Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS
From 2007 through 2010 the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development funded the LiFt Initiative, which had won the Innovation Competition “Industry meets Science”. The goal of the initiative was and still is to support Saxony’s competitiveness and potential in the field of machine manufacturing and plant construction through laser technology. Additional innovative technologies were continued to be developed after the initial funding phase had ended.
The Fraunhofer IWS cooperated with the University of Mittweida and the Institute for Innovative Technologies, Technology Transfer, Education and Continuing Education e. V. (ITW) in Chemnitz. The cooperation advanced the transfer of developed laser materials processing technologies toward industrial applications.
The network’s goals are to show potentials, to offer services and to demonstrate the advantages to machine builders and plant makers. As technology developer and knowledge provider, the LiFt project partners support small and medium sized companies in Saxony but also in other regions.
Advantages for machine and plant builders and manufacturers
- Time and cost savings through shortening of process chains,
- Higher efficiencies of manufacturing processes and products,
- High quality, market capability of the products,
- Unique selling proposition at the highest technology level.
Given the increasing demand for laser applications, consulting services were one of the core tasks of the network activities from 2011 onwards. A major outcome was the strengthening of European contacts together with partners from industry. Up to the present day, this has resulted in many joint projects and the realization of numerous industrial applications.