Key areas

The process industry is highly diverse and encompasses sectors such as the manufacture of chemical and pharmaceutical products, the production of metal or glass, as well as foods, beverages and tobacco.

The focus of the business unit “Process Industry” at Fraunhofer IPA is on

• the chemical industry
  
• the pharmaceutical industry
  
• and the steel industry.

Each department concentrates on different aspects: "Coating Systems” and “Painting Technology”,for example, concern itself with the manufacture and processing of paints, coating and electroplating materials; “Ultraclean Technology and Micromanufacturing” makes sure that cleanliness requirements of production facilities are met, whereas the department of “Image and Signal Processing” integrates suitable measuring and testing technologies into processes.

The above picture shows an example of results obtained through integration of measuring and testing technologies into processes. In the continuous manufacture of technical flakes, appropriate process control prevents flakes from adhering to one another. With the aid of cameras, the size of the flakes is monitored and analysed, and statistics regarding flake distribution are generated.

Fraunhofer IPA develops solutions to meet specific requirements along the entire value chain: “Planning – Engineering – Validation – Quality Assurance”.