ITPE – Institute for Technical Product Development

Shaping, finding solutions, creating new things, and being responsible for fulfilling customer needs ... is a wonderful challenge. With increasing globalization, the advent of new manufacturing processes, and rising dynamics of change, not only does the complexity of technical products increase, but so does the complexity in defining and designing these products. The continuous development of methods and processes is therefore essential. Only in this way can efficient and effective solutions for complex technical challenges be realized in an increasingly volatile environment.

Our research focuses on four central thematic areas:

1. Strategy and Organization

We design and optimize development processes for physical products and systems. Our focus is on agile development: we investigate how agile methods can be effectively applied in physical product development to increase flexibility, speed, and customer proximity. In doing so, we develop approaches for targeted organization and structuring of development projects – from process architecture to the implementation of agile strategies.

2. Systems Engineering

Complex products require holistic thinking. We rely on systems engineering to methodically plan, develop, and integrate technical systems. Key topics include the Digital Twin – as a virtual representation of the real product – and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). This creates the foundation for seamless, digital development processes and increases transparency as well as efficiency in all project phases.

3. Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) opens up new degrees of freedom in product design and production. We develop methods to fully exploit the potential of generative manufacturing processes – from the early concept phase to optimization for direct manufacturing. Our goal is to enable innovation in design and production and to generate sustainable competitive advantages.

4. Distributed Development

Globalization requires new forms of collaboration. We investigate how distributed teams worldwide can work effectively and efficiently towards common development goals. Both technological and human factors are in focus – from digital collaboration tools to intercultural management and leadership in global development networks.

You will find more detailed information and current research results from these fields under the "Research" section. If you, as a company, would like to learn more about cooperation in one of these fields, or as a student are interested in a thesis in one of these areas, please feel free to contact us via email at produktentwicklung@unibw.de. We look forward to hearing from you!