TIK - TECHNOLOGIE IN KUNSTSTOFF GMBH

Their core work

TiK is a German engineering SME specializing in gas injection technology for metal die casting — a technique borrowed from plastic injection molding and applied to magnesium and aluminum high-pressure die casting to produce lightweight hollow structures. Their core invention, branded MAGIT, enables manufacturers to create structurally sound metal components with significantly reduced weight, directly addressing automotive fuel efficiency and CO2 targets. The company's name ("Technology in Plastics") reflects their origin in polymer processing, and their distinctiveness comes from transferring that process knowledge into metal forming — an unusual cross-material engineering bridge. Their current commercial focus is automotive components for both conventional and electric drivetrains, including housings for power electronics in EV systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TiK's 2018 MAGIT SME Phase 1 was a pure feasibility study — no keywords, just a technology concept being tested for market viability. The 2020–2024 Innovation Action shows a fully formed commercial thesis: lightweight design for mass-market automotive, CO2 and fuel savings as the value proposition, and an explicit move into electro mobility and power electronic housings. The trajectory is clear: they started with a narrow manufacturing process innovation and are now positioning it as a platform technology that serves both the ICE weight-reduction market and the fast-growing EV component manufacturing sector.

TiK is moving from technology validation toward market-ready automotive supply, with electric vehicle housings as a visible growth target — making them a candidate partner for EV-adjacent manufacturing consortia from 2025 onward.

How they like to work

TiK has acted as coordinator on both H2020 projects, not as a participant — they initiate and lead, rather than join. Their consortium is deliberately small: 3 partners across 3 countries, indicating a focused, tight-knit collaboration model rather than broad open consortia. This suggests they are technology owners who bring in specific, complementary partners rather than seeking large research networks — working with them means engaging with a company that will expect to drive the technical agenda.

TiK has worked with only 3 unique consortium partners across 3 countries, all within the context of a single technology development path. Their network is narrow by design — reflecting a startup-like focus on proving and commercializing one core invention rather than building broad research alliances.

What sets them apart

TiK occupies a rare niche: they have transferred gas injection process knowledge from polymer manufacturing into metal die casting, a cross-material bridge that most specialists in either domain have not pursued. This gives them a differentiated manufacturing technology applicable to both traditional automotive suppliers and emerging EV component makers. For a consortium needing lightweight metal parts expertise with a commercial rather than academic orientation, TiK brings ready-to-industrialize process IP rather than research outputs.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MAGIT (IA, 2020–2024)
  The largest project at €767,375 represents TiK's full commercial push — taking the validated gas injection concept to Innovation Action scale, targeting mass-market automotive and EV power electronics housings simultaneously.
• MAGIT (SME-1, 2018)
  As a €50,000 SME Phase 1 feasibility study, this is the origin point of TiK's EU-funded technology development — a rare case of a single company successfully escalating the same invention from concept to Innovation Action within two years.