgical Kits

EcoSync has been validated across different operational contexts, demonstrating its adaptability and robustness. EcoSync was first rigorously tested on a simulated pizza production line, where it ensured every step—from ingredient preparation to baking—adhered to strict efficiency and quality policies.

Its real-world mettle was proven at Croma, a facility responsible for cleaning and sterilizing reusable surgical kits. Given the critical need for absolute adherence to safety protocols, EcoSync plays a vital role. It monitors the entire workflow across four key stations—Cleaning, Washing, Assembly, and Sterilization—ensuring compliance with the highest standards. By leveraging sensor-tracked data, EcoSync helps Croma maintain impeccable quality and efficiency, demonstrating its value in the most demanding environments.

5. Paving the Way for Intelligent and Sustainable Operations

By synthesizing process mining with dynamic policy management, EcoSync establishes a proactive, data-centric framework for compliance. Its architecture, designed for seamless integration with AI-Twins and optimization modules, makes it a strategic asset for any industry where regulatory adherence and process efficiency are paramount.

Ultimately, EcoSync empowers organizations to navigate complex operational landscapes. It not only guarantees policy compliance but also simultaneously drives workflow refinement, enhances sustainability, and fosters a culture of continuous innovation.

Aligning with CORE IC’s Vision

EcoSync exemplifies CORE Innovation Centre’s approach to innovation: developing advanced technologies, validating them in real operational settings, and preparing them for scalable industrial adoption.

Designed to integrate seamlessly with AI-Twins and optimisation modules, EcoSync contributes to a broader ecosystem of data-driven industrial intelligence. Beyond compliance, it supports continuous improvement, sustainability goals, and informed decision-making across complex operations.

By bridging research and real-world application, EcoSync demonstrates how Horizon Europe projects can deliver tangible value to industry, reinforcing CORE IC’s role as a catalyst for practical, human-centric Industry 4.0 solutions.