PRODUCING MORE EFFICIENTLY - 1/2013" IFFOCUS - Fraunhofer IFF
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»IFFOCUS 1/2013 PRODUCING MORE EFFICIENTLY ER-WIN INNOVATION CLUSTER Greater Energy Efficiency in Saxony-Anhalt’s Companies DIGITAL SIMULATION OF OPERATIONS Analysis of the Stork System HEATING WITH PAINT AND PLASTIC WASTES Cutting Disposal and Heating Costs
16th IFF Science Days June 18 – 20, 2013 www.iff.fraunhofer.de
We are well on our
» way to making the idea
of resource efficient «
production reality.
Prof. Michael Schenk,
Editorial
Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation
and Automation IFF. Photo: Dirk Mahler
Dear Readers,
Europe is rethinking its strategy and planning quality and efficiency and flexibility in order enable industry to manufacture largely with
its reindustrialization. A robust industry will to keep European businesses competitive volatile, renewable energies alone while they
be the foundation for safeguarding prosper- against their competition all over the world. simultaneously boost their energy produc-
ity long term. Statistics have been recording On the other hand, this ambitious undertak- tivity. We are also developing technologies
noticeable deindustrialization on the conti- ing should not torpedo the European Union’s that empower factories to manufacture even
nent since 2000 at the latest. Official figures climate targets, which are intended to reduce more greenly. We are interfacing companies,
reveal that industry has dropped from making greenhouse gas emissions significantly by equipment and information systems and thus
up twenty-two percent of the European 2020 and beyond. In certain respects, Ger- assuring more reliability and efficiency. We
economy at that time to fifteen percent to- many should be able to serve as a model for are also integrating new robots in production
day. The reason is that many European states this. environments so that they relieve skilled labor
have neglected development of the industrial of work.
sector in recent years. This has affected their The EU has defined various headline targets
sustainable value added and employment ad- in its Europe 2020 strategy, which are closely Thus, we are well on our way to making the
versely. Consequently, the European Union is aligned with this undertaking. In addition idea of resource efficient production reality.
intent on raising the manufacturing industry’s to supporting training and education and This latest issue of our IFFocus reports on
average share in the European gross domestic expanding the European market, they also some instances in which we have already
product to 20 percent again by 2020. include increasing expenditures for research done exactly this.
and development. New technologies and
At the same time, this entails a commitment qualified employees are supposed to help
to modernize production systems. Research businesses prepare for future challenges. Your,
and business are already developing new One of these challenges is dealing with the
solutions for this “third industrial revolu- increasing scarcity and expense of of energy
tion” under such catchphrases as “integrated and raw materials, which, however, are
industry”, “cloud manufacturing” or “factory needed now more than ever.
of the future”. One idea unites them all:
Industrial production in Europe needs to be Attention is inevitably being focused on re- Prof. Michael Schenk
smarter, more efficient and simultaneously newable energies and a green circular econo-
greener. On the one hand, the focus is on my. We at the Fraunhofer IFF are also already
developing technological know-how, high working on solutions today, which will soon
Editorial 1
ER-WIN Innovation Cluster
Greater Energy Efficiency in Saxony-
Anhalt’s Companies
Energy and resource consumption is increasingly becoming an
important competitive factor for industry. Energy prices in
particular can be expected to continue rising in the long-
term, not only in the course of the energy transitions. This will
especially affect manufacturing companies in Saxony-Anhalt.
The newly established ER-WIN Innovation Cluster is intended
to help companies manufacture more energy and resource ef-
ficiently in the future with new technologies and solutions.
Page 16
Digital Simulation of Operations: Heating with Waste from Coatings and Plastics
The Analysis of Stork’s System
Metal coaters can cut disposal and heating costs with a
Digital simulations helped engineers from the Fraunhofer IFF combustor for powdery residues.
untangle and expedite truck traffic on the premises of the
environmental service provider Stork. Page 26
Page 20
News In a Flash
04 Producing More Value: New Fraunhofer 12 Festivities Celebrating “20 Years of 47 Applied Logistics: Holger Seidel Still
Innovation Cluster ER-WIN Launched Curiosity” Spokesman of the Saxony-Anhalt Re-
gional Chapter of the BVL
05 One Standard for All: Standardized Tests
for System Components Will Advance Interview A Human Resource Developer with a
Electric Vehicle Network Integration North German Heart Earns His Doctor-
14 Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, ate in Magdeburg
Common Cause with the Université du President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Havre 48 Riga Awards Honorary Doctorate to Dr.
Eberhard Blümel
06 RTI Technologies Joins the “Morgen- Research and
stadt” Research Initiative Development Why the Robot “Rotto” Sings the
Beatles’ Song “Yesterday”
Aviation Builder of the Year 16 ER-WIN Innovation Cluster: Greater
Energy Efficiency in Saxony-Anhalt’s 49 Always Been “Wired”
07 Hannover Messe: Fraunhofer IFF Pres- Companies
ents Smart Technologies for Sustainable 50 Earning a Dual-Degree in Logistics in
Manufacturing 20 Digital Simulation of Operations: The Moscow and Magdeburg
Analysis of Stork’s System
Control Trade Fair: In-line Digital Assem- Marketing at the Fraunhofer IFF Has a
bly and Quality Inspection 26 Heating with Waste from Coatings and New Face
Plastics
08 Researchers in Magdeburg are Develop- 51 Otto von Guericke University: 2013
ing Medical Technology for the 21st 32 Ceramic Turbines Powered by Fuel Gases International Spring Logistics School
Century
34 Robot Colleagues are Heading Our Way! First Student in the German-Ukrainian
Strengthening European Robotics Logistics Degree Program
09 Australian Plant Researchers Want to Gallery
Cultivate Higher Yield Crops Editorial Notes & Outlook
38 Impressions from Research
16th IFF Science Days: More Efficiency in and Industry 52 Editorial Notes
Production and Logistics
Outlook
10 Logistics Day: 36,000 Visitors at 381 Sharp Minds
Events
44 Colloquium Honors Prof. Michael
8th Long Night of Science Thrills Schenk, Director of the Fraunofer IFF,
Magdeburg Residents on His 60th Birthday
Interview Sharp Minds
Prof. Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer- Who earned a doctorate? Who is new at the Fraunhofer IFF?
