The Mechatronics & Automation Cluster introduces itself

Since the beginning of 2021, the Cluster Mechatronics & Automation based in Augsburg is part of Bayern Innovativ. Find out what topics it deals with and what services it offers.

The digital transformation is in full swing. Companies must take advantage of this development in order to be successful in the long term. The Cluster Mechatronics & Automation offers all interested parties from business and science professional exchange and offers that the digitalization in products and processes.

It combines know-how with a strong network of partners and stakeholders, promotes ideas and provides impetus for innovation in the high-tech location of Bavaria, Germany and Europe. Thus, it supports the digital transformation and helps to shape milestones of Industry 4.0 .

Services

The service formats of our cluster management focus on the key areas of communication, cooperation, qualification and internationalization.

Cooperation:

The Cluster Partnership is the ideal opportunity for targeted contact initiation, bilateral and multilateral exchange and focused cooperation:

In thematically focused cluster workshops or regular working groups of our SIT teams, cluster partners and interested parties have the opportunity to share experiences in the network, pursue project ideas and develop technical and organizational innovations in a network.

As an EU-recognized innovation cluster, we can accompany our cluster partners individually and support them in the identification and implementation of R&D projects, ideally in a network of several partners.

We can also offer cluster partners support in the search for suitable innovation partners and project funding opportunities.

Qualification:

Mechatronics describes the early and functional integration of various technological disciplines. Those who want to innovate successfully in this area need employees who are willing and able to provide this integration service.

In our mechatronics academy , we offer specific training formats on cutting-edge knowledge areas from the world of Industrie 4.0 and digitalization, thus supporting the lifelong learning of valuable specialists and ensuring the innovative strength of our companies. We use lecturers from universities and research institutes as well as experienced practitioners from innovative companies. In this way, we ensure the transfer of new knowledge to companies, but also, beyond that, the greatest possible practical relevance.

In addition to continuing education, we are involved in securing skilled workers, from STEM promotion in school competitions, to expert exchanges on challenges in human resources development, to innovation projects related to the topic area of "Arbeit 4.0" .

Internationality:

High-tech centers are springing up in many places around the world, offering attractive know-how and eager to cooperate with our competence providers. We are convinced that we can only meet the increasing innovation dynamics in global competition in agile networks. The European Union is pushing this cooperation with the goal of a common research and innovation space.

For years, we have been successfully involved in EU projects on promoting cooperation between European innovation regions. For example, we have established a network for our partners with innovation agencies in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and several other regions, and we are currently in the process of building bridges to Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Portugal via a new project in order to combine our competencies in the digitalization of engineering and production with the experts in the aforementioned regions for innovative offshore applications. With a view to global partnerships, we cooperate with the foreign representative offices of Bavaria all over the world and have already been able to establish a sustainable partnership with Japan, for example.

Production Security

With increasing digitalization and networking in the Industrial Internet of Things, it is becoming more and more important to secure Operational Technology (OT-) against cybercrime in a similar way as it has already proven itself in pure IT. Our SIT team discusses and develops solutions to improve the security situation in manufacturing companies through the interaction of users, specialists and intelligent software, and derives projects from this.

Mechatronic drive systems

The intelligent interaction of mechatronic drive components still opens up great potential for increasing the energy and material efficiency of overall systems and thus for increasing sustainability and new business models. The experts in the SIT team deal, for example, with sensor technology for services (predictive maintenance), digital engineering methods (e.g. simulation, thermal management, ...), and innovative drive and storage technology for E-Mobility .

Industrial Additive Manufacturing

The possibilities of additive manufacturing have developed enormously in the last decade and Bavaria has outstanding expertise, both in research and in exemplary applications. Our SIT Team Additve4Industry deals with the aspects of selection and integration of commercially available additive manufacturing processes in the topics of product design as well as impact on other production and logistic processes and thus aims to provide orientation and decision support.

Currently emerging or. in prospect are SIT teams on:

Robotics

Robotics is conquering more and more new areas of application - whether as a classic industrial robot that is becoming easier to program and more flexible to use, in collaboration with humans, or as a service robot in the B2B, medical or consumer goods sectors. In spring 2021, we invited people to bring together expertise and needs in the circle of our cluster partners and players, to define the next steps in terms of time and technology, and to set out together - not least to secure the position of Bavaria, Germany and Europe as a production and technology location.

Artificial intelligence in production and operations

With increasing mechatronic penetration of tools, machines and plants, ever greater volumes of data are available that can be processed to optimize products and processes thanks to economically available high-performance IT. With a special focus on the application of Artificial Intelligence in production, we intend to form an SIT team starting in summer 2021, which we may soon be able to title "Predictive Quality". We look forward to working with interested protagonists on resource-efficient, flexible and thus ultimately sustainable, innovative production systems.

Mechatronic modularization

"Plug-and-produce" could be the keyword under which plants configure themselves in the future. Each component can contribute its capabilities to a common work program, and the overall system defines itself with each production order and is able to respond flexibly. We call on all those who can appreciate this "rough" vision and are interested in discussing fundamental communication architectures and technologies (e.g., 5G, 6G , quantum technologies ) for rollout into industrial applications.

Become a cluster partner

Become part of our lively network of industry and science and use our opportunities for your holistic innovation in product, process and human resources!

Exclusively cluster partners who participate in the financing of our cluster management, we can offer support in most questions of innovation and knowledge transfer with our specific support services that go beyond general information and business development, in compliance with European state aid law.