Wickert Maschinenbau GmbH was honored with the JEC Innovation Award in the category “Automotive & Road Transportation – Process.” The award is one of the most prestigious in the composites industry worldwide and recognizes particularly innovative and practical developments with high industrial relevance each year.
The award was given to a joint research and industry project led by Chemnitz University of Technology, in which several strong partners were involved: Mahle Filtersysteme GmbH, Formenbau GF GmbH, In2p GmbH, Gerlinger Industries GmbH, Wickert Maschinenbau GmbH, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT).
The project focused on developing a load-bearing traction battery housing for electric vehicles made of glass reinforced thermoplastic. The aim was to create a cost-effective solution for large-scale production that would simultaneously reduce weight and improve the environmental balance.
The use of commercially available long and continuous fiber semi-finished products and a deliberately reduced number of variants made it possible to implement a highly automated compression molding process. Several layers of material are combined to form a single load-bearing component – efficiently, reproducibly, and without errors.
Particular focus was placed on process reliability and series production capability: specially developed lightweight grippers enable the safe handling of heated blanks, while rectangular blanks and a controlled pre-drape mechanism support waste-free production. With cycle times of less than two minutes, the process is clearly designed to meet the requirements of large-scale series production.
The JEC Innovation Award is one of the most prestigious awards in the international composites industry. It recognizes projects that set new standards in technology, sustainability, and industrial feasibility. The award for the GroKuBat project demonstrates the potential that lies in combining innovative materials, sophisticated design, and efficient production processes.
Compared to a conventional die-cast aluminum battery housing, the new solution offers significant advantages:
The JEC Innovation Award confirms the innovative strength of the project and underscores Wickert's role as a technology partner for modern, sustainable production processes in the automotive sector.
We are proud of this recognition and would like to thank all project partners for their successful collaboration.