TU Braunschweig cooperates with A*Star SIMTech Singapore – Opening of Model Factory@SIMTech

URBAN PRODUCTION: THE FACTORY AS A GOOD NEIGHBOUR

On October 5, 2017, State Secretary Dr. Koh Poh Koon, Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore, opened the Model Factory@SIMTech of the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) in the presence of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany Dr. Ulrich A. Sante. The objective is to conduct reality-based research on new manufacturing technologies and strategies and to train future specialists and managers in Germany and Singapore. A cooperation agreement was signed with the TU Braunschweig on the same occasion.

This collaboration is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).Cooperation partners are the Chair of Sustainable Production & Life Cycle Engineering of the Institute for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (IWF) of the TU Braunschweig under the lead of Prof. Dr. Christoph Herrmann and the Institute for Sustainable Urbanism (ISU) under the under the lead of Prof. Dr. Vanessa Miriam Carlow. With the learning factory at IWF, TU Braunschweig has an established learning and research environment for the factory of the future. Researchers from both locations are working together on new technologies in the area of Industry 4.0 and on energy- and resource-efficient factories.

 

The opening of the model factory in Singapore and the signing of the cooperation agreement are milestones in the long-standing cooperation between the TU Braunschweig and SIMTech.

SIMTech was founded in 1993. With 400 scientists and engineers, SIMTech is one of the leading institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. The exchange between SIMTech and the IMF of the TU Braunschweig has existed since 2002. It was intensified in the course of regular reciprocal visits and conferences as well as longer research stays at SIMTech by students and scientific staff of the TU Braunschweig.

The alliance partners already have specific plans for next steps. In the coming years, an interdisciplinary research platform will be established in Singapore in the context of the research line Future City of TU Braunschweig. The project ISUrF-Hub stands for “Industrial Symbiosis and Urban Factories”.

 

 

The factory of the future in the city of the future

“On the one hand, our goal is to recycle all waste within a city along the principles of nature,” explains Professor Christoph Herrmann. “On the other hand, we want to enable the production of products close to the customers. An important prerequisite for this is that the factory is also perceived by the residents as a good neighbour“.

Production is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift in times of digitization, scarcity of natural resources and the trend towards personalization of products. For the scientists from Braunschweig and Singapore, this is an important motivation to bring production back to the urban realm. Singapore as a dynamic megacity serves as a urban laboratory. In addition to concrete technologies, organisational and system methods are to be further developed in order to fundamentally examine the mutual influences and potentials in the urban context. The establishment of a joint research group will make an important contribution to the research fields of sustainable cities, energy efficiency (in production) and environmental and water technologies. In addition to joint research projects, a joint training concept is also being worked on. Among other things, an exchange of students and representatives from industry is planned, who will then participate in training courses lasting several days in Germany and Singapore.

 

 

PRESS COVERAGE (Selection)

[Channel NewsAsia] Newly launched A*STAR model factory lets SMEs test out new technologies
www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/newly-launched-a-star-model-factory-lets-smes-test-out-new-9284398

[The Straits Time] Singapore, Germany join hands in model factory initiative to boost advanced manufacturing
www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-germany-join-hands-in-model-factory-initiative-to-boost-advanced

[zaobao] 我国第一座模范科技制造厂正式启用
www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/singapore/story20171005-800622

[idw] Stadtproduktion: Die Fabrik als guter Nachbar – TU Braunschweig kooperiert mit SIM-Tech Singapur
idw-online.de/en/news682253

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