Gesellschaft, on energy and resource efficiency and its What honors were bestowed on its researchers? Find out here.
importance for industry
Page 14 Page 44
Producing More Value
New Fraunhofer Innovation Cluster
ER-WIN Launched
Kerstin Stork, owner of Stork Umweltdienste
Prof. Michael Schenk and GmbH, has been collaborating with the Farun-
then-minister Prof. Birgitta hofer IFF for nearly four years. Her advice for
Wolff announce the launch other companies:
of the ER-WIN innovation
cluster. Photos: Viktoria Simply venture the step and ap-
Kühne
» proach the Fraunhofer IFF, «
Exceptional collaboration is
bound to result.
Rising energy and raw material prices are be- energies in the energy mix, which are pro-
coming the important competitive factor for duced here, deserve particular attention.”
Saxony-Anhalt’s economy. The new innova-
tion cluster ER-WIN under the lead manage- Prof. Schenk, Director of the Fraunhofer
ment of the Fraunhofer IFF will therefore be IFF, see two challenges in particular. “The
developing innovative solutions in order to primary goal is to cut production costs in
improve energy and resource efficiency in the order to keep regional businesses competi-
manufacturing industry. A press conference tive. We want the ER-WIN innovation cluster
at the Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg on April to help companies manufacture more energy
15, 2013 officially kicked off the project. efficiently and more resource efficiently in
the coming years,” says Schenk. “This will
Together with Otto von Guericke University require generating value adding synergies
Magdeburg and numerous other develop- directly in companies as well as between
ment and business partners from Saxony- different companies. We intend to achieve
Anhalt, the ER-WIN cluster will pool regional this by employing technical, organizational
know-how to ensure that regional industry and technological innovations. One element
remains competitive in the long term. The of this will be to make renewable power
state is also backing this intensively Then- produced in the region available for produc-
Saxony-Anhalt Minister of Economics and tion.”
Research Prof. Birgitta Wolff stressed that,
“Rising energy prices are having a particularly Dr. Jürgen Reinemuth, CEO of Taletec GmbH.
great impact on industry. The state is there-
fore supporting the improvement of energy
efficiency in regional companies and backing
Our production requires tremendous
solutions that will make them more inde-
amounts of electricity and gas. Our
» «
pendent from the volatile energy market. In-
novative projects that strengthen the region’s goal is to save energy everywhere.
economic structure and simultaneously build
www.fraunhofer.iff.de
For us, that means safeguarding jobs
upon the state’s distinctive features such as in the long term.
its higher than average share of renewable
4
One Standard for All: Standardized Tests for System Components Will
Advance Electric Vehicle Network Integration
Differing standards for system components Government, industry
for vehicle-to-grid communication (V2G CI) and research repre-
is one of the things still slowing the com- sentatives had the op-
mercialization of electric vehicles. They are portunity to exchange
supposed to enable electric vehicles, supply views on the current
systems and electrical grids to communicate state of developments
with each other in order to exchange infor- at the exhibition at the
mation on charge levels, types of charges, first eNterop event.
ranges, energy prices and grid statuses with Photo: Siemens AG
smart grids in the future.
Since complex compatibility tests and
modifications have been needed to assure
the requisite interoperability of manufactur-
ers’ products, the new binding standard for
system components ISO/IEC 15118 was ad-
opted to reduce the labor required to modify
products and to expedite their market launch.
BMW, Continental, Daimler, Fraunhofer, The Fraunhofer IFF is a partner in “eNterop”
RWE, Siemens, the Technical University of and primarily in charge of analyzing the
Dortmund and VW, all of which are German test platform’s requirements and drafting its
proponents of international standardization specifications as well as developing and im-
for V2G CI, have joined forces in the project plementing the requisite test procedures. It is
“eNterop” to create an open test platform additionally seeing to it that automotive and
and a reference implementation for this inter- charging infrastructure manufacturers and
face between electric vehicles and charging suppliers are involved in the project work.
infrastructures. They intend to develop the The two-year, international flagship project
“eNterop” test system by 2014. It will enable has a total budget of € 4.6 million. Half of
any manufacture to quickly test its products’ this is being contributed by the Federal Minis- www.enterop.net
compliance with the ISO/IEC standards ad- try of Economics and Technology.
opted for electric vehicles.
Fließtext mit ca. 2000 Zeichen.
Common Cause with the Université du Havre
The Fraunhofer IFF and the Institut Supérieur The sister cities partnership entered into
d’Etudes Logistiques ISEL of the Université by Magdeburg and Le Havre in May of
du Havre sealed their future research plans 2011 quickly revealed ties in logistics and
when they signed a memorandum of under- provided both institutions the best prereq-
standing. They expect their partnership to uisites for successful collaboration. Recipro-
bring promising collaboration in the field of cal visits strengthened their intention until
logistics and an expansion of international the memorandum of understanding was
relations and partnerships. eventually signed in December of 2012 at a
ceremony marking the opening of the first
streetcar line in Le Havre. Prof. Michaelwww.webadresse.de
Schenk with Brigitte Dufour, Deputy Mayor of
Le Havre, on his return visit to France.
Photo: Nicolas Barubé
5 News
RTI Technologies Joins the
»Morgenstadt« Research
Initiative
Sergej Boev, Director General of RTI (center left), and Prof.
Michael Schenk, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory
Operation and Automation IFF (center right), at the signing of the
cooperation agreement at the Hannover Messe. Photo: Bildschön
GmbH, A. Genz
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Russian for effective and reliable urban development
company RTI Technologies signed a coop- into practice in Russia. Many of them, already
eration agreement on April 9, 2013, which
officially made the latter a member of the
“Morgenstadt: City Insights” research initia-
implemented in modern metropolises, meet
international standards. Together with foreign
partners, we will be able to effectively modify
Aviation Builder
tive. RTI will be collaborating closely with the
Fraunhofer Institutes involved in this innova-
tion network.
our developments to create and spread ‘se-
cure and smart cities’ while allowing for cur-
rent trends and tendencies,” explains Sergej
of the Year
Boev, Director General of RTI.
