Artificial intelligence: Schaeffler joins AI innovation platform IPAI in Heilbronn

2026-05-13 | Herzogenaurach/Heilbronn

• Schaeffler is joining IPAI (Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence) in Heilbronn to collaborate on developing innovative AI solutions
• Interdisciplinary network with well over 100 partners and members from industry and the research community set to boost Schaeffler’s long-term innovative strength
• By integrating cutting-edge AI technologies into development processes, Schaeffler is accelerating the production readiness of its innovations

Motion Technology Company Schaeffler has become a member of IPAI (Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence). The IPAI Campus, currently under construction on a roughly 30-hectare site in the north of Heilbronn, is poised to become the largest AI innovation park in Europe. The purpose of the membership is to identify disruptive AI solutions for research and development and implement them in collaboration with more than 100 other members across various sectors and interdisciplinary partners from industry and R&D. At various times in the future, Schaeffler will have an around 30-strong team in Heilbronn, where it will benefit from the ultra-modern working environment at the site. In its design and setup, IPAI is fully geared towards the development of AI solutions. As well as cutting-edge digital infrastructure, the campus provides collaboration hubs and a real-world laboratory to test applications for practical use.

Uwe Wagner, Chief Technology Officer at Schaeffler AG, says: “Artificial intelligence is the key when it comes to accelerating development processes and designing innovative products for our customers that are ready for volume production. Schaeffler has decades of expertise in product development and manufacturing. Through our membership of IPAI, we are combining our in-depth industrial expertise with one of Europe's strongest AI ecosystems. Together, we will create solutions that will not only strengthen Schaeffler but will also help position Germany and Europe as an AI hub in the long term.”

Moritz Gräter, CEO of IPAI, adds: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Schaeffler to our platform. The integration of valuable industrial domain expertise in a scalable AI infrastructure is crucial for our global competitiveness. Together with our community, we offer Schaeffler the ideal environment to transpose AI innovations from the research context directly into industrial application.”

Artificial intelligence: The basis for volume production-ready solutions
Schaeffler is already successfully incorporating cutting-edge AI technologies into its products and development activities. The company’s innovative hands-free access sensor allows contactless operation of vehicle tailgates. It uses AI-assisted pattern recognition to distinguish precisely between intentional gestures and random movements, resulting in a significant improvement in user convenience and functionality. In the industrial segment, Schaeffler uses cloud-based AI in its OPTIME ecosystem, which continuously analyzes vibration and electrical data from production machinery. This allows the timely identification of machine defects, prevents unscheduled shutdowns, and optimizes maintenance processes.

Among other things, Schaeffler is using the recently introduced ‘ECO Design Assistant’ in its development processes. This is an innovative tool that automatically calculates the carbon footprint of components in the early product development phase. A key use case in this context is the automated processing of 2D drawings. Using modern AI models, relevant technical information can be reliably extracted from existing drawings, structured, and made available for use in downstream processes.

The aim is to use AI systematically in various areas to tap into new efficiency potential across the entire value stream, from product idea to production. In its collaboration with IPAI in Heilbronn, Schaeffler is pooling its expertise in agentic AI, data-driven engineering, and digital twins of products and production facilities to accelerate development processes, connect production systems more intelligently, and significantly shorten innovation cycles.

In future, AI solutions for applications such as these will also be optimized with the IPAI ecosystem and further developed for practical use. IPAI and Schaeffler are thus creating an important foundation for a forward-looking collaboration that will take Schaeffler a step further on its path to becoming the leading Motion Technology Company, while focusing on smart AI solutions for the industry of the future.