The aim of the ICNAP Community is to develop new production systems and value chains as part of Industrie 4.0 and to test their suitability for industrial application on the basis of specific production tasks. The three Fraunhofer Institutes in Aachen: for Production Technology IPT, for Laser Technology ILT and for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME along with renowned industrial partners such as Ericsson GmbH, MTU Aero Engines AG and Kuka Industries GmbH launched the new research community formally back in April 2018 during the Hanover Fair. Other ICNAP partners come from the Measuring and Sensor Technology, IT, Plant and Machinery sectors as well as from manufacturing companies in various areas of industry.

Information, communication and collaborative decision making relating to the continuing development of the fourth industrial revolution

The purpose of the two-day event is, on one hand to encourage additional companies to join in this collaborative partnership and, on the other hand to launch directly into planning future development projects: The first day of the event, 12 December is, therefore open to non-members and provides an opportunity to get to know both the concept behind the community and existing partners. In addition to this, visitors will be able to gain an initial impression of the preparatory work already undertaken by the three Institutes in Aachen within the "Connected, Adaptive Production" Center of Excellence and by the 5G-test environment, which are expected to form the basis for further technological developments by the Community. The event taking place 13 December is reserved for Community members who will be planning the next steps in the continuing development of the test environment and future collaborative project initiatives in the year 2019.

Connected machinery with a 5G-test environment

Participants in the moderated research community benefit particularly from the test and research data released within the closed Community. A wide and diverse range of fully networked machinery equipped with the latest sensor systems, 5G data transfer and connected to the Fraunhofer "Virtual Fort Knox" cloud is available to members working within the framework of collaborative and bilateral research projects.

From the Fraunhofer Center of Excellence to research platform for industry

The International Center for Networked, Adaptive Production stems from an initiative of the German Federal State of Nordrhein-Westfalen and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft with extensive support from industry. It was set up in Aachen as the Fraunhofer Center for "Networked, Adaptive Production" and the end of 2016 with a budget totaling 6.4 million Euro. It is the mission of the Center to develop with three years an open research platform and test environment which will allow new concepts and digitalized production to be explored and tested in what is, to all intents and purposes, an industrial setting. One of the aims of ICNAP is to underpin the activities both of the partners already working within the Center and of those looking to become part of it.

Additional information and the program for the event are available at: www.icnap.de/jahrestreffen

The Community Manager, Raphael Kiesel is available to answer any questions and can be contacted at: community@icnap.de