Dr.-Ing. Philipp Wunderlich
Accenture Industry X
Day 3 (November 7, 2024)
2:45 p.m.
Ferrum
The power of digitalization in battery cell production
As of the end of 2024, gigafactories for battery production are being built in Europe, but they face initial scaling challenges and quality issues. As the global battery market evolves and competition intensifies, the competitiveness of local projects is becoming increasingly important. One way for new entrants to differentiate themselves from their competitors could be to introduce cutting-edge digital technologies in cell production. It is widely recognized that digitalization plays a crucial role in addressing some of the key challenges in battery cell production by optimizing the overall production processes.
As this rather qualitative statement has not been quantified so far, Accenture and the Fraunhofer Research Institute for Battery Cell Production FFB have conducted a study to quantify the impact of digitalization on battery cell production. This presentation provides insights into the results, which show that electrode production is the biggest beneficiary of digital technology cases, followed by final cell production, with the assembly process ranking third in terms of potential improvements through digitalization.
The main cost driver in battery production, the scrap rate, could be significantly reduced through the use of digital use cases such as predictive quality, traceability or digital production planning, as the results of the expert survey and cost modeling suggest. The study highlights the added value of digitalization, such as increased efficiency, increased flexibility, data-driven decision making and improved quality control, and provides a measurable representation of its impact in numbers. Finally, it gives cell manufacturers practical advice on how to use digital technologies and assesses their benefits for competitiveness.
Curriculum vitae
Philipp Wunderlich has a background in materials science and started his academic career at RWTH Aachen University. In 2014, he started his career in battery research in California, where he focused on the investigation of electrode materials for advanced battery technologies. Over the years, he refined his expertise and conducted research on the development of high-energy carbon electrodes for post-lithium-ion batteries as part of his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry and Electrochemistry.
After successfully completing his PhD, Philipp moved to a postdoctoral position in the Battery Cells & Recycling group at the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components at RWTH Aachen University. In 2020, he took on the role of Project Manager at umlaut, a merger of consulting and engineering firms, which was later acquired by Accenture, a global leader in professional services, known for its expertise in digitalization and consulting.
Today, Philipp is a Senior Manager at Accenture in the Industry X Infrastructure and Capital Projects division. In this role, he leads the battery technology consulting team, which specializes in technical consulting and engineering services for the battery industry. His focus areas include key topics such as the industrialization of batteries in gigafactories, energy storage solutions, circular economy practices and the digitalization of the battery value chain. Philipp has consistently demonstrated his expertise in this field and has been a speaker at numerous international industry events and conferences. There he has provided valuable insights into the future of cell chemistries, competitive battery product strategies and the implementation of smart battery production processes.