Professor Thomas Bauernhansl is Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Stuttgart in Germany. He is also Director of the Institute of Industrial Manufacturing and Management (IFF), which belongs to the University of Stuttgart. His scientific focus is on production organisation, factory planning, energy efficient production, surface engineering, automation and process engineering.
Thomas studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University. After completing his PhD with honors, he embarked on his career with the Freudenberg concern in 2003, advancing to become Director of the Technology Centre at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies. His key areas of work included site planning, factory planning, outsourcing, technology management and lean production.
Thomas is on diverse advisory boards and management committees in industry, associations, research and politics. He is a member of WGP, the German Academic Society for Production Engineering, as well as being a member of the strategy committee of the German government’s “Platform Industry 4.0” and Vice Chairman of the Steering Committee Alliance Industry 4.0 BW. He has written and edited numerous books on topics such as adaptability in manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and production management.