The level of urbanization will reach 60 per- That is the name of the award con-
cent, corresponding to an urban population The object of the agreement between RTI ferred by the Russian Union of Avia-
of five billion, by 2030. The world will thus and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the tion Industrialists in the fall of 2012.
have to absorb and provide for 1.8 billion completion of research by the Fraunhofer The Fraunhofer IFF placed second in
new city dwellers in the coming years. Cities, Institute for Factory Operation and Automa- the category “Best Foreign Partner of
however, need energy and raw material, tion IFF in Magdeburg and other Fraunhofer Russian Aviation Builders” and received
produce garbage and pollution and have Institutes. This will center on compiling an its award at a ceremony in Moscow on
overburdened transportation systems. All of overview of and analyzing globally innovative December 5, 2012. The Magdeburg
this is already now confronting cities with methods for sustainable new urban develop- research institute’s years of collaboration
major challenges related to urban plan- ment and on combining urban technology with the Russian State Research Institute
ning, construction, transportation, security, systems, economic models and management of Aviation Systems FGUP GosNIIAS was
energy and climate protection. Fraunhofer systems in one comprehensive approach to the decisive factor in the selection of the
researchers have joined together in the “Mor- research. Fraunhofer IFF.
genstadt” innovation network to develop
sustainable urban technologies and systems. Their collaboration grew out of a stra-
The goal of the “Morgenstadt” is to develop tegic partnership in education, research
and design livable, sustainable and viable cit- and innovation initiated in April of 2005
ies of tomorrow. by then-German Chancellor Gerhard
Schröder and President Vladimir Putin.
Different institutes in the Fraunhofer-Gesell- One focus of cooperation was the inte-
schaft are collaborating to make this vision gration of RFID systems in aviation.
reality. The initiative’s core themes are energy,
buildings, production and logistics, transpor-
tation and traffic, information and commu-
nication, urban processes and organization,
www.morgenstadt.de
and security and protection. “RTI has exten-
sive experience putting ready-made solutions
6
Hannover Messe
Fraunhofer IFF Presents Smart Technologies for
Sustainable Manufacturing
Researchers from the Fraunhofer IFF pre- Group was also represented with a booth
sented new solutions from their research in of its own at which the Fraunhofer IFF’s
digital engineering, automation, logistics and experts in robotics presented a tactile sen-
process and plant engineering at the world’s sor system that enables robots to “feel”
largest technology trade fair on April 8 to 12, contact like an artificial skin. This makes it
2013. In keeping with this year’s fair’s theme a key technology essential to safe human-
of “Integrated Industries”, they focused on machine interaction.
key technologies and services in industrial
manufacturing and technological innova- At the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance’s booth,
tions for productivity and efficiency. Visitors researchers from Magdeburg presented a
learned about our latest developments in the new system for easy compatibility checks.
fields of smart residue recycling for resource Electric vehicles and charging stations are
efficient production, safe human-robot not always compatible. Differing manu-
interaction, electric vehicle networks and facturers’ systems are often to blame.
smart logistics. The Fraunhofer IFF exhibited Consequently, vehicles are not recognized
at seven different booths. and charged. A test box developed at the
Fraunhofer IFF will enable manufactures to
At the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s main booth, check the compatibility of their electric ve-
process and plant engineering experts from hicle components with other manufactures’
the Fraunhofer IFF showed a way to recycle systems quickly in the future.
residues smartly to manufacture more re- In the future, drivers of any make of electric vehicle
source efficiently. They presented a combus- will be able to charge their batteries anywhere
tor for powdery residues to explain how without any problems. The test box developed at
companies will be able to cut both disposal the Fraunhofer IFF will make it significantly easier
costs and heating costs in the future. for companies to test their system’s compatibility
extensively. Photo: Dirk Mahler
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s Production
Control Trade Fair: In-line Digital Assembly and Quality Inspection
Not even the minutest deviations go un- manufactures its products in small quantities.
detected: Researchers at the Fraunhofer Production lines are not geared toward mass
IFF have created the “Wheelinspector”, an production because every airline desires its
in-line compatible system that inspects 100 own interior. Since manual assembly proce-
percent of vehicle wheels without contact. dures are common and assembly jobs change
Visitors to Control 2013 were able to see a continually, automatic quality inspection has
live demonstration of the technology. The not been worthwhile. Novel software devel-
Fraunhofer IFF’s experts presented a wheel oped at the Fraunhofer IFF is changing this: It
inspection system complete with the “Whee- uses cameras to compare particular CAD data
linspector”. with a finished assembled product digitally
and factors in modifications with a click of
They also presented another development: a mouse. Our experts presented these and
Their digital assembly inspection system other solutions at Control 2013 in Stuttgart In model-based assembly, software compares
automatically inspects quality even when from May 14 to 17. assembled components’ digital target data with the
products are manufactured in small quanti- real outcome. Errors are detected immediately.
ties. As in many sectors, the aircraft industry
7 News
Researchers in Magdeburg are Developing
Medical Technology for the 21st Century
Prof. Martin Skalej (r.), Director of the Neuroradiology Department of University Hospital in
Magdeburg, explaining the potentials of image-guided minimally invasive methods of medical treatment
to State Secretary Cornelia Quennet-Thielen (l.) from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and
Saxony-Anhalt Minister of Research, Prof. Birgitta Wolff (m.).
