Making use of research. Adding value.

The Institute for Industrial Management FIR is a non-profit, intersectoral research and educational institution at RWTH Aachen University concerned with business organization, information logistics and corporate IT with the aim to establish the organizational basis for the digitally integrated company of the future.

Through the development and transfer of innovative solutions, FIR contributes to enhancing the competitiveness of companies. This is undertaken within an infrastructure that is ideally suited for experimental organizational research – methodologically sound, scientifically rigorous, and conducted in close collaboration with experts from business and industry. The activities focus on the application of research to industry verticals. Currently these include Future Logistics, Smart Services and Smart Maintenance, Smart Commercial Buildings, and Smart Mobility.

The institute provides research, qualification programs and lectures in the fields of service management, information management, production management and business transformation. As a member of the German Federation of Industrial Research Associations, FIR promotes research and development for the benefit of small, medium-sized and large businesses.

Since 2010, Professor Volker Stich, the managing director of FIR, has also been heading the Smart Logistics Cluster on RWTH Aachen Campus. Within the Smart Logistics Cluster, FIR offers a unique form of collaboration between representatives from research and industry. As a research institution of the Johannes-Rau-Forschungsgemeinschaft (Johannes Rau foundation), FIR supports the research strategy of the Federal State of NRW and participates in research clusters to strengthen NRW as a hub of research and innovation.