“The basic idea of a networked production in the context of Industry 4.0 is vividly and practically presented at SmartFactoryOWL”, commended Hans-Jürgen Alt, director of VDMA NRW. The participants from the fields of Industry and Science got interesting insights in the smart production in the digital factory of the future. “We are very happy about the appreciation of the VDMA and the supra-regional perception as a competence center for Industry 4.0”, so Professor Jürgen Jasperneite (Initiator of the CIIT and SmartFactoryOWL). “The great interest in the event makes clear that many KMUs do have a need for information how digitalization can be realized in their own companies”.
After a thematically introduction by Judith Binzer, VDMA Forum Industrie 4.0, and Professor Jasperneite, director of Fraunhofer Application Center IOSB-INA and Institute Industrial IT (inIT), the participants visited the research and development center CIIT and the research factory SmartFactoryOWL of the Fraunhofer Socienty and OWL-University. The representatives of the KMUs got insight into the smart production of the future and how Industry 4.0 approaches can be implemented to their own company. Researchers from OWL-University and Fraunhofer Institute IOSB-INA presented practically-oriented approaches for medium-sized enterprises. Different research approaches were vividly demonstrated by demonstrators of the fields “intelligent development”, “intelligent assembly technology” and “intelligent automation”.
According to the VDMA it was the most visited event so far. “Especially the newly opened SmartFactoryOWL attracted a lot of participants. But also the region OWL is well-known for this field of competence and leading in ideas about Industry 4.0. The benefit and applicability of technologies and demonstrators for companies”, so Binzer from VDMA. “Many useful ideas for especially small-sized enterprises are presented, that we did not know from other LabTours”. Also participants gave thoroughly positive feedback.
With the series of events „LabTour Industrie 4.0” the VDMA organizes tours to renowned institutes of German universities and research institutes. It’s the aim of the series of events to provide insights in latest Industry 4.0-research works for the participants.