Andreas Russ of Bosch Manufacturing Solutions used his talk at the symposium to compare lead times for new battery production lines. Accordingly, in Europe, Bosch puts development and delivery at under 12 months; in parts of Asia, manufacturers expect less than six. Asian producers also scale faster, invest heavily and keep setting new cost benchmarks. To keep pace, European lines need to be scalable and adaptable, with product and machine developed side by side.
Italy – Florence to host conference on solar in the built environment
Demand is also spreading to new applications. Batteries now power trains, heavy mining machinery, ferries and commercial vehicles as well as cars, and stationary storage for grids and renewables is growing fast. Each of these applications sets its own requirements for cell chemistry, power, lifetime, format and volume, and in many of these markets cost per kilowatt-hour is just one priority among several.
“Europe won’t win the competition for the cheapest standard cell by copying Asian gigafactories,” said Alexander Olowinsky, head of the Joining and Cutting department at Fraunhofer ILT and organiser of the symposium. “Our opportunity lies where flexibility, process knowledge and quality count.”
Modular machines for specialised cells
Toni Voebel of start-up Manugy described a modular production concept for specialised cells, in which most of the machinery stays standardised and individual modules are adapted to chemistry, format and application. The company says this shortens development times and makes small and medium volumes more economical.
Flexibility only goes so far when higher volumes make it harder to keep every process reliably under control. A battery pack can contain a very large number of welded joints, and a single faulty joint can leave a whole component unusable. Bosch locates the real challenge in scaling complex processes up to series production with as few defects as possible. IPG Photonics summed up the requirements in three words: productivity, process stability and verifiable quality.
BMW and weldmetrix showed how this works in series production. Once pilot lines move into series production, the number of joints quickly outstrips manual or visual inspection. Sensors now capture process data during welding, helping assess every weld, spot defects early and keep a traceable record. New Infrared Technologies presented real-time monitoring for laser processes, Audi’s Jan-Philipp Weberpals reported on AI-based weld monitoring, and MAHLE’s Johannes Gaigl outlined data-based methods for analysing and improving production. Together, these approaches move quality control from the end of the line and into the welding process.
Lasers that adapt to the product
All the while, the lasers themselves are becoming more versatile. Modern beam sources and optics can match energy distribution to material and joint, and dynamic beam shaping opens further options for welding aluminium and copper-aluminium connections. At RWTH Aachen University’s Chair for Laser Technology LLT, Julia Vielhauer is working with Fraunhofer ILT and other partners on how dynamically shaped beams affect the melt pool and material properties. Manufacturers can then adjust a process through beam guidance, parameters, sensors and software, without rebuilding lines for every new product.
Mercedes-Benz brings smart home charging to Germany
“We don’t have to be the cheapest supplier in every market,” Olowinsky said. “What matters is that we can industrialise batteries and electrical systems reliably, flexibly and quickly.” (TF)
