The Power of Digitalization in Battery Cell Manufacturing
Creators: name: Wunderlich, Philipp
name: Ehteshami-Flammer, Niloofar
name: Krauß, Jonathan
name: Fitzner, Antje
name: Mohring, Leon
name: Dahmen, Christian
name: :Unav
Publisher: name: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Year: 2024
Subjects: Digitalizsation
Battery production
Battery cell production
Cost modelling
Production optimization
Process optimization

description: Digitalization plays a crucial role in mastering the challenges in battery cell production at scale. This Whitepaper provides an overview of digital enabling technologies and use cases, presents the outcomes of an industry expert survey, and illustrates the results of battery production cost modeling for a chosen set of seven high-impact use cases. Battery and digitalization experts were invited to participate in an online survey aimed at gathering insights on how digital manufacturing solutions can enhance the primary cost drivers of battery cell production. The input is integrated into a Gigafactory model, which enables the quantification of cost and sustainability improvements when a cell manufacturer employs one of the use cases. The study results reveal that, in battery cell manufacturing, electrode production stands out as the primary beneficiary of digitalization, followed by cell finishing. The assembly process ranks third in terms of its potential for improvement through digitalization. The main production cost driver, as seen by the industry experts that participated in the survey, is above all the material scrap rate. The findings of the study quantify and affirm the many-faceted advantages of digitalization, including enhanced product yield, reduced machine downtimes, and increased energy efficiency. Specific use cases of digitalization, covering different lifecycles of a plant, are analyzed in detail regarding their impact on the metrics in the field of operations, sustainably and costs. The data show that the implementation of predictive quality and traceability solutions stand out as the most effective levers to reduce battery material scrap rates by up to 10.3%, compared to a baseline scenario. Predictive maintenance allows to increase machine uptime by 7.2%, while energy management solutions can cut energy consumptions and related emissions by 9.3%. Simulation use cases with a virtual-first approach, such as digital production planning, virtual commissioning, and material flow modeling, contribute to de-bottleneck cell manufacturing operations and result in moderate production cost savings. In a lithium-ion battery cell Gigafactory with annual production capacity of 40 GWh/a, the best investigated use cases offer roughly 0.8% reduction in cell production costs which translate into a potential annual saving of $30M. When considering the initial investment and operational costs for the digital solutions, all use cases result in a net positive cash flow after a few years in operation. Primarily software-based solutions demonstrate scalability and ease of implementation, whereas applications with greater hardware intensity demand closer scrutiny in terms of their payback period. This study emphasizes that digitalization provides competitive advantages to battery cell manufacturers, but the costs and benefits of digital manufacturing use cases must be carefully analyzed and evaluated in terms of their economic advantage. The methodology outlined in this work aids cell manufacturers in making well-founded decisions, serving as a compass that directs the battery industry toward sustainable and impactful digital transformation roadmaps.