What are the latest trends in production and manufacturing?
Cozzi: Digitalisation, sustainability, automation and cybersecurity are the big topics. Artificial intelligence is a central driver, with technologies such as machine learning, predictive analysis and digital twins enabling real-time optimisation, quality control and predictive maintenance.
Trog: In future, robotics will feature more heavily in other applications than it has done to date. And not just in situations that involve the production of highly standardised parts and large volumes, either. By way of example, robots can be used in kitchens to make sandwiches containing different ingredients. This is a new form of automation for small runs in service operations.
Cozzi: Exactly. Supported by AI, automation enhances human-machine interaction. Beyond that, it also supports production processes – while additive manufacturing and innovative coating technologies, such as inkjet printing, open the door to even more flexible and individually customised manufacturing.
How are things looking in terms of the competitiveness of the industrial sector in Austria and Europe? Where are the opportunities, what are the challenges?
Cozzi: The opportunities can be found in high-tech areas where precision and quality are in demand, such as the automotive industry, aviation, optics, electronics and medtech. Austria benefits from its excellent research infrastructure and partnerships with industry, which make custom solutions possible. It is qualified experts and its innovative capabilities that make Austria competitive. And thanks to its strong research play, Styria leads the way in Europe when it comes to R&D intensity.
Trog: But still, we can’t rest on our laurels, we need to keep moving forward. R&D intensity alone doesn’t deliver innovation. What we are missing in Austria is a pronounced culture of entrepreneurialism and investing. There are countries where the R&D density is lower, but the appetite for innovation is much greater.
As coordinators of the Production and Manufacturing business area at JOANNEUM RESEARCH, where are your focuses?
Trog: Our business area brings together different approaches and areas of expertise from the different institutes and research groups, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital twins, additive manufacturing and statistical methods as well as technologies to support the circular economy and life cycle assessments. Our goal is to bundle this far-ranging expertise in the company, while making it visible – and understandable – to the outside world. Which is why, as the Production and Manufacturing team, we are looking to increase our presence at shows, conferences and events. JOANNEUM RESEARCH is already working in various national and international expert committees and clusters. Here, our goal is to clarify our own positioning and unlock synergies. We will accomplish this by coordinating content across the organisation and communicating with a clearer focus through the individuals who are already established members of the various committees and clusters.
Talking of internationalisation – what are the focuses here?
Cozzi: One of the key regions in this respect is northern Italy. We signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the University of Udinese back in 2018, which has since led to a number of joint projects as well as PhD projects in our laboratories for additive manufacturing. Over the past few years, we intensified partnerships with South Tyrol’s innovation system, particularly with the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and NOI Techpark. In 2024, JOANNEUM RESEARCH became a member of the innovative SMACT Competence Center in north-eastern Italy – making it the first non-
Italian research institution to join. This development has opened up partnerships with numerous innovative companies in one of the most technologically advanced regions of Europe.
Trog: We need to take our cue from the global elite. Parts of the world such as the Netherlands and Flanders are already showing how to be a global leader in specific niches. And we ought to work with these regions and learn from them.
Where do JOANNEUM RESEARCH’s strengths lie?
Cozzi: Our strengths lie in our interdisciplinary expertise and our ability to develop tailor-made solutions for industry. In the field of production and manufacturing, we excel in cutting-edge research in surface technologies, photonics, additive manufacturing and collaborative robotics. Our laboratories enable, for example, precise manufacturing and analysis technologies on a micro and nanometre scale. We focus on niches such as functionalised surfaces, laser and plasma technologies, and sustainable production processes that are resource-efficient and climate-friendly. Trog: Exactly, interdisciplinarity is our great strength. We cover a very broad range of topics. It is just as important to focus particularly on a few excellent niches and become even stronger in these areas. In national and international collaborations such as EU projects, we are a valued and stable partner, often over many years. In the future, it will be important for us to focus more on commercialisation by transferring our research results into products and services.
Looking to the future now, what will define Austria as a manufacturing location in 20 years’ time?
Cozzi: As a manufacturing location, Austria will assume a pioneering role in high-tech production driven by artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digitalisation and sustainability.
Trog: Right now, though, we are in the midst of a deep crisis. We basked in the light of past achievements for too long and failed to spot that other parts of the world had caught up. For the future, we need to make sure that we reclaim our place in the international vanguard in a few niche areas. As such, sustainability is an important topic and will remain so, too. Pretending otherwise would be a mistake, as it will actually open up fresh opportunities for doing things differently – and better. And that is what innovation is all about! But we have to be faster and take action.
Cozzi: Additive manufacturing will offer even faster and better production opportunities. And cybersecurity has a decisive role to play when it comes to assuring the resilience of digital production systems and fending off cyber threats. Ultimately, AI will revolutionise manufacturing by optimising processes through predictive analysis, digital twins and autonomous systems.
Are our production facilities set to become “dark factories” in future, i.e. devoid of human beings?
Cozzi: That’s only a realistic prospect in some sectors. Dark factories could become more important in standardised applications such as electronics manufacturing, but human expertise will continue to be indispensable in areas like custom production and research. Ethical, social and commercial aspects call for a balanced strategy in which AI and cybersecurity increase productivity, while supporting human beings – instead of replacing them. In areas that call for complex and creative processes, humans will continue to play a central role:
Trog: AI use is still in its infancy. In many areas we still need to find out where it really can be a useful tool for us and where it doesn’t live up to the hype. I firmly believe that there are things that only people can do: in situations that involve complex and creative processes, such as sales and R&D as well as product design.
Interview: Petra Mravlak
JOANNEUM RESEARCH. Business area production and manufacturing
