Fraunhofer UMSICHT Institute Branch Sulzbach-Rosenberg
Fraunhofer UMSICHT Institute Branch Sulzbach-Rosenberg

Industry Lab

Companies can find a digital test, development and application environment for process, energy technology and recycling in the Industry Lab at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Sulzbach-Rosenberg.

© Fraunhofer UMSICHT

Room for digital innovations in energy, recycling and process engineering

The Industry Lab offers a creative environment and technical excellence for the next innovation, whether for large companies or SMEs. From topic identification to the product and business model with Fraunhofer know-how.

Our offer for research & development teams

© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
The Industry Lab is located in the CES Technikum of Fraunhofer UMSICHT.
© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Fraunhofer UMSICHT is the test center of the Platform Industry 4.0 ...
© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
... and accredited as test environment of the I4KMU programme.

Our engineers and scientists from process engineering, plant construction, recycling technologies and waste management welcome you!

For Digital Teams

In the Industry Lab, teams from cooperating companies work closely with our scientists. Individual workstations and modern coworking zones are available for this purpose.

The lab is therefore ideal for agile project teams or start-ups seeking scope for creativity - in an ambitious, professional environment with excellent technical equipment and world-class scientific expertise.

IoT Framework on site

For the development of digital services and prototypes, companies can use the IIoT framework with the institute's own edge and cloud server infrastructure. In addition, a mechanical workshop with additive manufacturing, various laboratories and test areas with all relevant supply and disposal or media connections are available.

Science meets industry

The most important thing in the Industry Lab is the cooperation with our scientists, IT specialists and digitization experts. Together we achieve fast, usable results.

Test areas for process and energy technology plants are available to companies

Projekte im Industry Lab

© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Scientists and practitioners work together in the Industry Lab
© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Plant prototypes can be digitized and tested under realistic conditions.
© Fraunhofer UMSICHT
Modern workplaces and co-working zones are available for employees from companies.

The projects in the Industry Lab follow a strategic roadmap agreed between the company and the institute. The cooperation is medium to long-term and is regulated in an individual lab contract.

The contract concept not only keeps the administrative effort for the partners as low as possible, but also allows the research focus to be flexibly adapted to current developments and partial results.

A steering committee ensures the strategic orientation and the content objectives over the duration of the cooperation. The committee is composed of department heads of the institute and executives of industrial companies.

The practical work is done in (agile) subprojects. Employees from companies and the Institute form teams that are composed in such a way that the respective issue can be dealt with in the best possible way. Each employee from the partner companies is provided with the same amount of staff capacity by the institute. As a rule, the representatives of the companies do not spend the entire time at the institute.

The changing teams ensure a maximum transfer of knowledge to the company on the one hand and an excellent professional handling of the problem on the other.

This practical symbiosis of theory and practice has already proven itself many times over in many sectors and industries. It enables the implementation of ideas that are directly geared to the business processes and products of the industrial company, from the identification of topics to the market-ready business case.

For industry, the Industry Lab opens up an attractive way to achieve a shorter time-to-market while at the same time building up their own digitization know-how.


Digitisation in energy, process engineering and recycling

Digitisation in energy, environmental and process engineering as well as in closed loop recycling and economy is rather estimated as low, especially compared to piece goods based industries, e.g. mechanical engineering or the automotive and supply industry or logistics.

It is true that every process plant has a functioning basic automation system and a control system in which there are standard controls for process control. But only large-scale industry goes beyond the classic control technology by means of Advanced Process Control (APC). However, mostly without extensive networking within a company, let alone between suppliers, producers and customers.

Waste and recycling management in particular is only just beginning to digitalise process and value chains. Different collection systems, heterogeneous waste streams, a wide variety of material compositions (organic, biogenic residues, composite materials, household waste, industrial waste, etc.) and volatile regulatory frameworks also make digitisation activities more difficult.

The Industry Lab of Fraunhofer UMSICHT offers the opportunity to tap this unused potential. It enables companies to develop »Innovations Made in Germany« in environmental technology, while at the same time creating more sustainable processes that are conducive to resource conservation and climate protection.