Werk150
Werk150 was established in 2013 under the name “ESB Logistics Learning Factory” as an on-campus learning and research environment. Today, the factory of the NXT Faculty of Sustainability and Technology at Reutlingen University has its own building, offering a total of 800 square meters of shopfloor space equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure for research, development, and education and training.
Current questions in applied research are addressed here, and new methods, tools, future technologies, and control systems for smart, adaptable work and logistics systems are developed and tested. The results of applied research are continuously integrated into teaching.
Werk150 exemplifies a smart manufacturing company, mapping its entire industrial value chain with a changing portfolio of products and services. In particular, processes in the areas of product and work system engineering, goods receipt, storage, picking, production, assembly, additive manufacturing, and distribution are replicated and examined holistically.
At Werk150, the requirements and impacts of Industry 4.0 / Industry 5.0 are researched and practically conveyed through teaching and training. It features a digital twin that is connected to the real factory via information and communication technologies. This allows both products and their production to be virtually planned and simulated, manufacturing to be digitally controlled, and the status and location of orders, workpieces, and resources to be monitored in real time.
At Werk150, we research, design, and demonstrate:
Industry 4.0 potentials
Cloud-based tools for service-oriented collaborative engineering
Methods and tools for planning and realizing future-ready factories, production systems, and warehouses
Solutions for cost-optimized design of logistical supply on the strategic (location and production strategies), tactical (adaptability and robustness), and operational (dynamics and flexibility) levels
IT solutions for self-control
Hybrid work and production systems
Smart automation solutions in logistics
Innovative smart assistance systems
Smart maintenance
Approaches for the circular economy
Blockchain solutions in the supply chain
Solutions using 5G campus networks in production and logistics (Werk150 has a fully operational 5G standalone campus network)
Artificial intelligence for industrial applications
The results of applied research are continuously integrated into teaching.
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Without application, science is just philosophy!
Werk150 is a research facility at Reutlingen University. As a non-profit institution, it supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in implementing innovation and research projects. The factory of the NXT Faculty of Sustainability and Technology pursues no commercial goals or economic interests. Projects are publicly funded or privately carried out on a cost-covering basis.
Our mission as an applied research institution is to bring new developments and innovations from science into practical application, thereby sustainably strengthening the innovation potential of SMEs.
Werk150’s activities to support SMEs include:
Development of new products and applications using Werk150’s state-of-the-art infrastructure under real testing conditions.
Exploration and realization of new business models through feasibility studies and workshops.
Prototypical implementation and testing of project ideas with support from highly qualified personnel.
Objective consulting by independent researchers, enabling low-risk and easy access to new technologies and infrastructures.
Through research projects, Werk150 supports companies in their digital transformation.
Teaching at Werk150
Studying at Werk150 means applying your knowledge in a real digital and physical factory environment and gaining an understanding of the overall system. How are the individual elements of a production and logistics system designed? What potential do new technologies offer? How do decisions in one area impact others? At Werk150, traditional learning methods are combined with self-directed, action-oriented learning approaches.
In the bachelor’s degree program International Industrial Engineering – Operations, students experience and understand forward-looking concepts such as digital planning, Industry 4.0, self-control, digital twins, human-robot collaboration, 3D printing, and machine learning through lectures and interdisciplinary seminars at Werk150.
For master’s students in the Operations Management (MOM) program, Werk150 is available as a learning and testing environment for interdisciplinary semester projects two to three days per week over a period of 15 semester weeks, as well as for the lecture Smart Factory and Logistics.
Research master's students in the dual degree program Digital Industrial Management and Engineering (DIME), in cooperation with Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Purdue University (USA), use the facility as a research and validation environment for their thesis work and the Smart Factory and Logistics lecture.
