100 YEARS OF TEXTILE AND FIBER RESEARCH

2018 - Completion of the ForschungsKUBUS as a test pilot plant for textile construction and smart urban living, and the opening of the modular wet spinning pilot plant. centrotherm international AG hands over a c.LAB carbon plant for stabilizing precursor fibers in the low-pressure process to the High-Performance Fiber Center. The "Digital Engineering" showcase is established as part of the "Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum Textil vernetzt".

2019 - Recycling of technical fibers in the new pilot plant: In June, the DITF will put into operation a nonwovens line from Dilo Machines GmbH financed by the state of Baden-Württemberg. Both the nonwovens line and the modernized pilot plant are designed that electrically-conductive carbon fibers can also be processed.

2019 - In August, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Agriculture agrees on a research cooperation with the DITF. At the planned "Hardwood Research Center", Denkendorf scientists will develop economic and ecological manufacturing processes for cellulose and lignin fibers produced from beech wood. The fibers are an environmentally-friendly and cost-saving alternative to conventionally-produced carbon fibers and can be used in energy-saving, lightweight vehicles, among other things.

2019 - The DITF become a member of the French Techtera cluster of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes textile region and are recognized as a public research institution for the Crédit d'Impôt Recherche of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. This membership is in line with the increasing internationalization of research. The DITF regularly exhibit at international trade fairs and, with the ADD International Textile Conference, provide a forum for exchange with experts from all over the world.

2020 - The Micro Factory Living Lab will be completed in fall. On more than 160 m², core processes from digital development and production to batch size 1 will be realized. In the multifunctional laboratory environment, the DITF can work with industrial partners on individual solutions around Textile 4.0 and digitalization. Projects on new business models, sustainability and future production strategies have been launched.

2020 - In the 2021 strategy, the DITF are moving the research areas of chemistry, process engineering and management even closer together: Six Competence Centers for areas with thematic overlaps, five Technology Centers for specialized areas and a Service Center for testing offers create new synergy effects.