Press Releases

In order to achieve the urgently needed climate neutrality in industry and the socienty as quickly as possible, energy requirements must be reduced and resources used more efficiently than before. Many industrial manufacturing processes will have to change significantly to achieve this. In the "R2R NET" network, 20 European partners from industry and research are further developing roll-to-roll systems and processes for their rapid use in production. On September 21, 2022, the partners will present current developments, success stories and the latest generation of production equipment at a workshop. Interested companies and research institutions can register now.

5G already holds enormous advantages for the manufacturing industry, as process sequences can be monitored or mobile robots controlled in real time. But the process industry could also benefit from the new mobile technology: smart sensors can be used to monitor processing operations and predict the probability of component failure. To make the advantages of 5G for the process industry visible, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT from Aachen is installing and hosting a 5G mobile system for the first time at Achema, the leading trade fair for the process industry. The Aachen-based scientists are using a newly developed prototype to illustrate how the status of a pumping system can be monitored in real time. The prototype can be viewed at Achema in Frankfurt from August 22 to 26, 2022, at 5G-ACIA in Hall 11, Booth E3.

At ACHEMA, the world-leading trade show for the process industry, a live private 5G network setup will be showcased at the booth of the 5G Alliance for Connected Industries and Automation (5G-ACIA). The private 5G network is set up in collaboration with Fraunhofer IPT and Ericsson. The live private 5G network and the live exhibitions from various 5G-ACIA members, including AI-Link, Bosch, Ericsson, Fraunhofer IPT, HMS Networks, Keysight, Phoenix Contact and Qualcomm, can be viewed at ACHEMA in Frankfurt, Germany, from August 22 to 26 at the 5G-ACIA booth in Hall 11, Booth E3.

Digital networking of machines and systems offers enormous opportunities to make production chains more efficient, flexible and sustainable. However, small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are uncertain about which specific information technology solutions are suitable for their production environment and what benefits they actually obtain. The "International Center for Networked, Adaptive Production ICNAP", a consortium of three Fraunhofer Institutes in Aachen, is now providing a digital service portal for interested companies, offering them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the benefits of a digital toolbox for networked, adaptive production. As of now, services such as an NC data analysis or an assistance system for the targeted selection of machine learning algorithms can be tested free of charge.

For several years now, 5G has promised to improve production by enabling the monitoring of process flows or, for example, the control of mobile robots in real time. There are numerous companies with an interest in 5G, but many lack the know-how and resources to take the first steps. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has therefore designed a "5G Portfolio", an offering that supports companies on their journey to 5G production, created with Ericsson’s Private 5G network solution. The 5G portfolio ranges from evaluation and testing of various use cases, to in-house network planning and installation. Companies also can test a mobile 5G test system on their own shop floors. The system is provided to the Fraunhofer IPT by Ericsson. This is particularly attractive for small and medium-sized companies, where the initial costs represent a hurdle and the added values of 5G must first be proven.

Today, public cloud systems can be used for outsourcing computationally intensive applications and storing large amounts of data. However, these systems are not designed for millisecond-accurate control of machines in production environments. They are not freely configurable and are difficult to connect to real-time-capable networks. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT has developed the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud in collaboration with other institutes and its partner German Edge Cloud to show companies how they can use local cloud systems to monitor their machines and plants and exchange sensor information. The hardware and software architecture of the Fraunhofer Edge Cloud will be showcased using various example applications from May 30 to June 2 at the Hannover Messe 2022 at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 5, Booth A06.

Since the end of 2019, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has been making research in industrial applications of 5G mobile communication technology – and now the findings from previous research projects are to be transferred to the construction and mining sectors. The aim of a consortium of research institutions and industrial companies in the "5G.NAMICO - Networked, Adaptive Mining and Construction" project is to drive digitization in construction and mining, as well as to increase the efficiency of work processes and relieve personnel of monotonous and dangerous work. To test the possibilities of the technology, our partners are using two newly established 5G networks: one at a reference construction site in Aachen and one in an underground mine in Sondershausen, Thuringia.

From high-gloss brochures to new cars: paint layers that are also supposed to shine in front of customers must be smooth and even to reflect perfect quality. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen, Germany, has developed an interferometric measurement method that can be used to reliably measure whether thin transparent layers of paint have been applied evenly: the possibilities offered by optical coherence tomography (OCT) for measuring such paint layers will be presented to the trade fair by the Fraunhofer IPT using a prototype at Control, the leading international trade fair for quality assurance from May 3 to 6, 2022 in Stuttgart.

Today, the Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente is excited to announce a new identity. To better reflect its commitment to empowering innovation in the manufacturing sector, it is changing name to the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Advanced Manufacturing at the University of Twente (FIP-AM@UT). This new identity more closely represents what it does every day and continues the strong cooperation between the University of Twente and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany – Europe’s largest application-orientated research organization.

In laser processes, deviations in the laser's parameters quickly lead to serious defects in the component, which is why it is ideally necessary to react immediately. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen has developed a modular system based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) that can detect deviations during laser processing. The Fraunhofer IPT will be presenting the new possibilities for measurement and data acquisition in the ongoing process at the trade fair using a prototype at the "Laser - World of Photonics" trade fair in Munich from April 26 to 29, 2022.