The "FREDDIE – Industrial AI Award 2025" recognizes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in industry. In Munich, publish-industry Verlag and the UnternehmerTUM initiative presented awards for the first time for outstanding applications in which AI is used in the manufacturing industry.
Three of the six premiere award winners come from NRW: the technology group and family-owned company HARTING from Espelkamp, the mechanical drive technology specialist Flender from Bocholt, and the automation technology manufacturer ifm electronic from Essen.
The HARTING Technology Group received the award in the "Game Changer" category for its "Connectivity AI" platform, which uses generative AI to automatically create product ideas, 3D models, and simulations, thereby accelerating development processes. Flender was honored in the "Process Excellence" category for its AI-based grindability analysis that optimizes production processes in gear manufacturing and identifies risks at an early stage. Also in this category, ifm electronic impressed with a solution that improves production planning and line utilization through AI-supported order clustering and makes the use of resources more efficient.
The NRW award winners prevailed among more than 50 submissions, underscoring the state's strong role in the field of industrial AI.