Industrial production is currently undergoing a profound transformation: digitalization, resource scarcity, increasing sustainability requirements, and new regulatory frameworks are changing the way products are developed, manufactured, and used. This is exactly where "Die Lernfabrik" at TU Braunschweig comes in.
The learning factory provides an interdisciplinary environment for education, research, and experimentation, enabling the development of knowledge and competencies for circular production systems. Its central pillars include life cycle thinking, a comprehensive understanding of sustainability, holistic factory design, and cyber-physical production systems. Using circular battery cell production as a representative use case — a key technology that combines technological innovation, industrial scalability, and sustainability challenges — the learning factory illustrates essential stages of electrode manufacturing, cell assembly, and cell finishing. In an additional area dedicated to component manufacturing, assembly, and disassembly, the produced battery cells are integrated into a model vehicle.
"Die Lernfabrik" integrates physical and digital learning environments to create a comprehensive and practice-oriented educational experience. In addition to the realistic production environment, it features an immersive mixed-reality learning environment in which complex processes can be simulated, visualized, and experienced interactively. The associated digital learning platform connects content, applications, and educational formats within a unified ecosystem. As a result, hybrid learning spaces are created in which theoretical knowledge can be directly transferred into practical application.
The transformation of industrial production toward circular, digital, and sustainable systems creates new demands on higher education. Learning formats must make complex technical interrelationships understandable while simultaneously fostering practical, personal, professional, and socio-communicative competencies.
"Die Lernfabrik" at TU Braunschweig addresses these requirements through a hybrid learning approach: a realistic production environment is combined with digital and immersive learning spaces to create an interconnected learning ecosystem. Using the example of circular battery cell production, technical and methodological content is taught along the entire value chain — with a focus on circularity, digitalization, and sustainability in the context of research-based learning.
Under the guiding principle “Ready to Learn. Ready to Innovate. Ready to Teach.”, "Die Lernfabrik" sees itself as an open space for learning, innovation, and research.
Further information on the integrated lectures can be found on the corresponding overview pages:
Energy Efficiency in Production Engineering
Produktionsplanung und -steuerung
"Die Lernfabrik" provides companies with the opportunity to test new technologies, processes, and qualification concepts under realistic conditions, to further develop skilled personnel in a targeted manner, and to gain early access to innovative solution approaches. Visit our continuing education programs and learn more about the courses we offer.
For individual training requests, please feel free to send us a request.