Bühler reaches milestone in battery manufacturing with over 100 continuous mixing lines sold worldwide
Bühler has delivered 113 complete production systems used to manufacture battery slurries and dry compounds to customers around the world over the last 10 years, reaching a milestone in its industrial battery business. The achievement reflects Bühler’s growing role as an industrial solution provider for large-scale and more sustainable battery manufacturing as global demand for reliable energy storage solutions continues to accelerate.
More than 70 of these lithium-ion battery electrode slurry production lines have been delivered in China, one of the world’s most competitive and demanding battery manufacturing markets. Additional projects in Europe and North America highlight Bühler’s expanding international footprint and its ability to support battery cell manufacturers across different technological and industrial environments.
“This milestone is not about volume alone,” said Adrian Spillmann, Head of Market Segment Battery Electrode Compounds at Bühler. “It reflects more than a decade of continuous process development, project execution experience, and close collaboration with customers who need production technologies that perform reliably at scale.”
Scaling battery manufacturing amid rising pressure
Battery producers worldwide face mounting pressure to scale up capacity while improving yield and reducing capital investment and operating costs. Manufacturing accounts for roughly 20% to 30% of total battery production costs, making process efficiency a decisive competitive factor. At the same time, producers outside Asia face a skills and know-how gap as they build industrial-scale operations from scratch.
Bühler addresses these challenges with its continuous mixing technology for electrode slurry production. Built around a twin-screw mixer, the process integrates raw material dosing, pre-mixing, kneading, fine dispersing, and degassing in a single, continuous step. Compared with conventional batch mixing, the technology reduces energy consumption dramatically – producing one ton of battery slurry with just 56 kWh, around four times less than traditional systems. High automation and improved yield further reduce total cost of ownership.
Supporting Europe’s battery ambitions
Bühler’s customers include large-scale battery cell manufacturers serving electric vehicles and energy storage systems to operators of smaller-scale lines for laboratory and pilot applications. The latter comprise open R&D facilities such as the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in the United Kingdom and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB in Germany, which work with Bühler to support the transition from research to industrial-scale production.
At the industrial end of this spectrum, one example is Bühler’s collaboration with FIB S.p.A. in Italy. At FIB’s Teverola 2 plant, Bühler is delivering advanced continuous mixing lines for electrode slurry production. The facility builds on the pilot-scale success at Teverola 1 and is designed for a production capacity of 8 GWh per year – a critical step toward industrial-scale cell manufacturing in Europe.
Proven execution and innovation at scale
Beyond equipment delivery, Bühler provides integrated process technology and on-site service support to help customers accelerate production ramp-up, stabilize quality, and lower operating costs. This combination is increasingly important as new battery factories move from pilot phases to high-volume production.
“Battery manufacturing is not only about machines; it is about mastering processes under real industrial conditions,” said Spillmann. “Our strength lies in translating process know-how into scalable, reliable production systems and standing alongside customers as they ramp up.”
