3 Questions for Uwe Kubach about the future of industrial value creation (Key Theme 1/Key Themes of Industrie 4.0)

Dr. Uwe Kubach, Vice President and Chief Product Expert in the Department Digital Supply Chain and Manufacturing at SAP

Bild: © Ingo Cordes
Munich, 24 October 2023

1. Industrie 4.0 represents the fourth industrial revolution, which involves a comprehensive change in the entire industrial value chain in the context of sovereignty, interoperability, resilience and sustainability. How can the economic change in value creation be shaped through new business models?

A large part of the economic change in industry is still technology-driven. With new key technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things or broadband Internet, existing value creation processes can be significantly improved, for example in terms of processing time, costs and emissions. New business models play a central role if these technologies are to be used to open up new business areas and markets or to be able to survive in global competition with innovative and attractive offers. What these business models often have in common is that they are more closely oriented towards the individual needs of customers and provide customer-specific offers and solutions.

2. In the wake of climate change and energy and resource bottlenecks, the pressure on industry to quickly develop towards climate neutrality has increased significantly. How can Industrie 4.0 leverage potential to achieve ecologically sustainable value creation?

In 2020, the industry was responsible for 7.9% of greenhouse emissions in Germany. This does not include a further 16.2% that is created to cover the energy needs of the industry. This makes the industry the second largest source of emissions and the savings potential in this sector is correspondingly large.

Industrie 4.0 can create increased transparency about resource requirements through vertical integration within a company and thus offer new optimisation and automation options. Horizontal integration within a value network can help to achieve a better balance between supply and demand and thus avoid overcapacity and unnecessary transport. Lastly, Industrie 4.0 is an important enabler for the circular economy and can thus help to reuse products and materials.

3. Industrial value creation is currently undergoing the greatest transformation in its history, in which social aspects must also be taken into account in the context of sustainability in addition to ecological and economic goals. What factors should be taken into account to ensure social and fair value creation in the Industrie 4.0 transformation process?

Companies can use Industrie 4.0 approaches to create greater transparency in their supply chains and thus ensure better fairness in the procurement of raw materials and components. If artificial intelligence methods are used to evaluate suppliers, customers and employees, it must be guaranteed that they are free of discrimination and prejudice. Another important aspect is the fair digitalisation of jobs. Offers for lifelong learning must ensure that the change in workplaces is carried out without fear and without unnecessary stress for all employees.

The publication of the Research Council Industrie 4.0 “Themenfelder Industrie 4.0 (2. überarbeitete Fassung)” deepens these topics. The publication can be found here (in German).