White Papers, Trend Reports and Studies

To provide a basis for the development of digital twins in battery cell manufacturing, this white paper presents a unified definition for the digital twin in battery cell manufacturing, based on existing work.

Systemic innovation success in Europe lags behind its expectations as Europe spends most funding in basic research and development (R&D) while commercialization takes place in other regions such as the US or China. Therefore, this whitepaper aims to enhance the technology transfer for Deep Tech innovations in Europe through developing a framework for actors in Deep Tech ecosystems based on a case study analysis. For this, 25 actors from science and industry in three Deep Tech areas are analyzed – lithium-ion battery cells, semiconductors and electrolyzers. Based on a cross-industrial synthesis, recommendations for actions are derived building on the individual actors’ strengths and weaknesses.

In this study the dynamic characteristics of steel and plastic conveyor belts regarding belt vibrations were carried out.

The aviation industry is also facing a long-term upheaval: The sustainability and efficiency targets formulated in "Flightpath 2050" require new disruptive propulsion concepts and aircraft designs. The importance of propulsion, which today already accounts for up to 25 percent of the value of the entire aircraft, will continue to increase. The short-term fluctuations in demand and the long-term changes required in the context of sustainability mean that resilience is an important issue for aviation.

The "ICNAP Study Report 2021" presents the results of five collaborative research and development studies conducted by the International Center for Networked Adaptive Production (ICNAP) and its industry partners in 2021. They condense current findings, facts, figures, and results from discussion, workshops, research, and development collaborations between researchers and partner companies in the ICNAP community.

Various measurement systems used during optics production generate large amounts of data - in very different data formats. In order to be able to analyze these data consistently and use them in the production process, they must be brought together in a common structure and related to each other. The data structure is thus a central element for describing a digital twin of optical components. The white paper "Development of a data structure for the description of nominal and measurement properties of optical elements" describes the procedure for developing a data structure in JSON format as well as the implementation in a database for process parameters used in optical production.

This paper shows that despite the greatly improved maturity of AM, potential roadblocks can still be found along the whole value chain including the fields of technology, organizations and ecosystems. With the help of four best practices and three real-world case studies, it highlights how those challenges can be overcome today. The case studies reveal that current key opportunity drivers can be found within the digital process chain, in new AM materials, in certified supply chains and in the application of novel business models.

Cell cultures that grow in a three-dimensional form offer clear advantages for drug research: due to their higher complexity compared to simpler single-layer cell cultures, they better represent the conditions of the human body. This opens new opportunities, particularly in drug research: Between 88 and 95 percent of all drugs in clinical trials never reach the market because the results of tests on 2D cell cultures cannot be reproduced in clinical trials. Because 3D cell cultures can better replicate what happens in the human body, they create a more realistic environment for drug testing. This could bring more drugs to market in the future and significantly reduce the development costs of new drugs. In this white paper, we describe the challenges of visualizing 3D cell cultures and how optical coherence tomography (OCT) can be used to reliably visualize them.

As energy conversion systems, Fuel Cells (FCs) enable zero emission mobility and have advantages compared to battery-based powertrains for electric vehicles with high payload and high range requirements. Currently high system costs due to low volume production and technological uncertainty hold back a widespread market distribution.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT has developed a holistic Production Security Readiness Check (PSRC) based on current norms, standards and guidelines, which shows manufacturing companies what security level they are currently at and what risks they are exposed to. Based on the company security level, the PSRC shows options for action that companies can use to close the gap between the security level already achieved and the desired level.