Lithium ion technology is booming in Europe. Young startups such as the Swedish Northvolt as well as established companies from the automotive industry and related areas like TESLA, CATL, Volkswagen etc. are overturning with announcements to set up battery cell factories in Germany and Europe in very ambitious schedules. Some of these announcements are already being implemented. This fits in with the announcement by the European Commission to fund a “European Battery Alliance”. Funding in the billions have been released for this.
The manufacturing technology of such large-format battery cells is a marathon run and mainly consists of roll-to-roll processes. Starting with high-precision winding and coating technology via calandering and slitting processes, the tasks for mechanical engineering are interesting and varied. Until now, the heart of this machine technology had been beating in Asia (Japan and Korea), the Kampf group, together with its parent company Jagenberg AG, recognized the signs of the times early on and reached out in search of partners, finding the Japanese coating system manufacturer and market leader Hirano Tecseed from Nara.
As part of a first joint project, this partnership with Hirano has now been further strengthened and expanded through discussions with the Japanese trading company Itochu SysTech Corporation. On this occasion, a visit by Dr. Erich Bröker, the CEO of Jagenberg AG, Dr. Stephan Witt (COO Kampf corporate group) and Dr. André Mecklenburg (managing director of Kampf LSF GmbH) in Osaka and Nara took place. Here very constructive discussions with Mr. Matsumoto (President and CEO of Itochu SysTech Corporation) and Mr. Okada (President Hirano Techseed) have been carried out.
Next to others Dr. Broker explained how the “exploding” battery market in Europe could be served even better by a common approach and the integration of other Jagenberg companies. The return visit to Krefeld has also already been scheduled and will take place in January 2020.
The pictures show the visit to the Hirano Tecseed production facility in Kyoto Prefecture, which was built in 2019, and Dr. Bröker together with Mr. Okada during a meal together.
