Focus on Europe’s Battery Future

Fraunhofer FFB at Hannover Messe 2026: Driving Europe’s Industrial Battery Cell Production

Industrial battery cell manufacturing has become a key strategic issue for Europe’s competitiveness. Against this backdrop, Institute Director Prof. Simon Lux will discuss key challenges and prospects for European battery cell manufacturing with representatives from industry and politics at the world’s leading industrial trade fair. In addition, Fraunhofer FFB will demonstrate how applied research, digital production concepts, and connected factory solutions accelerate the transfer of research results to an industrial scale.

Münster. “European companies will fall behind structurally if they fail to move beyond the growth phase. Building an independent battery industry is therefore not only an economic but also a geopolitical task that we must now tackle with determination,” says Fraunhofer FFB Institute Director Prof. Simon Lux.

© Deutsche Messe
Together with six partner companies, Fraunhofer FFB is presenting the “Battery Use Case” showcase, which brings EV battery cell manufacturing to life and demonstrates a fully networked value chain—from battery cells and battery production all the way through to recycling.
© Fraunhofer FFB
At the Hannover Messe, the FFB spin-off “Syvairo” is presenting the Mini-Environment Transport Box. As a mobile clean and dry room, it enables climate-controlled transport of sensitive materials.

Lux will discuss how this can be achieved during the PowerCo panel discussion alongside Frank Blome, CEO of PowerCo; Dr. Alexandra Gwyn Paetz, Head of the Technological Sovereignty & Innovation Division at the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space; and Markus Mühlbauer, CEO of the Mühlbauer Group. The discussion will focus on key drivers such as innovation and industrialization, appropriate regulatory frameworks, and collaboration across the entire value chain. Lux will contribute the perspective of applied research manufacturing and highlight the conditions that must be met to ensure that new technologies are not only developed but also successfully scaled up to industrial levels.

Holistic Solutions for Battery Cell Manufacturing: Fraunhofer FFB at the Hannover Messe

In parallel with the panel discussion, Fraunhofer FFB is showcasing its expertise in digital battery cell production and intralogistics at the Hannover Messe. In the “Battery Use Case” showcase (Hall 26, Booth G44/28), the institute, together with six partner companies, will demonstrate how digital technologies and innovative logistics solutions contribute to Europe’s industrial sovereignty in battery cell production. 

Bringing Research to Life: An Immersive Demonstrator and Digital Use Cases

Together with the EDAG Group, Fraunhofer FFB is presenting a virtual demonstrator of the “FFB PreFab.” The immersive 3D environment enables a virtual tour of the research production facility in Münster. It depicts the process chain of battery cell production, starting with delivery and mixing, through electrode production, and on to cell assembly and formation. This makes the factory processes at FFB PreFab intuitively understandable and provides industry, research, and the public with a new way to engage with the technological complexity of modern battery factories.

Potential of Mini-Environments in Battery Cell Manufacturing

In addition, the startup Syvairo, a spin-off of Fraunhofer FFB, presents its micro-climate-controlled transport box, which can serve as a mobile clean and dry room in battery cell production. The gastight container system with continuous atmosphere monitoring enables the protected transport of sensitive battery intermediates under controlled conditions, such as with argon or nitrogen. The solution reduces quality losses, increases process reliability, and supports resilient, cross-site production networks.

Battery Passport and Digital Networking of Battery Cell Production

Another key focus is on the end-to-end digital networking of battery cell production. With the Battery Passport and standardized data exchange (OPC UA), Fraunhofer FFB is addressing key future topics in industrial battery cell manufacturing at the Hannover Messe. At the booths of HEITEC (Hall 15, Booth D36), the OPC Foundation (Hall 27, Booth B24, (13)), and in the “Battery Use Case” showcase (Hall 26, Booth G44, (28)), Fraunhofer FFB will present a demo on improving the interoperability of various solutions for the EU Digital Product Passport for batteries. In addition, Dr. Arno Schmetz, Group Leader of Digital Factory, together with David Tobon Jaramillo (Huawei, Co-Chair of the OPC Foundation Cloud Initiative), will demonstrate at the “Cloud Initiative” conference how a Battery Passport can be created, hosted, and linked to live OPC UA manufacturing data in just a few steps using the UA Cloud Library.

Fraunhofer FFB at the Hannover Messe

Throughout the trade show week, Fraunhofer FFB will be showcasing a fully integrated value chain for battery cell manufacturing—spanning everything from battery cells to battery recycling—at the Application Park of the Hannover Messe, in collaboration with DBR77, EDAG, FANUC, Bosch Rexroth, SCHUNK, and Vision Lasertechnik. Technical experts from Fraunhofer FFB and the spin-off company Syvairo will be available at the joint booth to provide visitors with detailed information and insights into the technologies on display.

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