The largest German and unique competence center in Europe for the development and testing of the production of different battery cells, including for electrically powered road vehicles, is currently being built in the Westphalian city of Münster. Now a major milestone was reached on April 30, 2024 in Münster: the commissioning of innovative European machine technology in the so-called “FFB PreFab”. This is an important step towards establishing the “FFB Fab”, which will enable industry-oriented production research with plant technology on a large industrial scale in Münster.

As an open battery cell factory for research and development purposes, the Fraunhofer FFB makes a central contribution to advancing the production of battery cells “Made in Germany” or “Made in Europe” and establishing themselves at the top in the face of strong international competition.

So that production in Germany can provide new battery technologies more efficiently, more cost-effectively and in the highest quality in the future, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia are supporting the establishment of a research facility for battery production as part of the “FoFeBat” project with up to to a total of 680 million euros. Research manufacturing provides an infrastructure with which small and medium-sized companies, as well as large companies and research institutions, can test, implement and optimize the near-series production of new batteries. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is now gradually implementing this future project with several partner companies.

One of these partners is Siemens AG, which provides Fraunhofer FFB with software and hardware solutions based on the open Siemens Xcelerator platform
supports. The two business areas Digital Industries and Smart Infrastructure contribute with their interoperable systems to the digitalization, automation, control and monitoring of machines, processes and buildings. The real production and environmental conditions are digitally mapped along the entire value chain by connecting OT (Operational Technology) to IT (Information Technology). Sensors in the building and throughout the entire production environment provide all relevant infrastructure data in real time.

By using the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) platform, Fraunhofer FFB is able to plan, control, optimize and flexibly scale production processes. The Desigo CC building management platform regulates the optimal production environment based on data and needs, including in the clean room and drying operation. The data collected is of central importance for the Fraunhofer FFB in order to fulfill the mandate of battery cell research production with the help of a digital twin from the factory. The digital twin reflects the entire factory - from the technical building equipment to production with all processes. This ensures production under close-to-series and sensitive conditions for various industrial partners.