Association ceremoniously commissions reference plant

Grand opening celebrations at the Manufacturing 4.0 trade congress: At the third edition in Bad Wörishofen, the first reference plant of the Industry Business Network 4.0 e.V. was presented to the public at the association's headquarters and put into operation. It was the highlight of an eventful and exciting day at the new technology center under the motto "IndustryFusion 4.0: The open ecosystem for SMEs". This opening is intended to kick off further reference installations at member companies throughout Germany.

 

The more than 100 participants were delighted when Igor Mikulina, Chairman of the Association, and Markus Ferber, Member of the European Parliament, ceremoniously opened the first reference plant of the Industry Business Network 4.0 e.V. with a silhouette. At the reference plant, which will be further expanded, various components from the filter system to the welding system were networked at the start. The reference plant was used to demonstrate how the interoperability of the individual systems can be created and how the transparency and control options of the processes can be displayed in a dashboard - in their entirety but also for the respective products.
 

The congress in video with DVS-TV
 

"The idea became reality, so you can applaud that. They didn't wait until someone else came along to develop," Ferber emphasized in his keynote. "Digitization, is the next innovation push. Only those who are there will survive in the future. Only those who face the competition will drive innovation in the future," said the graduate engineer and spokesman for the Parliamentary Group of SMEs, praising the initiative of the Association of Innovative SMEs. For Igor Mikulina it was clear: "We believe that innovation includes not only automation, but also digitization. Customers expect innovation, and that doesn't just mean improving the individual machine. This requires networking," said the chairman of the association and managing director of the host MicroStep Europe.

 

This networking was subsequently brought show-ready on the video wall during the creation of a sample IBN trophy. Circuit to the gas extraction and filter system - cut - back on stage - live cutting with the CNC cutting system including plasma source - cut - off to deburring - cut - circuit to the welding system - back on stage with the finished component in the hands. And all live with simultaneous monitoring and documentation of the individual components.

Project coordinator Konstantin Kernschmidt explained the path and functionality of the open eco-system IndustryFusion 4.0 and described the advantages of a common system. Always in view: Concrete needs of the market and added value for customers. For him, it is clear: "Industry 4.0 cannot be implemented by one company alone. We have to create cross-manufacturer ecosystems and take an agile approach to achieve small, quick successes."

For Dr. Michael Schnick, Managing Director of Oscar PLT GmbH, it is clear: "This is just the beginning, we have to expand the reference plant, we have to network, we have to build prototypes in order to compete internationally. We are in the network and will remain so."

 

Expert panel on IBN solution in global comparison, data security and education system.

 

A top-class panel of participants discussed the topic of "What distinguishes the Industry Business Network 4.0 solution from other platforms?" at the expert roundtable, spanning ideas in Asia and North America, the German government's funding tasks in terms of research, and the training system in Germany in order to keep pace internationally and move forward. Under the direction of moderator Andreas Bärwald, Head of Smart Technologies at TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH, the participants Prof. Dr. Heiner Lasi (Industrial Internet Consortium), Dr. Klaus Funk (Zentrum Digitalisierung Bayern), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schilp (University of Augsburg & Fraunhofer IGCV), Dr.-Ing. Dominik Rohrmus (Siemens AG & Labs Network Industrie 4.0 e.V.), Ernst Stöckl-Pukall (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy) and Andreas Maximilian Nolte (CSU) provided exciting insights.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schilp is certain: "We have to step on the gas, other countries are not asleep. The strength of the Industry Business Network is that you move forward step by step in individual solution steps." Dr.-Ing. Dominik Rohrmus also relies on cooperation in partnership. "One company alone can't deliver the solution for the globalized world, that used to work." He says it is clearly better if the common standard comes from Europe or Germany than from Asia or North America. Prof. Dr. Heiner Lasi criticized the excessive caution in providing data for collaboration: "We have to see data as currency and bring the cooperative banking system to the data level. At this level, we need to collaborate and only start competing from the business."

 

The project coordinator Konstantin Kernschmidt presented the system to the guests, which, among other things, creates transparency and options for controlling the individual production processes via a dashboard.

 

On the video wall, the participants were able to experience the various stations of the reference plant, which is still being expanded, and were informed by the respective experts via live link.

 

Gases and gas sampling points was one of the areas.

 

The visitors were present live during the creation of a sample IBN trophy: Here, the final welding took place.

 

For Dr. Michael Schnick, the first reference plant is just the beginning, with more to follow: In his speech, he outlined Kjellberg Finsterwalde's reasons for becoming involved in the association.

 

Panel of experts (from left) led by moderator Andreas Bärwald, Head of Smart Technologies at TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH: Dr. Klaus Funk (Center for Digitalization Bavaria), Prof. Dr. Heiner Lasi (Industrial Internet Consortium), Andreas Maximilian Nolte (CSU), Dr.-Ing. Dominik Rohrmus (Siemens AG & Labs Network Industrie 4.0 e.V.), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Schilp (University of Augsburg & Fraunhofer IGCV) and Ernst Stöckl-Pukall (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy).

 

Current network solutions and technologies of the near future for wireless networking were presented by Tom Richter, Enterprise Solution Architect, at Nokia.

 

Various companies and associations such as the Mittelstand 4.0 Competence Center Augsburg presented themselves in the Innovation Exchange.