The Cluster Mobility & Logistics hosted three virtual in-depth workshops on April 24 & 25 and May 2, 2023 on the topic of "Developing new green factory technologies to improve energy-flexible production systems - Flexy".
The aim of the workshops was to develop and deepen innovative approaches for joint R&D projects. The workshops took place in a small virtual setting and focused on three different topics. The first workshop on April 24 focused on data from the energy side and the production side. The second workshop on April 25 focused on simulation, e.g. energy process simulation, digital energy twins for production control, HIL hardware in the loop, SIL software in the loop. The last workshop on May 2 dealt with the topic of energy management systems for controlling energy-flexible production, medium-term production planning taking into account forecast local energy availability from volatile sources.
All three workshops were very productive and provided the participants with a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience. The next step will be to analyze and concretize the existing ideas in order to prepare a project outline.
The Cluster Mobility & Logistics and the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg will therefore initiate a research and development (R&D) network to develop new technologies aimed at synchronizing the production and energy sectors in a targeted manner.
It is intended that the network and the projects will be supported by federal funding, e.g. from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as part of the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM). The aim of the network is to open up new technologies and thus new market segments through joint projects and to expand existing products and expertise of the partners involved in the R&D network through cooperation. Four joint R&D projects with a total volume of EUR 5 million are to be initiated in the project period from 2023 to 2025. The network management will apply for funding to finance the projects for the partners involved. The partners' expertise will be actively marketed through newsletters, social media and conferences right from the start of the network.
The event took place as part of the "DigitLog" (digital logistics) working group of the Cluster Mobility & Logistics and the transform.r network.