Within the Fraunhofer model, groups are places of solidarity and the joint utilization of resources. Their mission is to safeguard and evolve scientific excellence in their respective areas of expertise.
Fraunhofer IWU works in the Fraunhofer Group Production.
Alliances are instruments that Fraunhofer uses to address industries that are key to Germany’s and Europe’s power of innovation. Above and beyond the individual institutes’ R&D activities, Fraunhofer intends to set up lead-market-oriented alliances in order to generate system solutions and cross-institute offerings for selected industries – lead markets.
Fraunhofer IWU coordinates the Fraunhofer Automobile Production Alliance - a lead market-oriented alliance for machinery and plant engineering.
Fraunhofer Cluster of Excellence promotes the cooperative development and processing of system-relevant topics through a cross-institution research structure. These research clusters correspond to a "virtual institute" that is spread over several locations. The research clusters are not only aimed at the temporary implementation of a single project, but also pursue a roadmap for the long-term development of a complex technology trend.
Fraunhofer IWU is a partner in
Institutes or departments of institutes organize themselves in thematic networks with concentration on a scientific-technological research topic.
Fraunhofer IWU is a partner in the following thematic networks:
With its lighthouse projects, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft sets strategic priorities in pre-competitive research. By pooling their expertise and involving industrial partners at an early stage, the Fraunhofer Institutes involved in the projects aim to turn original scientific ideas into marketable products as quickly as possible.
Currently, Fraunhofer IWU works in the following lighthouse projects:
Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology