Insight into a sustainable future technology

In early March, representatives of local politics visited Optima Life Science to learn about fuel cell manufacturing technology. Hans Bühler, managing partner of the Optima Group, Jürgen Bareiß, head of the Optima Life Science business unit, and Werner Volk, business development manager at Optima Life Science, welcomed District Administrator Gerhard Bauer, Lord Mayor Daniel Bullinger and David Schneider, managing director of the Schwäbisch Hall District Economic Development Corporation. The forward-looking technology met with great interest among the visitors.

Fuel cell vehicles are seen as a possible solution in the fight against climate change. Optima has developed appropriate machine solutions to increase production capacities for fuel cells. This automates the process steps required in production - coating, cutting, joining the individual layers and subsequent stacking. In doing so, the company was able to draw on existing technologies from the processing of web-shaped films. In addition to manufacturing plants for fuel cells, Optima Life Science also builds plants for the production of plasters. The new technology can be used both for the production of fuel cells and for electrolysis.

Optima has been working on the subject of hydrogen for around six years. In this area, a great deal of know-how has been acquired and many development hurdles have been overcome. In the meantime, Optima has recorded a stable share of sales and a high order backlog. Various plants have already been delivered - from laboratory scale to production plants with high outputs. "Hydrogen will come," the representatives of Optima and politics agreed. It is still open in which areas the still young technology will be increasingly used. Hans Bühler also pointed to the solar technology on the roof of Optima Life Science.