FICKERT & WINTERLING MASCHINENBAU GMBH

Their core work

Fickert & Winterling is a German machinery manufacturing SME based in Marktredwitz, Bavaria, with documented capability in both energy-efficient building components and waste-to-energy conversion systems. They contributed to the LaWin project developing large-area fluidic windows — glazing systems with liquid-filled layers that regulate heat and solar gain in building envelopes. More significantly, they developed and commercialized the BIOGASTIGER® system, a proprietary technology for converting organic waste streams into biogas energy, which they led as coordinator under the EU's competitive SME Instrument Phase 2. Their business sits at the intersection of mechanical engineering and clean energy applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2015–2017), Fickert & Winterling focused on advanced material development and building envelope technology through the LaWin fluidic window project — a component-level, research-oriented role. By 2017–2019, the focus shifted decisively toward a proprietary clean energy product: the BIOGASTIGER® biogas system, where they held the coordinator role and secured SME Phase 2 funding, which is reserved for technologies with near-market commercial potential. This shift from research participant to product commercializer signals a company that moved from contributing manufacturing expertise to someone else's innovation toward owning and scaling its own technology.

The BIOGASTIGER® SME Phase 2 coordinatorship suggests a company actively commercializing a proprietary waste-to-energy product — future collaborations are most likely in organic waste processing, decentralized biogas, or cleantech scale-up rather than building materials.

How they like to work

Fickert & Winterling shows a balanced split: one project as specialist participant, one as coordinator — unusual for a small SME and a strong signal of technical confidence and project management capability. With 16 consortium partners across 4 countries in only 2 projects, they engaged in reasonably broad networks without deep repeated partnerships. As a Maschinenbau SME, they likely bring hardware manufacturing and system integration capabilities that larger research-heavy consortia need.

With 16 unique partners across 4 countries from just 2 projects, Fickert & Winterling has a moderately broad European network for an SME of their size. Their geographic reach spans at least Germany and several other EU member states, though no dominant regional cluster is identifiable from the available data.

What sets them apart

Fickert & Winterling is a rare example of a German Maschinenbau SME that won competitive EU SME Instrument Phase 2 funding as coordinator — a scheme that rejects the majority of applicants and requires a credible commercialization plan. This means they are not just a manufacturing subcontractor but a technology owner with a validated product (BIOGASTIGER®) and demonstrated capacity to manage EU projects. For a consortium needing a German industrial SME with both hardware engineering depth and a clean energy product to commercialize, they are a strong fit.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BIOGASTIGER
  Secured as coordinator under the highly competitive SME Instrument Phase 2 with EUR 1.14M, indicating a proprietary commercializable technology for converting organic waste to energy — the strongest signal of independent product ownership in their portfolio.
• LaWin
  Participation in a large Innovation Action on fluidic building windows demonstrates manufacturing capability for advanced facade components — an atypical specialization for a Maschinenbau firm.