About us

Who we are

Ladies in front of TV; picture courtesy of Sharp Microelectronics Europe Founded in February 2000, the DFF now is a growing international organisation of more than 65 member companies and institutions from all parts of the flat panel display community:

research institutes
material and component suppliers
manufacturing and process equipment suppliers
system integrators and distributors
display end users.

Vision and Mission

Microdisplay; Picture courtesy of IBM Germany The vision of DFF is to enable its members to attain and sustain a leading position in flat panel display (FPD) industries. DFF catalyses and expands a network of excellence across the entire value chain, leading to new business opportunities.

To achieve this, DFF has launched a communication platform promoting information exchange between European companies and the international display community.

DFF mission contains five elements:

DFF provides a unique networking platform of leading companies driving the FPD industry.
DFF provides a unique source of information for FPD market participants.
DFF assists in identifying and assessing business opportunities at all levels of the FPD value chain and application areas.
DFF assists to design the supply chains for the innovative FPD technologies of the future.
DFF promotes entrepreneurial competence and excellence.

DFF Services

Kid with Notebook; Picture courtesy of Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Germany The services provided to our members are tailored to give a maximum benefit and value for money and are grouped into five Member Service Projects.

Networking of leading companies driving the FPD industry.
News Services for FPD market participants.
Training & Education at all levels of the FPD value chain and application areas.
Fairs & Conferences for the innovative FPD technologies of the future.
Publication of a Competence Brochure

Structure

The DFF is led by a honorary Board of representatives from the member companies. The Board is elected bianually by the General Assembly. The General Assembly of all members meets once a year to decide on the activities and services of the DFF and to approve the financials.

VDMA Logo DFF is a working group within the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), the largest European trade association with 3000 predominantly medium-sized enterprises, representing 38 branches. Its Productronics Association provides sector-specific expertise to more than 100 member companies, many of them being market partners to the flat panel display producers.

VDMA is an active player within the mechanical engineering committees of the European Union, the Association's counterparts on the European level.

History

In December 1998 Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Ehrfeld in his function as then managing director of the Institute of Microtechnology Mainz (IMM), started an initiative gathering 24 leading suppliers, potential producers, end-product manufacturers, associations and research institutes of the German display community.

This initiative elaborated a strategy (executive summary, German, PDF, 110 kB) for the set-up of globally competitive flat panel display production capacities in Germany. This activity became the seed of the "Deutsches Flachdisplay Forum" (DFF) which was founded in February 2000.