Eirich wins the 2026 German Innovation Award
Hardheim, May 13, 2026 – Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich GmbH & Co. KG has been awarded the German Innovation Award 2026: In the category “Excellence in Business to Business – Machines & Engineering,” the company was recognized for its MixSolver® mixing and dispersing machine.
With this solution, EIRICH is setting new standards in the efficient production of electrode mixtures and addressing key challenges in modern production processes—from energy efficiency and process reliability to scalability.
Innovation for the production of tomorrow
“In battery production, the construction of homogeneous, high-quality electrode mixtures poses a key challenge, as it significantly influences performance and sustainability. The MixSolver offers an innovative solution for this: Its unique mixing principle, featuring a rotating container and an eccentrically arranged tool, enables the fast and uniform processing of a wide variety of materials,” said the jury in explaining its decision to honor Eirich.
The jury, composed of independent, interdisciplinary experts from technology, digitalization, science, and institutions such as Boch Power Tools, Festo, Roche, and the Fraunhofer Institute, conveys its reasoning further: “The combination of variable speed, vacuum technology, and temperature control ensures outstanding mixture quality, with significantly shortened process times and reduced energy consumption. This versatile and scalable technology supports the entire value chain—from raw material preparation to large-scale production—and is thus setting new standards for efficiency and sustainability in demanding industries such as chemicals, ceramics, and battery manufacturing,” the jury emphasizes the benefit for companies.
The German Innovation Award, presented on May 12 in Berlin, is one of the most prestigious accolades for forward-looking products, projects, and pioneering achievements that sustainably improve lives through innovation, progress, and social value. It thus offers genuine benefits for users, companies, and markets. The award is presented by the German Design Council, which has served as the worldwide leading center of excellence for communication and knowledge transfer in the fields of design, branding, and innovation since 1953.
The fact that Eirich was able to prevail underscores the quality of this expert in mixing and processing technology: 462 submissions from 23 countries were assessed in 2026—based on the level of innovation, user benefit, and economic efficiency. These are criteria that play to the strengths of Eirich’s process technology.
Lutz Dietzold, managing director of the German Design Council, commented on the German Innovation Award 2026: “Innovations are the engine of progress and future viability. They provide new answers to complex challenges and create real benefits for people, markets, and society. With the German Innovation Award, we give these ideas visibility and promote a dialogue about effective, forward-looking solutions.”
Technology with an impact – already in deployment today
For Eirich, the key point is this: the award-winning technology is not a vision, but already a reality in industrial applications. The MixSolver® enables the particularly efficient construction of electrode mixtures for high-performance batteries. In doing so, it lowers energy consumption by up to 95%, increases production speed by a factor of 16, reduces space requirements by two-thirds, and simultaneously improves quality noticeably. Especially in demanding industries such as battery production, companies benefit from stable, reproducible processes and technology that is scalable from the laboratory scale until it reaches gigafactories.
Stephan Eirich, managing director of the Eirich Group, explains: “This award means a great deal to us because it shows that our work at the interface between process technology and industrial practice is paying off. We don’t develop technologies in a vacuum, but rather in close alignment with our customers’ challenges. The MixSolver® is a prime example of this: born from numerous discussions, experience, and the demand to truly make things better. We are delighted that this is being recognized, and it serves as an incentive to continue on this path.”