The Institute of Automotive Management and Industrial Production (AIP) headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas S. Spengler works on the development and the application of techno-economic models and quantitative methods to support decision-making in production and logistics. The research at the interface between technology, economy, and sustainability addresses, among others, the following topics that are relevant for the cluster: (closed-loop) supply chain management, material flow management, circular economy, recycling, and impact assessment. Exemplary research questions from completed publicly and privately funded projects in the context of lithium-ion batteries comprise the investment and capacity planning for battery factories, the simulation of the automotive market to analyze vehicle sales and returns, and analyses of economic feasibility of battery recycling.

Within the competence cluster greenBatt, the AIP is represented in the research project SIMTEGRAL and the accompanying project greenBattNutzung. In the research project SIMTEGRAL, the work of the AIP focuses on the modeling, the socio-economic assessment, and the design of supply chains for battery materials. By developing and refining activity analysis-based modeling techniques and linking them to engineering-based simulation methods as well as mathematical optimization procedures, we seek to provide insights regarding the design of sustainable supply chains. In the accompanying project greenBattNutzung, the AIP is responsible for the development of scenarios regarding the future flows of spent batteries as well as the conception and execution of economic assessments of second-use concepts and recycling processes to support the decision-making of industry and politics.