Photo: Viktoria Kühne/OVGU
The STIMULATE (Solution Centre for Image are intended both to improve methods of The German government will make € 1.6
Guided Local Therapies) research campus medical treatment and to contain exploding million available in the first year and, when
for innovative medical technology at Otto healthcare costs. They will be focusing on the preliminary phase is successful, up to two
von Guericke University Magdeburg was important widespread oncological, neurologi- million euros in each of the following years.
ceremoniously opened in January of 2013 cal and vascular diseases. The business and industry partners involved
in the presence of State Secretary Cornelia with also be contributing funds. The Federal
Quennet-Thielen from the Federal Ministry of “With the STIMULATE research campus, we Ministry of Education and Research could
Education and Research,then Saxony-Anhalt intend to make Otto von Guericke University continue funding the project for up to fifteen
Minister of Research Prof. Birgitta Wolff, Magdeburg one of the world’s leading cen- years. It is funding a total of nine such inno-
representatives of the city of Magdeburg and ters for image-guided systems,” said President vative collaborative ventures.
Siemens AG Healthcare. Jens Strackeljan in his welcoming remarks. In
her keynote address, State Secretary Cornelia
Under the collective umbrella of the research Quennet-Thielen stressed the collaboration
campus, researchers and developers from between businesses and the university. “The
schools of engineering and medicine at Otto research campus is intended to facilitate new
von Guericke University Magdeburg and non- options for long-term collaboration between
academic research organizations, including research and business. Magdeburg is a good
the Fraunhofer IFF, will be developing medical example of this because strong partners have
technologies for image-guided, minimally gotten together to develop a shining example
www.stimulate.ovgu.de
invasive methods together with Siemens AG of medical imaging.”
Healthcare and regional businesses, which
Strengthening European Robotics
The European Commission and representa- IFF are also involved and attended the signing in robots, chiefly rescue, security and commer-
tives of industry and academia, including the Brussels. The commission is convinced that the cial cleaning applications, is expected to grow
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, have reached an future partnership will strengthen the robotics forty percent in the coming years. Service
agreement to establish a public-private part- sector in the EU. robotics will reach an annual market volume
nership in the field of robotics in order to help of €100 billion or more by 2020.
companies based in Europe expand their share Robotics is a key technology for growth and
of the €15.5 billion global robotics market. competitiveness in Europe. The one million
Representatives of European robot manufactur- industrial robots in use are helping create or
ers and research organizations and the Vice- safeguard three million jobs worldwide. Euro-
President of the European Commission, Neelie pean robotics is extremely successful. It produces
Kroes, signed a corresponding agreement in approximately one quarter of the world’s indus-
September of 2012 as the first step toward the trial robots and maintains a fifty percent share
establishment of a public-private partnership in of the market for commercial service robots. The www.eu-robotics.net
2013. Experts in robotics from the Fraunhofer market for household and commercial service
8Australian Plant Researchers Want to Cultivate Higher Yield Crops
to Australia for a joint research project and
used its hi-performance camera to take mea-
surements at the Plant Accelerator. The data
is being interpreted and analyzed at present.
Dr. Andreas Backhaus starting Researchers at the nearby Australian Wine
with an aircraft to record Research Institute are also involved in the
hyperspectral images of project. The researchers from the Fraunhofer
vineyards near Adelaide. IFF even took to the air to analyze their
The camera is in a housing grapevines. The hyperspectral camera was
mounted on the underside of mounted on an airplane and aerial photo-
the wing (to the left). graphs were taken of the vineyards. Conclu-
Photo: Udo Seiffert sions about certain constituents and the
grapevines’ water content can be drawn from
these special images.
The Australian partners were so impressed
Australian soil is dry and salty in many places. in this field. In what is probably the world’s by the first results of the analysis that they
Farmers cultivate their fields under some largest automated greenhouse, they control are now preparing to collaborate on a larger
challenging conditions. Growers are work- temperature and irrigation to grow plants project. The researchers from Magdeburg
ing to create hybrid crops such as corn and and collect fundamental phentotypes. They will be setting up a hyperspectral labor in
wheat with valuable properties, which deliver need to be able to analyze phytoconstituents, Adelaide. “Anybody can buy a camera. Our
higher yields. This would enable farmers not though. expertise lies in developing the proper system
only to harvest corn with plumper kernels for a client and rendering the data relevant
but also to cease having to fertilize or irrigate Researchers from the Fraunhofer IFF in for a client usable with special software,”
as often as before. Magdeburg have made exactly this possible explains Prof. Udo Seiffert.
and opened a view into plants’ insides. Prof.
Well known among experts, the plant Udo Seiffert, project manager and manager
researchers at the Plant Accelerator unit of of the Biosystems Engineering Expert Group
the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility of the at the Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg, and his
University of Adelaide are researching topics team shipped their hyperspectral equipment
16th IFF Science Days in Magdeburg: More Efficiency in Production and Logistics
How will we be manufacturing in the future New technologies for safe human robot interaction
and what are we able to do now? What enable humans and robots to work together directly
technologies will enable robots to become without protective barriers.
part of everyday life and what will make
logistics even more reliable and sustainable?
The Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg has once
again extended an invitation to the IFF Sci- optical measurement and testing systems and
ence Days, its major annual research confer- a meeting of the Cooperation in Plant Engi-
ence, in the city on the Elbe on June 18-20, neering Industry Working Group. The main
2013. It is expecting over 500 experts from focus will be the application of new solutions
business, industry, research and academia. and developments. Over one hundred pre-
sentations and seminars will provide insight
This year’s IFF Science Days will again offer into current research work and projects being
decision-makers and experts from busi- completed jointly by researchers and industry
ness and research an attractive and diverse partners. These events will focus just as much
program of three parallel conferences on on innovative projects for the future as on
digital engineering, logistics and human- examples of current best practice. www.wissenschaftstage.iff.fraunhofer.de
robot cooperation as well as a workshop on
9 NewsLogistics Day: 36,000 Visitors at 381 Events
attendees heard a lecture on “The Role of
Humanitarian Logistics in Emergency and
Development Aid for Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Dr. Jennifer Schwarz was the
speaker at the 16th Logistics In her presentation, Dr. Jennifer Schwarz ex-
Guest Lecture Series at the plained the importance of knowledge transfer
Fraunhofer IFF on Logistics for the development of logistical capabilities
Day. Foto: Viktoria Kühne in Africa and their significance for humanitar-
ian aid. Her presentation was part of the 16th
Logistics Guest Lecture Series to which the
Fraunhofer IFF regularly invites practitioners
and experts to speak before the general pub-
lic. Thomas Webel, Saxony-Anhalt Minister of
State Development and Transportation, had
assumed the patronage of the Guest Lecture
Around 36,000 people, more than ever for university and school students. Visitors Series and opened the event on Logistics Day
before, attended 381 Logistics Day events came to take a look behind the scenes of the by delivering welcoming remarks.
throughout Germany and neighboring business sector, to learn about logistical op-
foreign countries on April 18, 2013. 640 erations, jobs and careers, to find out about
companies, organizations and educational educational and academic programs and to
institutions opened their doors as part of the talk with the hosts.
