The HERA-B target is studied and improved since several years.
Most of the fundamental problems like target efficiency 
,
background and running efficiency are understood and solved.
On its way to a full operational device it operates
very reliable and is already now in nearly continuous
operations. Open problems and subjects of further improvement
are fluctuations, rate stability
and the non bunch correlated interactions.
As until now also further progress requires a close cooperation and the support
of the HERA machine group. There is a very strong, but quite fruitful,
interference and interaction with HERA; most problems can only be solved in
a combined effort.
The HERA-B target operates not only near beam, but very close at the beam. Therefore it is a very sensitive device for beam diagnostic and it opens a wide area to study beam dynamics like halo population, diffusion, instabilities, fluctuations etc.