The Center for Industry 4.0
Vision Industry 4.0
When workpieces communicate independently with the machine and, if necessary, arrange for repairs or re-order material themselves, then we are talking about Industry 4.0. The new possibilities offered by digitization represent a fundamental competitive factor for future-oriented companies in all industries. At the same time, the fourth industrial revolution is characterized by a multitude of technical innovations, which, not least, have a massive impact on the working reality of all employees. In the coming years, the rapid digitization of the economy and society will permanently change the way people produce and work: In Industry 4.0, production will be dovetailed with state-of-the-art information and communication technology and intelligent value-added chains will be created. But what does the digitalization of the factory, for example, actually mean? How do self-organized machines and workpieces affect people, who in future will perform new tasks in digital processes? These and other questions are answered by the Center for Industry 4.0 in Potsdam.
Research platform, demonstration platform and test track as a hybrid laboratory environment: a worldwide unique opportunity for an encounter with the future.
The Center for Industry 4.0 is unique in the German-speaking region because it combines automation technology, logistics, robotics and operational application systems in a running and learning factory. Our centre includes a fully integrated and functional IT stack from the programmable logic controller on the machine to manufacturing execution, ERP and management information systems. Real technology in logistics, robotics and IT is used to visually and haptically illustrate almost any scenario of future value-added processes by means of simulated machines and workpieces.
We are already showing today what will be technically possible, especially how self-organising business processes look like and what the role of the human being is in them.
Exploiting the potential of Industry 4.0 requires the further development of existing production systems. The use of modern tools for solution evaluation and appropriate qualification of employees are essential components of a successful migration strategy. Our demonstration environment offers a highly flexible infrastructure that can be configured for different purposes and scenarios. Typical fields of application already realised include qualification in the learning factory, internal use and function demonstrations as well as industry 4.0 evaluation. Our simulation environment finds the solution variant for every production process on the Industry 4.0 instruments.
We explore all three sides of human-organisational-technical integration and put industry 4.0 into practice.
How can new technologies be applied, what new processes are created and how can technology be adapted to people? We help companies to decide what digitalisation means for future competitiveness and use the findings to advance our own research in areas such as the Internet of Things, analysis, artificial intelligence and qualification. In doing so, we work with real data and above all with real technology, which we use to make company-specific recommendations for action. We often accompany our project partners until the implementation.