The Fraunhofer IWU sees cognitive production systems (CPS) as an opportunity for smaller companies in particular to catch up with the best when it comes to digitalization. While paperless administrative processes, automation solutions and adaptive manufacturing processes are standard in many large corporations, digitalization has not yet found its way into many other companies. "One challenge is to design digital ecosystems that optimally meet the specific requirements of both small and large companies and, above all, enable conflict-free and secure networking. This makes it possible to optimize the entire value chain and not just individual processes," emphasizes Prof. Welf-Guntram-Drossel, Managing Director of Fraunhofer IWU. The Fraunhofer IWU sees itself in the role of a bridge builder, enabling all companies involved in a value chain, from regionally based SMEs to global corporations, to help shape the future of production.

Cutting-edge research for Saxon companies

Saxony's Science Minister Sebastian Gemkow emphasizes: "With the new research center, the Fraunhofer IWU combines cutting-edge research and transfer for Saxon companies in current future topics. Small and medium-sized industrial companies need solutions tailored precisely to their needs that make it easier to connect to important digitalization initiatives such as Catena-X and thus strengthen their competitiveness. I am convinced that the Fraunhofer IWU will be able to provide Saxon companies with services tailored to their needs thanks to the joint investment by the state and federal government in the new research center."

Dr. Sophie Hippmann, Director of Transfer and Innovation Management at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: "With the new Center for Cognitive Production Systems, Fraunhofer IWU and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are expanding their regional and supra-regional range of services for the production of the future. The center thus reflects the Fraunhofer DNA of developing new solutions, making them tangible and offering them for industrial use. Cognitive production is the right answer to increasing complexity in industrial value creation."

In its discussions with interested companies, Fraunhofer IWU emphasizes the concrete benefits of cognitive production systems. Prof. Steffen Ihlenfeldt, Institute Director at Fraunhofer IWU: "Aspects of cognition have long been omnipresent in many digital processes, even if the term is not yet established in all companies. Cognitive production is both an opportunity and a prerequisite for operating core value creation processes economically in the future. We are working on innovative control and production architectures that enable cost-effective production of even the smallest quantities. And we continue to focus on people: we want to make even better use of their flexibility and creativity for cognitive-technical systems."

Cognitive Production business area already under development

Thanks to additional start-up funding from the Free State of Saxony, the Cognitive Production business unit is already being set up in a rented building in Pforzheimer Straße (Dresden Gittersee). With the completion of the new research center planned for summer 2026, there will be space for several departments focusing on control technology and digital twins for production monitoring and quality assurance. New control architectures will be at the heart of control technology. With the help of sensor systems and intelligent control sequences, robots, for example, will in future be able not only to pick up an object from a precisely defined location, but also to "search" for it before picking it up. Such systems will replace rigid programming so that new automation solutions can adapt flexibly to new processing tasks and are therefore also suitable for small quantities.

The digital twin (image) is increasingly being given the task of ensuring and verifying the quality of all individual parts for products with particularly high reliability requirements. In the aerospace and medical technology sectors in particular, the digital twin will become a crucial tool for ensuring the highest production quality, even for the smallest batch sizes or individual quantities. This digital tool aggregates data from the manufacturing process and machine data at a higher level. Findings from these values and information then allow statements to be made about production quality, for example. This information must increasingly be exchangeable across company boundaries, for example between manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers in the automotive industry.

New research building not far from the institute's headquarters

The future CPS building will be located just a few hundred meters from the Dresden headquarters of the Fraunhofer IWU and in the immediate vicinity of Dresden University of Technology: ideal conditions for the close integration of basic and application-oriented research. The Cognitive Production Systems business unit is thus moving from Pforzheimer Strasse to the city center and closer to the campus. In the immediate vicinity of the planned Südpark, the site of the Federal Garden Show 2033, attractive workplaces will be created on 1750 square meters of office space and a seminar room with just under 200 seats. The machine tool hall will be equipped with around 1000 square meters of state-of-the-art research technology.

Funding of around 38 million euros

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Free State of Saxony are contributing equally to the financing of the new research center. Around 10 million euros are earmarked for the initial equipment.