Fraunhofer spin-off closes gap for digitization of hot metal forming

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The newly founded Senodis Technologies GmbH presented itself for the first time at the Hightech Venture Days 2019. The first product to be marketed by the spin-off of Fraunhofer IKTS in Dresden, Germany is the Ceracode technology developed at IKTS for individual marking and data acquisition in hot metal forming.

© Senodis Technologies GmbH
The founding team of Senodis Technologies GmbH (from left to right): Thomas Härtling, Björn Erik Mai, Marek Rjelka and Christoph Kroh.
© Hightech Venture Days
Senodis Technologies GmbH presented itself for the first time at the Hightech Venture Days 2019 in Dresden.

Current marking solutions do not meet the special requirements of metal processing. Harsh production conditions (e.g. hot forming, hardening or nitriding) lead to the destruction or illegibility of the markings. The complete Ceracode solution overcomes this problem and enables the seamless acquisition of information in production areas where automated data acquisition is currently not feasible. The core of the development is an ink based on ceramic pigments, which - printed as a machine-readable code directly onto the component - withstands the highest temperatures and chemical influences. The properties of the component are not affected.

Starting in 2020, Senodis will make Ceracode marking available to customers as a complete solution for printing and data acquisition.

Björn-Erik Mai, CEO of Senodis Technologies GmbH, is confident that "with our marking approach we can close an important gap in the digitization of hot metal forming. After more than a year of preparation in the Fraunhofer-internal spin-off programs, we now want to contribute with Senodis in shaping the digital transformation of the processing industry in Germany and Europe and we look forward to working with our customers and partners".