German Logistics Association’s initiative.
The Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg also took www.tag-der-logistik.de
The promotional day focussed on programs part in this promotional day. Interested
8th Long Night of Science Thrills
Magdeburg Residents
Magdeburg was all about research on the
8th Long Night of Science on June 1, 2013. The VDTC is a big draw:
Over thirty research organizations opened the Many people were waiting
doors to their laboratories and auditoriums to at the Elbe Dom’s doors
astound young and old discovers. hours before the smartest
night of the year began.
The Long Night of Science was opened by They patiently anticipate
the traditional hemisphere experiment in waits of up to ninety min-
which sixteen horses vainly attempt to pull ute. Photo: Viktoria Kühne
two hemispheres void of air apart and thus
to overcome the power of a vacuum. Visitors
spent the rest of the night immersed in the
fascinating world of Magdeburg’s research
and academic scene. Not only informative ex- Development and Training Centre (VDTC) in
periments but also enthralling presentations, the port of science discovered the world of hearts, though.
interesting tours and impressive demonstra- logistics and other things and learned the
tions awaited visitors. Researchers provided latest about resource efficiency and electric
insights into various fields of research and vehicles in an entertaining manner. As in
current research topics, which are not so years past, the Elbe Dom was the big draw.
easily accessible to the public the rest of the In its 360 degree laser projection labora-
year. tory, researchers took visitors away to digital
www.wissenschaft.magdeburg.de
corporate environments. The singing and
Visitors to the Fraunhofer IFF and its Virtual walking robot “Rotto” won young visitors
10Impulse, Ideen, Innovationen Im Plenum sprechen und diskutieren u. a. Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann Prof. Dr. Götz Rehn Dr. Elmar Degenhart Pang Hee Hon Präsident, Gründer und Geschäftsführer, Vorsitzender des Vorstands, CEO, acatech – Deutsche Akademie Alnatura Produktions- Continental AG, Keppel Telecommunication der Technikwissenschaften, und Handels GmbH, Hannover & Transportation Ltd., Berlin Bickenbach Singapur Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL) | Schlachte 31 | 28195 Bremen Tel.: 0421 / 173 84 34 | Fax: 0421 / 16 78 00 | bvl@bvl.de | www.bvl.de/dlk 11 News
Elga and Dr. Karl-
Heinz Daehre, former
Transportation Minister,
Editor-in-Chief of the
Volksstimme Alois
Köster and State Secre-
tary Dr. Klaus Klang
Fraunhofer IFF Director Prof. Michael Schenk with Madeleine Wehle from MDR Television,
the emcee for the evening
Impressions
“Queenz of Piano”
Jennifer Rüth and
Anne Folger
of the festivities celebrating »20 Years of Curiosity«
on June 27, 2012: A trip through 20 years of research and
development at the Fraunhofer IFF in Magdeburg
Dr. Sonja Schmicker, CEO Metop, and
Dr. Harald Schmicker, CEO H&B Omega
Europa
Prof. Peer Witten, Ehrenvorsitzender der BVL, and Giesela Horn-Moll,
Prof. Albert Jugel von Venture Management Partners and Ehefrau Marina,
Dr. Max Schachinger, CEO of Schachinger Logistik
Prof. Helmut Baumgarten
from TU Berlin next to
Dr. Norbert
Honorary BVL Chairman Dr.
Elkmann, Manager
Hanspeter Stabenau and Dr.
of the Robotic Sys-
Max Schachinger
tems Business Unit
at the Fraunhofer
IFF
State Minister Dr. Reiner Robra
12Fraunhofer Executive Board Member Prof. Ulrich Buller
Prof. Siegfried Wirth from TU Chemnitz, next to Fraunhofer IFF founder Prof. Eberhard Gottschalk
and former Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft President Prof. Hans-Jürgen Warnecke
Lara Caroline Ty-
lkoski from Hegel
High School
in Magdeburg
opened the on-
stage program
with a speech
to Fraunhofer
researchers
Melanie and Prof. Raimund Klinkner, BVL Chairman, Madeleine Wehle and Prof. Michael Schenk
Prof. Klaus Richter,
Manager of the
Material Handling En-
gineering and Systems
expert Group at the
Fraunhofer IFF, with
Sergey Ipp, Abdul Ma-
hir and Alexey Kurapor Frauke and Prof.
from RTI Technologies Burkhard Scheel,
Chairman of the
Fraunhofer IFF
Advisory Board
Prof. Gerhard Müller,
Deputy Director of
the Fraunhofer IFF,
next to Manfred
Maas and former
University President
Klaus-Erich Pollmann
with his wife Dr.
Kornelia Pollmann
Brigitte and Richard Smyth, former Airbus Vice President
All people are named from l. to r. | Photos: Viktoria Kühne and Bernd Liebl In a Flash 13Producing Resource Efficiently
Interview with Prof. Reimund Neugebauer,
President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and a Leading Expert in
the Field of Resource Efficient Production
by Anna Mahler
Until now, we have been treating valuable resources very wastefully. We won’t be able to do
that in the future. As raw material and energy prices steadily rise, only companies that use
material and energy efficiently will remain competitive.
