E3 - production – sustainable manufacturing

Industrial manufacturing is pivotal to Germany’s prosperity. Not only does manufacturing account for a quarter of GDP, it provides a third of jobs as well. Yet rising raw material and energy costs, coupled with a demographic shift, pose significant challenges for industry. Keeping manufacturing operations in Germany will require a fundamental shift away from maximum profit from minimal capital investment toward maximum added value from minimum resources.

Initiating and effecting this change is what Fraunhofer’s E3-production project is all about. The three “E”’s represent the areas of focus that bring together Fraunhofer scientists from 12 institutes. New machines, technologies and processes conserve Energy and resources – and pave the way for an Emissions-neutral factory. Ergonomics in manufacturing completes the set.

The question is, which new manufacturing techniques will help conserve materials and energy? What options are there for keeping emissions to a minimum? Fraunhofer scientists will be at the Hannover Messe to present initial ideas and solutions for a sustainable factory of the future in Hall 17, Stand F14.

Energy- and resource-efficient production

Producing a car body is currently an extremely elaborate process that requires a lot of time and energy because sheet metal components need to be individually press formed before they can be put together and mounted during the car body manufacturing process. Now researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Chemnitz have managed to combine the two production stages – saving time, resources and money in the process. Researchers will demonstrate, for instance, how the manufacture of a hood, normally broken down into an outer section and several reinforcing parts, can now be combined into a single process.

“Combining joining and forming in a press line shortens the process chain. Not only is the speed of production greatly increased, it also uses less energy and materials,” says Peter Scholz, researcher at Fraunhofer IWU. During testing, the cycle time for the benchmark car body component was successfully halved. Meanwhile, energy consumption was down 35 percent with a reduction of some eight percent in the materials required.

Making tools last longer also conserves resources. Forming tools used in processes such as the deep drawing of large components are particularly susceptible to rapid wearing at the edges. Together with Mühlhoff Umformtechnik GmbH and other partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology has developed a laser technique that locally deposits protective layers on surfaces that come under particular stress. This means that costly tools last more than 2.5 times as long – an enormous saving in time and money.

Further information:
https://cordis.europa.eu