Presentation of the digital platform for process optimisation using AI
The IKV spin-off OSPHIM showcased its expertise at the recently concluded Hannover Messe and Kuteno with great success. By offering AI-based optimisation of production processes in the plastics industry, the start-up addressed several key themes of the fairs, including energy and environmental technologies, automation, and, in particular, AI applications. Furthermore, OSPHIM co-founder Louisa Desel took part in the panel discussion “Innovation in Dialogue” at the beginning of the Hannover Messe, alongside Deputy Chancellor Robert Habeck and Festo’s Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board, Curt Michael Stoll, to discuss start-ups and innovation in Germany.
The IKV spin-off OSPHIM was launched at the end of 2023 after funding was approved by the EXIST funding program of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) and is part of the RWTH Incubation and High-Tech.NRW program. The start-up secured additional funding by winning the RWTH Innovation Award in January 2024 and participating in the RICE Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas USA. In addition to the “best 60sec pitch” in the “Digital Enterprise” group and the “best company showcase”, OSPHIM won the Goose Investment Prize worth USD 200,000. But this is only the starting point!
Digital. Transformative. Resilient. This is how small and medium-sized companies presented themselves at the SME Innovation Day of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) on June 13. IKV used its presence to demonstrate some of its current research projects in the field of plastics processing to the public. “PolyH2Pipe”, a project dealing with the development of plastic pipes for hydrogen transport, and “Supporting air in thermoforming”, an advanced technique for improving the shaping of plastics, were the focus of interest.
The response to the technologies presented was positive. Some of the discussion partners showed great interest in the technological aspects and innovative solutions offered by IKV. Others, however, were primarily interested in the market maturity of the projects.
The visit by international delegations was particularly pleasing. Representatives from various European embassies stopped by the IKV stand as part of a guided tour. These visits underline the international importance of and interest in IKV’s developments.
The supporting program of the event offered a variety of highlights. In addition to the
OSPHIM stands for “Optimized Systems for Plastics and High-Performance Intelligent Manufacturing”. OSPHIM is developing a digital, AI-supported platform to implement injection moulding processes faster and more cost-effectively while maintaining high component quality. In the first use case, OSPHIM concentrates on the automatic selection of optimum setting parameters for the injection moulding process equipment. The technology has demonstrated a time saving of more than 70 % in the initial set-up of injection moulding processes and is based on IKV research on the subject.
The data used by the system comes from injection moulding machines, but also from peripheral devices such as temperature control units, dryers, cameras u. and much more. The infrastructure for data acquisition in production enables users to connect their network-compatible systems to the platform independently and without prior knowledge. OSPHIM achieves this via an ergonomic, intuitive platform with which users interact. For older interfaces, OSPHIM provides an edge device, OSPHIM-BOX, which can also be used to integrate non-network-compatible components.
© OSPHIM
© OSPHIM
© OSPHIM
© OSPHIM
© OSPHIMBased on the data integration, the platform offers a comprehensive analysis of the process data and thus provides valuable insights into the production processes. Standardized services support the user and process the recorded data so that suitable setting parameter combinations for the process setup can be determined automatically. OSPHIM uses machine learning methods with specially developed algorithms to use data from different sources for efficient and data-driven modeling. Quality data can be recorded automatically, supplemented manually or imported from external sources in order to use historical data for optimisation. This can significantly reduce the effort required for new data entry.
During series production, the algorithms developed by OSPHIM continuously monitor the process parameters and their fluctuations. Employees receive real-time assessments of the status of the process and can take corrective action in the event of quality problems in order to minimise waste. With OSPHIM, its founders are successfully combining the results of years of research with practical applications. Yannik Lockner and Mauritius Schmitz bring IKV’s expertise on this topic to the four-member founding team, which is complemented by industrial engineer Louisa Desel and mechanical engineer Jakob Pesch.
The young company made a name for itself not only at the Hanover Fair or Kuteno. It was presented to the specialist public at the industrial exhibition of the 32nd IKV International Colloquium on Plastics Technology and at the opening of the Plastics Innovation Center PIC 4.0. The most recent transatlantic highlight was participation in the NPE Plastics Show 2024 in Orlando, Florida, USA in May 2024. Further opportunities to meet the founders of OSPHIM will be offered at the RWTH Incubation Demo Day on May 27, 2024 in Aachen and at the High-Tech.NRW Demo Day at Wilo in Dortmund on June 6, 2024. OSPHIM will also be exhibiting at FAKUMA 2024 this fall.