Tailor-made research for the industry
ZIM program supports R&D in the technology sector. Success story about a DIL research project with Herbst Maschinenfabrik GmbH.
How can SMEs face various market challenges and the international competition? New product development would be one important way, but not every company has sufficient resources in research and development. However, there are several innovation possibilities available for companies as the following example shows.
Herbst Maschinenfabrik established in 1874 supplies mixing and stirring equipment to global customers from the food, cosmetics, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. With its comprehensive product portfolio that includes planetary mixers as well as central mixers, Herbst covers almost any aspect in mixing technology. The medium-sized company, currently with a staff of 25, is heading for future growth. The company invests strongly in the expansion of its production facilities at its headquarters in Buxtehude as well as in a second facility in Neukirchen, both in Germany.
Being a member of the German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) in Quakenbrück, the company became aware of the potential governmental funding instruments offer for the industry. Currently Herbst and DIL are planning a joint research project for the development of a tailor-made technology for the company within the scope of the ZIM funding module. This way new fields of application can be determined and new skills developed.
The machine builder and the research institute are committed to developed and design a special mixing unit that delivers an optimized mixing result in combination with an increased heat transfer. Herbst expects to gain a large competitive edge from this innovative technology that shall be further developed into a marketable tool.
The project idea itself was borne out of market demands. Ergo, Herbst introduced the problem to the DIL. Based on the knowledge input provided by the Institute’s experts who have gained many years of experience in different fields of the food industry including product and process development, food safety and design of special machinery, the cooperation led to the development of a custom-fit and efficient concept.
This is not the first publicly sponsored project that the innovative machine builder implements together with the DIL. Dr. Ralph Wicke, Manager of process engineering/sales at Herbst, reports: “We have had excellent experience with ZIM. In the end the development of new units would be hard to realize or even not at all without such funding.”
Within the scope of a ZIM program, the companies are granted a subsidy that does not have to be paid back. This subsidy is limited to a maximum of 175,000 euros (25-50% of the total costs of the project of maximal 350,000 euros that are considered to be eligible for support in this program).
Another benefit: The subsidy is not limited to the company's own performances, they also can take advantage of the development work of the research partners for free. The DIL is more than just a provider of innovative ideas, it also makes available its resources such as technical center, laboratories and manufacturing. Within the current project with the Herbst company, the institute’s responsibilities include the measuring and control technology. Added to that, the food products processed with the prototype machine are constantly analyzed in the DIL laboratories. The results provide information on e.g. whether the products have been overheated during the mixing, which are then fed back into the continuous development process. This way machine widths and parameters such as rpm can be adjusted to the recipe and product-specific operation processes programmed.
Beyond the development activities, the DIL - based on its many years of experience with research projects and funding instruments - also supports companies in terms of legal regulations and organization.
Dr. Achim Knoch, head of the DIL product development, is convinced about the funding module: “Within the research landscape, ZIM projects are rather uncomplicated instruments with a quick review of proposals within about three months. It is one of only a few programs where the confidentiality of the project is taken into consideration despite the fact that two partners are being supported.”
Currently the DIL has concluded nine projects within the scope of ZIM or its predecessors Pro Inno and Pro Inno II, four more projects are currently in progress. In the project proposal it is defined how the work is divided between the company and the institute, the term of the project is commonly two years.
Contact for product development at the DIL:
Dr.-Ing. Achim Knoch
Telefon: 05431.183-142
E-Mail: a.knoch@dil-ev.de
www.dil-ev.de
About ZIM
The Central Innovation Program SME (ZIM) is a market-oriented tool for the support of technologies provided by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It is a country-wide support measure open to all technologies and sectors and geared to small and medium-sized enterprises and collaborating research organizations closely aligned with business.
Within the period from 1 July 2008 to the end of 2013, the powers of ingenuity among innovative SMEs are substantively supported and a contribution is made towards their growth and competitiveness under the banner “A Catalyst for Growth”. The support includes cooperation and network projects and, starting in 2009, the support is also available to single-company R&D projects.
Currently, even larger companies can benefit from the ZIM program.
The demand from the businesses is rather high. In the meantime, more than one billion euros have been granted for the period from 2008 to 2012 for more than 8,000 projects. The scientific accompanying research ensures the best possible economic use of the funds. ZIM is already one of the most successful technology support programs for SMEs within the past thirty years.
