Fit for industry 4.0: using digitization profitably in the company

Increasingly individual customer requirements, shorter development cycles and a growing variety of products and variants are forcing companies to take action: digitization enables manufacturing companies to sustainably design and optimize their processes. Under the keyword "Industry 4.0", numerous methods and tools have emerged in recent years that promise companies competitive advantages. Paperless production and digitized business processes are a basic prerequisite for this, but to date many companies have not yet been able to lay sufficient foundations here. A roadmap can help, enabling companies to determine how and, above all, in what order the technologies and methods of Industry 4.0 can be set up, implemented and applied in a meaningful way.

This ability to digitize enables companies to keep pace with new customer needs with their production and value creation. If the expansion of the digital infrastructure is successful, the potential offered by production and usage data can finally be fully exploited. Companies benefit from the resulting flexibility, which contributes to higher productivity and sustainability. Smart products and new business models also open up new customer groups.

Fraunhofer IPT has developed a comprehensive offering that includes both strategic roadmapping and audit of company processes. This enables our digitization experts to analyze existing processes, identify gaps and propose a range of measures that will take your production a long way forward. In addition, we are also available to you after the development of your Industry 4.0 roadmap as an implementation partner or suggest suitable partners for further implementation. In addition to the pure use of methods, we also develop strategies on how to protect your digitized production environment from cybercrime and work with you to develop digital business models for your products and services.

Step by step to digital and networked production

No matter what situation you are at in your digitization strategy – whether you want to know how it will benefit you, whether you are already making your first attempts at implementation, or whether you are preparing for certification of your digital processes: at any point in time, we will be happy to talk to you about how to proceed and support you with up-to-date knowledge from our research and insights from best practices in various industries.

 

Strategic industry 4.0 roadmapping

Your decision is made, but how do you get Industry 4.0 up and running in your business? Potential assessments and roadmapping help you not to lose sight of your goal.

Industry 4.0 security roadmapping

One thing cannot be concealed: Digital and networked production is vulnerable to cybercrime. We know the weak points and check your processes and plants with regard to their security.  

Networking and control

We provide the appropriate software and hardware platforms and modules for plant networking in the machine shop and laboratory.

 

Implement digitization projects in a targeted manner

Digitization is not an end in itself. Together with you, we methodically determine which opportunities can arise in your company through digital technologies.

 

Digital business models

What added value do digitization projects bring you? We systematically determine costs and benefits and check which business model is right for your products and services.

Industry 4.0 audits

For production certification, we check the interaction of your digital and analog processes according to the most important quality standards and thus prepare you for the required audits.

Examples of digitization projects

Determining the quality 4.0 maturity level

The research project "Qbility" accompanies companies in the selection of suitable Quality 4.0 technologies and supports them with a software tool in the digitization of their production.

 

Implementation of an I4.0 environment

In the research project "NEXT", we are demonstrating the economic viability of digitizing and networking titanium aluminide investment casting processes.