High Performance Center Mass Personalization

In October the launch of the High Performance Center as a joint initiative of the Fraunhofer Institutes IPA, IGB, IBP and IAO, the University of Stuttgart and numerous industrial partners in the region was announced. The center investigates interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral methods, procedures, processes, product systems and business models for the manufacture of personalized products.

"Mass Personalization" – Personalized products at an affordable price

The concept of "Mass Personalization” describes a reorientation of product development, which leads from the development of a holistic user understanding to the seamless implementation in personalized product and service innovations – with costs that are hardly higher than those of mass-produced products. The project will run for 2.5 years with a total project volume of €12.5 million. In addition to the state of Baden-Württemberg, Fraunhofer also contributes €2.5 million.

The “Mass Personalization" process chain is being worked on in three pilot projects in each case with specific application scenarios from the areas of needs health, mobility and housing. Fraunhofer IGB and its partner institute IGVP at the university are involved in two of these pilot projects. In the field of ”Personalized biomechanical assistance systems”, IGVP and IGB research together to develop novel implant materials. Their surfaces are to be equipped with functional properties using additive manufacturing processes such as inkjet printing.

The pilot project “Personalized therapeutic products” deals with concepts and the implementation of quality assurance, logistics and production technologies in the “mass personalization” process chain. IGVP and IGB are working closely together to develop, for example, a novel detection system for microorganisms and their inflammatory components. The system is supposed to function on the basis of human immune receptors and without a time-consuming laboratory blood test. Further research work focuses on faster and quality assured medical sampling as well as faster diagnostics by organ-on-a-chip systems without animal testing.

High Performance Centers

Funding

We would like to thank the Baden-Württemberg Ministries of Science, Research and the Arts and of Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing for supporting the project "High Performance Center for Mass Personalization".