[Translate to Englisch:] Prof. Stefan Galka, OTH Regensburg
Together with OTH Regensburg, the Cluster Mobility & Logistics hosted a workshop at the TechBase in Regensburg on March 22, 2023:Establishment of a research and development network "Development of new green factory technologies to improve energy-flexible production systems - Flexy"
Ambitious climate protection targets and massive increases in the cost of energy sources require the energy, industry and mobility sectors to think together.
A secure, sustainable and cost-effective energy supply for the manufacturing industry is becoming increasingly important against the backdrop of the energy transition, massively rising energy costs since 2022 and a reduction in security of supply. Companies that were previously forced to continuously increase their productivity for competitive reasons are suddenly threatened in their existence by rising energy costs. Limited energy availability and provision for the production sector is already a cost and existence risk for many companies. Added to this is the structural change in the energy system. Due to the increasing share of renewable energies, the generation system is changing from centralized to increasingly decentralized generation. As a result, companies are increasingly building their own energy production and storage facilities in addition to purchasing energy from energy suppliers in order to generate cost benefits and improve their own security of supply. In order to make the best possible use of their own "energy" infrastructure and exploit the associated cost benefits, the availability and price of energy must be taken into account in production planning.
In the changing energy grid, the number of consumers and producers as well as the number of storage systems are increasing at the same time, while the complexity of controlling the production system in real time and depending on the production flow in an energy-flexible and robust manner is growing. Centrally controlled planning tools are used to control production. For example, the scheduling of orders is carried out by scheduling the orders to the available means of production and simultaneous dependency on resources. Software tools such as ERP systems can solve these allocation tasks in a targeted manner and within a reasonable period of time. However, the search for an optimal solution becomes increasingly complex with an increasing number of orders, production resources and connections between production resources, especially if a dynamic adjustment of production planning and execution to the energy system is to take place.
Although central planning tools can provide good solutions, problems repeatedly arise with the increasingly dynamic system behavior of production. A central planning unit cannot react to changes as long as the planning process is running, for example. The resulting production plan may already be out of date during subsequent processing. Decentralized and automated control approaches offer a solution. They allow individual objects to process information and make decisions independently. This leads to leaner planning and near real-time production control. Each object makes its own decisions by evaluating all the necessary information available in its environment. This avoids extensive and time-consuming calculations and also makes it possible to react quickly to sudden changes.
A sector coupling of production to the availability of energy or lower energy costs has not yet been implemented. However, current developments have shown us that energy is a key production factor and that it must be given greater consideration in system design and production planning.
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. The workshop is aimed at companies with the relevant skills in the R&D sector, companies with the need to implement appropriate solutions and companies with the willingness to work on cross-company open innovation projects, share knowledge and jointly develop and apply new technologies.
The aim of the workshop was the initial joint development of technological priorities and the development of possible approaches for joint R&D projects.
After Uwe Pfeil, Cluster Manager Cluster Mobility & Logistics, presented the ZIM networks of the Central Innovation Program for SMEs of the Federal Ministry of Economics, Prof. Stefan Galka from OTH Regensburg delved deeper into the subject with his topic "Energy as a production factor for sustainable factories". All 33 participants then had the opportunity to present themselves and their initial project ideas. A good basis for the subsequent development of R&D topics during the workshop.
It is intended that the network and the projects will be supported by federal funding, e.g. from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy 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.