Networking SMEs and setting standards
Networking medium-sized companies, setting standards, taking off: Innovative companies in the sheet metal working industry have founded a manufacturers' initiative that will cooperate on the topic of Industry 4.0. Together, the new association of machine and plant manufacturers wants to tap the great potential of networked manufacturing for the benefit of users. The manufacturers' initiative will be presented to the public for the first time on September 29, 2016 as part of the "Fertigung 4.0" trade congress in Bad Wörishofen - MicroStep is a member of the initiative and host of the event.
Industrial production is currently undergoing a drastic further development process - Industry 4.0, networked manufacturing, intelligent process chains are the buzzwords here. The potential is undisputedly considered to be enormous: The digital factory is also expected to enable far more effective and flexible solutions in the field of sheet metal processing in the future than would have been conceivable until recently. After all, the greatest development opportunities in terms of productivity and efficiency in industrial manufacturing are seen in the future in the interplay of digitization, networking and automation.
Definition of operationalizable standards for networked manufacturing
Now an alliance of small and medium-sized mechanical engineering companies has formed, which wants to leverage these great potentials of networked production in the network cooperatively and at eye level for the benefit of the users. In essence, the aim is to jointly define a binding and operationalizable standard for networked manufacturing 4.0 that provides a resilient basis for cooperative projects. The aim of all the companies involved is to actively exploit the opportunities offered by digitization and enable customers to produce even more efficiently in the future. "We also see a great opportunity to further expand our competitive edge over non-European mechanical and plant engineering in this way," says Igor Mikulina, Managing Director of MicroStep Europa GmbH, which is one of the founding members of the initiative.
Support from Fraunhofer and TÜV Süd
The new manufacturers' association, which other companies can join at any time, will be presented to the public for the first time at the "Fertigung 4.0" trade congress on September 29, 2016 in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria. The project is supported, among others, by VDMA Bavaria, Fraunhofer IGCV in Augsburg, the Swabian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, TÜV Süd, and also the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology under the patronage of Ms. Aigner, Minister of Economic Affairs.
Keynote speaker: science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar
The trade congress "Fertigung 4.0 - Industrie 4.0 in der Blechbearbeitung" (Manufacturing 4.0 - Industry 4.0 in Sheet Metal Processing) is the starting signal for the foundation of this network of small and medium-sized companies that want to use the great potential of the topic and secure an advantage over competitors. The keynote speaker is Ranga Yogeshwar - the science journalist has been dealing with the digitalization of the economy for years. His lectures are considered to be highly inspiring. The program also features numerous other top-class speakers from science, business, associations and politics. The necessary know-how will be imparted on how the topic of Industry 4.0 can be tackled quickly in one's own company. There will be an intensive exchange and opportunities for cooperation with companies from the sheet metal working industry that are currently also setting their course in the direction of Industry 4.0 - with the aim of benefiting from this in the long term.
Inauguration Innovation Forum 4.0
The new Innovation Forum 4.0 at the MicroStep CompetenceCenter in Bad Wörishofen will also be inaugurated in the course of the trade congress: In the future, the premises will offer an ideal infrastructure for networking people more closely on the topic of Industry 4.0.
The keynote speaker is Ranga Yogeshwar - the science journalist has been dealing with the digitization of the economy for years. His lectures are considered to be highly inspiring.
The project is supported, among others, by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology under the patronage of Ms. Aigner, Minister of Economic Affairs.
In the course of the trade congress, the new Innovation Forum 4.0 will also be put into operation at the MicroStep CompetenceCenter in Bad Wörishofen.