Industry’s prominence is one of Ger- be able to remain competitive in the long run What do you think the factory of the
many’s crucial strengths as a cen- and consolidate Germany’s role as a technol- future will look like?
ter of business. Germany is poor in ogy leader. Sustainable competitiveness on
natural resources, though, and has to the international market is increasingly being It will be based on the three pillars of ef-
import important resources. What is defined by innovations that boost efficiency. ficiency, carbon neutrality and the integra-
One way to defuse the resource situation is tion of individuals. Technical innovations and
more, raw material prices have been
to develop new sources. Another way is to long-range investments in highly efficient
rising in recent years. What impact exploit available resources optimally. Resource manufacturing facilities will be essential.
will that have on the manufacturing efficiency means utilizing every raw material
industry? and all energy needed in a manufacturing How can we manufacture products resource
process optimally. That reduces dependence efficiently, though? What new methods
Production in particular is directly linked to on resources. At the same time, it frees up of manufacturing will be needed to save
resources and extremely dependent on their raw materials that can be used for new prod- material and power? Fraunhofer Institutes
availability and cost. Material and energy ucts or for increases in production. are researching these questions in numerous
prices influence the price of the end product research and development projects.
significantly in many industries. If we were Aren’t renewable energies really the
to reduce raw material use by just seven per- solution? How can efficient use of energy and
cent, we could save € 48 billion every year. raw materials be achieved?
these are reasons why minimizing energy Renewable energies can only reduce our use
and raw material consumption will become of coal, crude oil, natural gas and nuclear One way is to reduce raw material consump-
the crucial competitive factor in the coming power in the electricity and heat market tion per unit of output. The other lever is to
years. gradually and take their place in the long run. extend the service life of products. Ultimately,
A significant increase of energy efficiency is it is a matter of optimizing manufactur-
How can companies escape this a fundamental prerequisite for the energy ing processes and product design to assure
cost spiral? transition. Initial findings have revealed resource conservation, energy efficiency and
that sizeable potentials for savings can be recyclability. That is why a product’s entire
Resource efficiency is the only feasible path developed in energy consumption as well as life cycle must always be considered – from
for the manufacturing Industry. We must in raw material use – the biggest are in the raw material production through recycling.
become independent from unreliable sources building sector, industrial manufacturing and Use frequently accounts for most of the total
of raw materials and use needed materials transportation. energy consumption.
optimally because that is the only way we will
14Surely something from the energy
flows in a factory itself can be used?
Right – the second stage will be about ana-
lyzing these and utilizing them optimally in
cycles. Many production p rocesses produce
heat, which is released to the environment al-
though it is needed elsewhere. Such sources
of loss must be identified and made usable
for other applications. Similarly, peak loads
The most important must be analyzed and controlled optimally.
factors are avoiding Comprehensive energy management also
» «
includes new concepts of energy storage and
rejects and reducing conversion. That is why all energy interac-
reworking as well as tions have to be analyzed, both in production
optimizing processes systems and processes and between produc-
and shortening pro- Photo: Jörg Lange tion and the environment.
cess chains. In the third stage, the factory will assume a
new role as an energy producer and stor-
age system. Many companies are already
employing smart energy management to save
energy and money today.
How can the efficiency of production
be optimized? Brief CV
The most important factors are avoiding
rejects and reducing reworking as well as 1975 Diplom degree in mechanical engineering, Technical
optimizing processes and shortening process University Dresden, majoring in machine tool engineering
chains. Virtual product design geared toward
efficiency lays the groundwork for compre- 1984 Doctorate in engineering
hensive resource management. In this digital
age of product development, we can develop 1985 Work in engineering and development in industry
and test other features of new products in
virtual reality. This already saves energy and 1989 Doctorate in technology
raw materials for building real prototypes.
Equipping virtual reality simulation tools with 1990 Executive director of the Department of Machine Tools,
optimization criteria for resource efficiency Technical University Dresden
is crucial. Future product development must
therefore be augmented by preventive re- 1991 Habilitation degree in engineering;
source planning for the product, the produc- tasked by the Fraunhofer Executive Board with establishing
tion system and the manufacturing process. the Fraunhofer Institution for Machine Tools and
This will make it possible to make the best Forming Technology, later the Fraunhofer IWU
decisions on raw material efficiency already
when drafting a design. 1994 Executive director of the Fraunhofer IWU
1995 C4 professorship for machine tools at Technical University
Chemnitz and Director of the Fraunhofer IWU
2005 German Merit Cross 1st Class
2010 – President of the German Academic Society for
2011 Production Engineering (WGP)
2012 President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Interview 15ER-WIN
Innovation Cluster
Prof. Michael Schenk
Greater Energy Efficiency in
Saxony-Anhalt’s Companies
Photo: Dirk Mahler
16The introduction of production planning and
» «
control geared toward energy availability will
enable companies in Saxony-Anhalt to minimize
their energy and resource consumption in the
production process.
Energy and raw materials are some of the major cost drivers in industry. These costs, which will presumably continue rising in the long-
term, are evolving into a significant competitive factor for German business. Manufacturers in Saxony-Anhalt are especially being affected
by this. The newly established ER-WIN innovation cluster is intended to help companies manufacture more energy and resource efficiently in
the future with new technologies and solutions.
its will only be exacerbated by rising energy alone will probably no longer enable compa-
The energy policy targets are clear: The Euro- prices. Cost pressure will continue growing nies to achieve their cost-cutting targets. Sus-
pean Union has resolved to cut CO2 emissions and this will seriously jeopardize the com- tainable effectiveness, i.e. the future viability
by sixty to eighty percent by 2050. A large part petitiveness of many companies in Saxony- of potential solutions, will be the fundamen-
of the CO2 emissions is caused by the conver- Anhalt. tal issue instead.
