Shaping future value creation: The influence of Industry 4.0

Munich, 19 November 2024

The consistent implementation of Industry 4.0, the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, is intended to ensure that German industry remains competitive internationally in the long run. The topics of sustainability, resilience, interoperability, technological and strategic sovereignty and, above all, the central role of humans are increasingly coming to the fore. Despite these promises, however, the German economy is stagnating and productivity growth is lagging behind expectations. What are the reasons for this? Is the success just not yet visible enough? At acatech am Dienstag on 12 November, experts with a deep understanding of theory and practice explained the current status of Industry 4.0 in Germany and discussed pressing questions with the participants.

In his welcoming address, acatech President Jan Wörner looked at the history of the origins of the industrial revolutions: from mechanisation to the fourth industrial revolution, which is characterised by human-machine interaction. The term Industry 4.0 was coined at acatech over ten years ago and has since been adopted as a concept worldwide. Jan Wörner used examples to show that Industry 4.0 has already become a reality in various sectors of the economy – from the skilled trades to car production.

In her keynote speech, Julia Arlinghaus (Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF, Industry 4.0 Research Advisory Board) emphasised that German industry is at a turning point, as technological developments and new framework conditions are driving the need to digitalise and automate value creation. Key developments include significant advances in areas such as data transmission and storage, sensor technology, artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins and augmented reality (AR). These technologies offer increased performance and scalability, which helps companies to work more efficiently and flexibly.

In addition to this, according to Julia Arlinghaus, programming is becoming increasingly simplified and modular, which makes it easier to integrate new technologies. At the same time, security is being improved to minimise potential risks. Overall, these developments are changing the way value creation is carried out in the industry towards more digitalisation and automation. Germany is in an uncertain economic situation, similar to a rollercoaster ride. According to the production researcher, the enormous potential of Industry 4.0 has not yet been fully utilised.

However, there is reason for optimism: many companies are optimistic and are already using Industry 4.0 technologies such as digital twins and artificial intelligence or are developing digital business models. There are already many individual ‘points of light’. It is now important to create a ‘sea of lights’ with the right framework conditions and adjustments.  In order to keep value creation in Germany, it must be consistently digital and automated. Julia Arlinghaus described three levers for this. Firstly, the country must use integrated energy management to gain a competitive advantage; secondly, it must focus on cooperation and sharing resources; and thirdly, it must become the AI application world champion that puts humans at the centre. In addition, the competitive advantages of sharing data with European platforms such as Manufacturing-X and Gaia-X should be utilised. Rather than just compare its economic performance to that of other countries, Germany should take swift action and make progress with digitalisation.

Björn Sautter (Festo SE & Co. KG / Industry 4.0 Research Advisory Board / Steering Committee of the Industry 4.0 Platform) sees people as the decisive factor. A shared vision of the future is needed to pool forces and investments. One such vision was, for example, the moon landing. Only if this impact can be experienced by people can they become enthusiastic about the vision and work together to realise it – because people have been an integral part of Industry 4.0 since the term was coined.

Despite the progress made so far, there is still room for improvement in the practical implementation of Industry 4.0. Furthermore, requirements such as sovereignty, interoperability and sustainability need to be taken into account during development.

According to Björn Sautter, the linking of data, as is already happening in digital ecosystems such as Gaia-X, Manufacturing-X or Factory-X, is not just a blueprint, but the basis of the industry of the future. The potential for the industry lies in leveraging data and generating added value with new business models across sectors and internationally. He sees good opportunities for digitalisation in engineering and logistics. In general, SMEs need to be inspired and won over to a shared vision of the future.

Afterwards, a panel discussion which broadened into a discussion with the audience took place, moderated by Joachim Sedlmeir (acatech office). The importance of Industry 4.0 across the economic spectrum was emphasised once again.