COMPANY PROFILE

 

The activities of the Fraunhofer IAO focus on investigation of current topics in the field of technology management. A holistic approach is applied to the study of commercial success, employees' interests and social consequences.

The Institute helps companies to identify the technologies of relevance to them, and draws up a technology strategy aligned to the competitive environment and the market. It plans the deployment of technology for the entire enterprise, in the business sectors and in individual projects.
Depending on the requirements of the company, the Institute develops or modifies technical systems. The Fraunhofer IAO plans and organizes future-oriented structures suitable to the needs of people involved in production, as well as in the administrative and technical departments of companies in industry and the service sector. Research focuses on the development of advanced information and communications systems. In keeping with the holistic approach pursued, attention is also given to the individual and social values held by people in their working environment. This not only addresses the task of creating ergonomic solutions, but also the additional qualifications required by employees in coping with the decentralized organization of work and the implementation of new technologies and new services.

Fraunhofer IAO offers practicable answers to such questions. In the 90ies, the institute already set up a »Service Engineering« division which is now internationally acknowledged. Based on the thesis that the service market can learn a lot from the classic product development we supply systematic methods for new service launches or for making existing service portfolios more efficient and customer-friendly. Design of so called “soft factors”, for instance interaction between service provider and customers, plays a major part.

Research projects are conducted in close collaboration with small and medium-sized companies and industrial corporations under direct contract. The Fraunhofer IAO participates in publicly funded research programs, such as the »Information Technology« and »Work and Technology« programs of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in programs of the European Union, as well as in programs funded by the Land of Baden-Württemberg. Fraunhofer IAO works in close cooperation with the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management IAT of the University of Stuttgart. Both Institutes employ a permanent staff of over 400. More than 10 200 m² of offices, laboratories and technical installations are available to carry out contracted research.