sion and supply of energy. Achieving this tar-
get will necessitate rethinking energy pro- ER-WIN Will Be Supporting Using Renewable Energies for
duction and moving away from fossil fuels to Regional Companies Production
renewable CO2-neutral sources. The challenge
of reducing energy consumption in general is That is why the ER-WIN (Smart, Energy Effi- This entails identifying alternative energy
also becoming increasingly important. cient Regional Value Chains in Industry) in- sources companies will be able to tap in the
novation cluster was established at the ini- future and the conditions under which they
Low Energy Productivity in tiative of Magdeburg’s Fraunhofer Institute can be made usable. A large share of the en-
Saxony-Anhalt’s Companies for Factory Operation and Automation IFF. It ergy in Saxony-Anhalt is already being pro-
will be helping companies in Saxony-Anhalt duced from renewable sources such as wind,
The reduction of CO2 emissions is unquestion- meet these challenges effectively with new sun or biowaste. They account for around
ably necessary. Although energy is being con- technologies and solutions. Together with thirty-five percent of the power mix, approx-
sumed more efficiently, energy and raw ma- Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg imately twice as much as the national aver-
terials continue to be major cost drivers in and numerous other development and busi- age. Renewable sources cover sixty-six per-
industry. Germany’s decision to pursue an en- ness partners, it will be pooling region- cent of the energy requirement in the Harz
ergy transition will presumably entail a further al know-how in particular. The state of Sax- region. At times, more power is produced in
increase in energy prices. This, as well as high- ony-Anhalt is also supporting the cluster the state than can be used. This outstanding
er utility costs, will especially affect Saxony-An- intensively. The common goal is to develop starting position and the prospect that this
halt. This is a major challenge for businesses new, operational solutions for energy and will help meet EU climate targets are reasons
in our state and especially for the manufac- resource-driven manufacturing in order to for taking advantage of this potential inten-
turing industry based here because it primari- strengthen the competitiveness of compa- sively. The arguably greatest advantage, how-
ly consists of smaller enterprises. Since regional nies here long-term. ever, is the growing independence from the
companies hardly benefit from the special reg- national energy market and its price trends.
ulations for grid fees and the green power sur- To do this, the ER-WIN innovation cluster Ultimately, producing more energy where it
charge for major customers, energy prices are will be pursuing two interrelated approach- is also consumed, i.e. distributed and flexi-
an important competitive factor for them. es. A first phase will aim at immediate- ble production, is more expedient in terms of
ly improving companies’ energy efficiency. cost effectiveness and energy.
This is compounded by the energy productivi- Dubbed the innovation sphere, this phase
ty of Saxony-Anhalt’s manufacturers, which is will primarily focus on individual corporate Renewable energies’ volatility, which causes
too far below the national average, i.e. the val- processes. Where are potentials for savings? energy prices to fluctuate greatly, is a prob-
ue added per unit of energy is lower here than What operations can be reorganized? This lem. Both utilities and the federal govern-
elsewhere. The adverse effect this has on prof- should go beyond merely achieving short- ment are expected to step up the creation of
term savings since mundane energy savings incentive systems in the future in order to in-
Research and Development 17volve companies in stabilizing the electrical want to use renewable energy as a control Energy Networking among
grid. Companies will have to adapt to an ex- parameter for production, planning or mate- Companies
tent to manufacture smartly. Manufacturers, rial planning on short notice. It will also ne-
for instance, will be able to achieve consider- cessitate further developing smart grids and While ER-WIN will be devoted to individual
able cost advantages in the future by shifting storage technologies. Another central focus companies in Innovation Sphere One, the lev-
high-energy stages of production when ener- of the innovation cluster’s work will be the el above companies will be analyzed in Innova-
gy prices are lower. This will require integrat- creation and use of new measuring systems tion Sphere Two. The issue of energy network-
ing energy availability in corporate planning and methods to gear the control of produc- ing and the generation of resultant synergies is
and control systems. tion facilities even more toward energy effi- highly interesting for small and medium-sized
ciency. This will also entail concrete measures enterprises in particular. Above all, companies
Gearing Production Facilities such as the construction of small, distributed located in industrial parks – a typical situation
Toward Energy Efficiency power plants, e.g. wind turbines or cogenera- in Saxony-Anhalt – have excellent conditions
tion plants with which companies will be able for this. They are frequently able to combine
Such synchronization of companies’ pow- to use production residues to produce their their energy requirements in order to gener-
er demand with the variable supply of renew- own power and heat, or the use of new tech- ate a cost advantage, collaboratively invest in
able energies will be one of the challenges in nologies that store and recover energy. All of distributed energy conversion plants or collect
the ER-WIN cluster. This will necessitate more these are realistic and proven solutions pro- production residues and collectively recover en-
than just forecasting energy availability – if we posed by experts and ready for use. ergy from them. The Fraunhofer IFF has already
A fluidized bed combustion test unit. The Fraunhofer IFF is developing new technologies that
efficiently recover energy from production residues. Photo: Thomas Ernsting
18Energy networking of
companies holds many
benefits. For instance,
cogeneration plants can be
used collectively to recover
energy from production
residues.
Photo: Dirk Mahler
demonstrated that companies can be outfit- energy efficiently and largely carbon neutral-
ted with such technologies very effectively. ly. The creation of an energy management
system for industrial and commercial parks is
Saxony-Anhalt as a Model Region intended to network companies with one an-
other so that their energy consumption and
Price trends in the energy and resource sec- production is complementary and thus reduc-
tor will be impossible to ignore. In Germany, es their energy requirements collectively.
preparing for them means also taking greater
advantage of the country’s edge in the pro- Solving this problem will be one of the cen-
duction of renewable energies to safeguard tral tasks of many companies in Saxony-An-
the future of the nation’s processing industry. halt in the coming years. If they are suc-
The ER-WIN innovation cluster is pursuing the cessful, Saxony-Anhalt can become a model
development and application of the systems, region for efficient resource and renewable
technologies and methods needed for model- energy use in manufacturing for Germany.
based design and control of production sys- Holger Seidel, Manager,
tems in order to manufacture smartly. The Logistics and Factory Systems Business Unit
introduction of production planning and con-
trol geared toward energy availability will en- Phone +49 391 4090-123
able companies in Saxony-Anhalt to minimize holger.seidel@iff.fraunhofer.de
their energy and resource consumption in the
production process and to manufacture more Dr. Matthias Gohla, Manager,
Process and Plant Engineering Business Unit
Phone +49 391 4090-361
matthias.gohla@iff.fraunhofer.de
Research and Development 19Optimization of internal processes is one of the bases of corporate
success. That is why the Fraunhofer IFF’s logisticians and visualization
experts and the environmental service provider Stork closely scrutinized
the operations on Stork’s premises. The outcome is a virtual simulation of
operations with which the impact of reorganization on logistical opera-
tions can be analyzed in advance.
