IN THE FUTURE LAB
How can cutting-edge automation technology be used even more efficiently in manufacturing? How can artificial intelligence be best utilized to plan and control production even better and in a more resource-preserving manner? How can production assistance systems support humans in such a way that they can optimally contribute their cognitive abilities to the production process and not waste valuable time at the wrong place? And how can production be further developed with a view to climate protection so that its CO2 footprint becomes ever smaller – up to CO2 neutrality? We are working on future issues such as these in ever new projects in our “Research & Development” department. From the very beginning, CPT has been a recognized partner in practice in the field of R&D cooperation and has since been involved in countless promising research projects. Cooperation partners are primarily universities, colleges, and Fraunhofer Institutes. Innovation is lived at CPT every day – and that is exactly what our customers appreciate most about us.
EXAMPLE PROJECTS
CPT has already been involved in numerous research and development projects with a wide range of tasks and is currently working on several new projects.
THE RESEARCH PROJECT InTeLeMat is called "Informal, technology-supported learning systems in matrix production." In order to remain competitive in the future, SMEs must become more flexible, use digitalization opportunities, redesign processes, and consider the social needs of their workforce. Matrix production is intended to make production more flexible and adaptable. CPT is involved as a project partner in the problem definition, research, and implementation in the company. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the project sponsor is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
ARTIFICIALLY AND HUMANLY INTELLIGENT: How can artificial intelligence be used to shape new forms of work? And how can artificial intelligence be best used in production planning and control? These are the questions being addressed by the research project "Artificially and Humanly Intelligent" ("K-M-I"), in which CPT is actively involved as a partner. AI as a driver of new forms of work and new business models must be considered together in order to remain future-oriented and competitive. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and the project sponsor is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
TOOL AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: How can difficult-to-machine materials be machined as resource-efficiently as possible? The solution is cryogenic high-pressure cooling - and we are involved in a research project on this as a partner. A high-pressure cryogenic system is used that can transport the liquid nitrogen to the cutting edge of the tool. The process is intended to increase tool life and cutting speeds for difficult-to-machine materials. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (Central Innovation Program for SMEs ZIM).
MISSION DIGITAL TWIN ("TWIN"): In this project, in which CPT is also involved, the focus is on the development process for manufacturing prototypes (product development phase) using so-called laser powder bed fusion (LPA). For this purpose, TWIN is developing a digital product-service system (with a digital twin as the core object) with the involvement of the entire value chain of industrial generative manufacturing. To this end, the manufacturing process is being modularized to a greater extent, so that additional interaction points between the partners are created and dynamically provided in the form of "smart services". This results in a closed system that processes and represents precise details of logistics and process flow. The project sponsor is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics.
PROTOTYPE FOR PROTOTYPES: Another major research and development project, in which CPT was involved alongside other industry partners, focused on additively manufactured precision components made from high-performance steel alloys. Components made from this material open up new perspectives, especially for prototype manufacturing.
DELICATE PLANT, BIG IMPACT: The Jatropha plant, a spurge native to Central Africa, thrives on the poorest soils, is not a food plant for humans or animals, but has one big advantage: its nuts are extremely oily. In an exciting research project, CPT and other partners have developed a coolant based on Jatropha oil.
MISSION "CYPRO ASSIST": CPT also conducted research on a manufacturing assistance system using socio-cyber-physical production systems in collaboration with partners. One focus was on the development of novel algorithms for collecting production data. The future has already begun - and we are helping to shape it by driving innovation.
