A considerable share of eligible digitalisation and automation projects in the German Mittelstand runs without a grant — not because no funding is available, but because the application is never filed.
We at Röhrig Industrie Consulting hear the same four reasons from industrial decision-makers, and none of them survives scrutiny.
The four most common reasons no application is filed
- “Too much effort.” An initial eligibility check usually takes less than a day.
- “Not sure it fits.” That is precisely what can be clarified up front — programme by programme.
- “Noticed too late.” Timing is the point: the application has to be filed before the project starts.
- “We were rejected once.” Often only the programme was wrong, not the project.
What is funded
Federal and EU funding programmes cover, among other things:
- Automation and robotics
- Cloud and IT modernisation
- AI and analytics
- IT security
- Energy efficiency
Depending on the programme, a considerable share of project costs can be covered. The difference between a funded and an unfunded project rarely lies in the project itself — it lies in whether someone files the application in time and in the right programme.
How we handle it
Since August 2026, funding advice is no longer a service area of its own at Röhrig Industrie Consulting. Where an initiative needs that financing lever, we bring a specialist from our partner network into the running programme — the project control stays with us.
Funding is not paperwork, it is a lever — when it is applied early enough and in the right programme. Anyone planning a digitalisation or automation initiative should have eligibility checked before the project starts.