A blue truck turns from a street onto a com- idues on a large scale at several locations in
pany’s premises and heads straight for a park- Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. Every day, hun-
ing lot. It is surrounded by trees and lawns, dreds of trucks arrive on the premises, bring
next to which colorful cars are lined in rows. waste material and depart empty or reloaded
A second and a third truck follow; loaders are with processed recyclables. A simulation of
making their rounds further in the distance. these daily processes is running on the com-
After waiting a brief moment, the trucks start puter at the moment. Key data are addition-
moving again. One after another, they drive ally appearing on the edge of the monitor.
over a two-lane drive with a cleverly devised They are sorted in tables and lists. The opera-
system that weighs the vehicles. Then, they tions on the company’s premises are faithful-
disappear between giant factory and ware- ly reproduced in the digital model. Vehicles,
house buildings on the premises. transportation routes, traffic volumes, build-
ings and storage facilities – everything can
None of this is really happening. Trucks, trees be varied as desired. And everything is con-
and the scale house are elements in a virtual nected with everything. Thus, any change in
interactive 3D model of Stork Umweltdienste the simulation also has consequences for oth-
GmbH’s premises in Magdeburg. The com- er, subsequent operations in this virtual envi-
pany disposes of and recycles waste and res- ronment.
20Tobias Kutzler and Andreas Höpfner
Digital Simulation
of Operations
The Analysis of Stork’s System
Bildunterschrift
The new entrance to Stork’s premises in Magdeburg. The two-
lane drive with a double scale for trucks was planned with the
aid of digital logistics simulations. Photos: Dirk Mahler
Research and Development 21More Efficiency on Every Level Specialized in processing, recycling and dis- tions. At the same time, Stork and the insti-
posal, the company has been growing quan- tute additionally held talks in which they also
This is useful because it enables the company titatively and qualitatively by leaps and began to contemplate modeling the compa-
to test what happens when, for instance, it re- bounds since it was founded in 1994. Ac- ny premises in 3D. The company wanted a
locates the entrances to its storage facilities. Or cording to its own information, it has been marketing tool that supported the presenta-
how many vehicles are allowed on the prem- able to more than double its volume of busi- tion of its range of services, e.g. at trade fairs
ises without causing congestion. This facili- ness in the past five years. The number of or before potential clients.
tates and significantly simplifies strategic deci- employees has grown to over 200. As the
sions on replanning infrastructure and logistics number of contracts rapidly grew, the in- It quickly became clear that such a 3D mod-
processes, thus preventing planning errors and frastructure on the premises was becoming el can be used for even more: The Fraunhofer
drastically reducing potential costs. overburdened. A solution for this stressful sit- IFF proposed interconnecting the model and
uation was needed urgently. the simulation of logistical operations, which
Stork expects greater effectiveness and effi- essentially consisted only of mere numbers
ciency on all levels from this software tool. The Combining Process Simulation and algorithms. It could thus also be used to
medium-sized, owner-operated company ben- and 3D Visualization prepare the simulation intuitively and also to
efits from its passion for innovation, which is visualize the simulation results. This would
keeping it growing fast. In 2012, the company That is why the company contacted the make the simulation and its results far more
was even a finalist in the auditing and consult- Fraunhofer IFF. Top priority was obtaining accessible to users at Stork.
ing firm Ernst & Young’s 2012 Entrepreneur help to improve the organization of truck
of the Year competition – an indication of the traffic operations on company premises. An These synergy effects ultimately won Stork
prevailing spirit at Stork. analysis and simulation of the logistical pro- over. Stork and the Fraunhofer IFF realistical-
cesses was intended to help identify solu- ly simulated the approximately thirty hectare
22Every day, countless logistical and infrastructural pro-
cesses take place on the company premises. In order to
boost efficiency, it is essential to identify bottlenecks.
premises on the outskirts of Magdeburg on a percent. Mousing over the model environ- Identifying Bottlenecks
computer: a varied development environment ment reminds one of a helicopter flight. Mov-
with buildings, streets, conveyers, trees and ing vehicles on the premises make the rep- Every day, countless logistical and infrastruc-
vehicles. They also created another 3D mod- resentation even more realistic. Such realistic tural processes take place on the compa-
el of the company’s nearby outdoor facility in planning environments convey plans quickly ny premises. The company has many value
Magdeburg’s port. and comprehensibly and provide a simple, in- chains. The organization of material and in-
tuitive interaction environment. Urban plan- formation flows greatly influences the effi-
A Realistic, Intuitive ners and planners of overhead power lines ciency and sustainability of the company’s
Planning Environment also use the institute’s software for their proj- operation. It is essential to identify bottle-
ects, which is also used to interactively visual- necks but a number of questions have to be
Seeking to improve its performance, the en- ize machinery, plants and factories. answered before this can be done. For in-
vironmental service provider regularly iden- stance, how many trucks drive onto the
tified potentials for optimization at its facil- Stork thus received a system that is large- premises every day at what intervals? How
ities. Some of these potentials can also be ly self-explanatory and intuitive to use. Click- many of them come from subcontractors?
leveraged thanks to the 3D visualization soft- ing, dragging, deleting – users quite naturally What is loaded on them? How long are the
ware developed at the Fraunhofer IFF. It was enter the computer environment where they wait times at dispatching? What would hap-
used to implement the interactive 3D models move and work quite confidently. The opera- pen if suddenly twice as many trucks were
of Stork’s premises, thus delivering a custom- tions simulation was not developed for gam- there? How must operations on the premis-
ized, virtual interactive solution that supports ing or merely as an attractive presentation, es be controlled in order to ensure they are
planning and reorganization actions. The though. It is all about smart logistics. dispatched smoothly? Or would a new build-
three-dimensional representation is orient- ing make sense at all on a certain spot? Since
ed toward the original almost one hundred no company can grow infinitely and unreg-
Research and Development 23You can also read
