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Low water levels on the Rhine, Danube, and Elbe are placing substantial pressure on inland shipping. The longer these conditions persist, the more significant their impact on economic activity becomes. Further deepening of navigational channels remains controversial due to environmental concerns, while shifting heavy freight transport back onto roads is not feasible for many goods and would place additional strain on already heavily burdened bridges and road sections in need of repair. A more sustainable approach is to optimize ship design itself: reducing vessel weight decreases draft, enabling ships to continue transporting cargo even when others risk running aground.

How can a product’s carbon footprint be determined in a standardized, automated, and cross-company manner along the value chain? And how can this be achieved by companies with limited personnel and financial resources? “PCF Guidance,” the new guidance document published by the Factory-X initiative, with contributions from Fraunhofer IWU, addresses these questions. It describes calculation methodologies and provides concrete examples for manufacturing processes such as milling, forging, and additive manufacturing. The guidance extends the scope to industrial production of products consisting of multiple parts or assemblies (discrete manufacturing). It complements the Catena-X Rulebook, which defines fundamental calculation standards at a higher level of abstraction with a primary focus on the automotive industry.

Hydraulic forming is a technology that uses high fluid pressure to shape sheet metal or tubes into the desired geometry. Instead of a second rigid tool, a fluid acts as the force-transmitting medium. Researchers in Chemnitz have now succeeded in significantly reducing production times in high-pressure sheet metal forming (HPSF) through intelligent process integration. Rather than a maximum of eight strokes per minute, the process now achieves up to 60 cycles per minute. Another breakthrough by the IWU team: combining hydraulic forming and flow pressing makes it much easier to manufacture hybrid metal-plastic composite components than previously.

The acronym POCT stands for point-of-care testing – patient-centered testing and diagnostics performed directly at the site of care rather than in a laboratory, for example, in a patient’s home or in an ambulance. POCT is often the method of choice when fast, reliable results are required with minimal effort. Point-of-care technologies are now finding their way into environmental diagnostics as well. Examples include monitoring wastewater and surface waters, sensor-based systems to improve barn climate in livestock operations, and mobile soil analysis for more precise fertilizer application in agriculture. Rapidly available data can also help protect lives in a wide range of hazardous situations.

Robotics can relieve employees from physically demanding, repetitive, and ergonomically unfavorable tasks. However, particularly in assembly environments, numerous factors must be considered before automation solutions can be implemented economically and deliver real benefits for personnel on the production line. A project team from Fraunhofer IWU and Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH is currently demonstrating precisely such an implementation at Fraunhofer IWU: a hybrid-autonomous assembly system (HAutoMont) that enables the cost-effective, semi-autonomous installation of passenger car underbody panels. The team is developing recommendations for adapting assembly processes and component designs to improve automation readiness.

How can sales figures be forecast more reliably, production capacities planned fully digitally, and employee know-how systematically integrated at the same time? To address this issue, Fraunhofer IWU developed an AI-powered demand forecasting tool for frottana Textil GmbH & Co. KG, the company behind the MÖVE brand. The tool intelligently analyzes historical sales data and provides companies with a robust, data-driven basis for sales and order planning; in a subsequent step, production planning could also be adapted.

Microcapsules containing a reactive two-component adhesive can simplify bonding processes in industry and assembly while improving occupational safety: the adhesive is initially safely enclosed in capsules, contact with exposed reactive components can be reduced, and activation takes place only during pressing at room temperature. The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam Science Park is looking for partners from industry and research who would like to contribute specific components, carrier materials or assembly processes for application-oriented testing.

In areas of the body where space is extremely limited and delicate nerve or vascular structures must be preserved, so‑called minimally invasive surgery is required. Robotic systems that translate a surgeon’s movements with high precision, in real time, and with millimeter accuracy – while also filtering out even the slightest tremor – are already being used successfully in clinical practice. Now, combining this technology with smart glasses promises a further leap in innovation. In spatial computing, these devices visualize information directly within the surgeon’s field of view, displaying what cannot be seen from the outside. Precise, high-resolution patient imaging data – such as MRI scans – serve as the basis for guiding the path to the target area.

When properly planned and sized, energy storage systems in production (ESiP) can optimally utilize renewable energy produced in-house. The ESiP Analyzer, introduced at the ees Europe trade fair in 2025, has since successfully proven itself in real-world applications with utilities and industrial companies: the tool helps factories improve the integration of renewable energy and reduce peak loads. Experience to date shows that targeted simulations and optimized operating strategies can, in some scenarios, enable the use of close to half of the electricity generated on-site. Grid stability also benefits from the “smoothed” consumption resulting from the use of storage systems.

Since 2025, Fraunhofer IWU has been heading the Lightweight Design Research Field. This alliance brings together the expertise of 16 Fraunhofer institutes, creating a powerful, interdisciplinary platform along the entire lightweight engineering value chain—from material development to validated application in products. The goal is to provide companies with integrated research and development services “from a single source” and to transform innovations into industrial applications.