Authors: Kartal Arslan – PhD Researcher at VUB, Dr. K. Burak Dermenci – Senior Researcher at VUB

Small actions, big impact

In the 1980s, American Airlines removed a single olive from the salads served to first-class passengers and saved tens of thousands of dollars each year. Though it may seem trivial at first, this small adjustment illustrates how attention to detail can generate measurable benefits. The change appears to have been implemented without affecting passenger satisfaction, showing that operational adjustments can be carried out efficiently when planned carefully. The decision created a measurable impact on the company’s budget.

It has since become a classic example of how making the right adjustment in the right place can lead to significant results. It shows that even small changes in complicated systems can have a big impact.

From simple adjustments to major improvements in battery production

In battery manufacturing, the same principle holds true: adjustments that seem modest at first glance can reshape an entire production line. These changes are rarely isolated; a tweak in one step often influences several interconnected processes, making it crucial to anticipate and measure the effects. In some cases, optimising one machine can reveal further opportunities for efficiency in subsequent steps, amplifying overall gains.
A slight improvement in mixing, a more precise coating process, or a more efficient drying profile can lead to meaningful reductions in energy consumption and material waste. Furthermore, innovations in monitoring, automation, and quality control can magnify the benefits of each change, ensuring that improvements are sustained over time rather than temporary. Small modifications in process timing or throughput often reveal additional efficiency gains across the production line. Rethinking the configuration of a single machine can influence the entire process, ultimately lowering production costs and reducing environmental impact. These incremental advancements, when applied across complex manufacturing systems, accumulate into substantial gains in sustainability, resource efficiency, and economic value.

Making adjustments in battery manufacturing is far more complex than the simple example of removing an olive from a salad. Changes in a production line require detailed expertise, careful coordination and significant effort to optimise each step—from mixing and coating to drying and calendaring. Unlike the airline case, even seemingly small improvements in battery production require intricate equipment, precise process control, and the balancing of multiple factors such as energy use, waste generation, and cost.

BATMACHINE’s mission: smarter, sustainable, and efficient battery production

This is where the BATMACHINE project comes in. Its mission is to enable smarter, more sustainable battery manufacturing by integrating advanced equipment, optimising process configurations and providing comprehensive data-driven insights across the entire production chain. BATMACHINE not only focuses on individual machines but also examines how different production lines interact, assessing the environmental and economic impact of various setups. The project deploys a modular, automated slurry mixing unit with inline monitoring to ensure consistency and minimise waste. It also develops completely novel roll-to-roll slot-die coating and drying machinery, optimized to meet battery cell manufacturers’ specifications while reducing energy consumption. Furthermore, a calendaring tool is being integrated into a pilot production line to fine-tune electrode density and porosity.

Digital Integration

Intelligent control processes and Industry 4.0 principles are at the heart of BATMACHINE. The project is building a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data space, with digital interfaces linking manufacturing equipment, control systems, and engineering teams to facilitate real-time process optimization and lay the groundwork for a potential “battery passport’’.

Sustainable Battery Manufacturing

Additionally, BATMACHINE conducts a thorough environmental and economic analysis of different machine designs and factory configurations. This includes life-cycle assessments to evaluate trade-offs between energy consumption, cost, and waste generation. The outcome is expected to provide best-practice guidelines that can be adopted widely across the European battery manufacturing ecosystem. In its phased methodology, Phase 1 targets the development and testing of the new machinery (mixers, coating & drying units, calendaring tools) both individually and as a fully integrated system. Phase 2 focuses on a detailed sustainability assessment, covering economic, environmental, and social dimensions, identifying configurations that yield the best long-term performance. Finally, Phase 3 aims to foster deeper collaboration across Gigafactories, research institutions, equipment manufacturers, and other stakeholders to scale up these innovations in the European battery value chain.

Moving forward with BATMACHINE

The expected impacts of BATMACHINE are ambitious yet tangible: reduced energy consumption, lower scrap rates, improved process efficiency, and a strengthened European battery cell production capacity. In addition, the project aims to achieve a 20% reduction in energy usage of individual machines, a 10% increase in productivity, and the collection of FAIR data quality metrics. Ultimately, BATMACHINE seeks to support the transition to a more sustainable and competitive battery manufacturing sector in Europe, one in which optimised machines, digital intelligence, and sustainability go hand in hand.