(MENAFNEditorial)
Interview with Franz Gruber CEO FORCAM
January 7 2015 with Andreas Knoll
Elektroniknet.de
Industry 4.0: Don’t Procrastinate Act!
The German Government initiative Industry 4.0 or the concept of the 4th industrial revolution the SMART Factory creates in Germany without a doubt a fierce wooed market environment but seems to pay little attention to the U.S. market. A huge mistake Franz Gruber CEO of FORCAM GmbH explains.
Markt & Technik: You recently said that there is a tremendous momentum in the US regarding to digital production. What does this mean in practice?
Firstly the Industrial Internet - what we call in Europe the German Industry 4.0 concept - has already a huge impact on all sectors. That I learned from the most important trade show in North America the IMTS back in September 2014. Terms like interoperability of all machines real-time visualization and location-based access control systems via tablet and smartphone are no foreign concept any longer. In addition the Americans have already solved the interface problem through Cloud applications with the open standard MTConnect. This standard has already taken over in the world and can no longer be held back. All we really need to do here is to adapt this standard. So the technology savvy Americans made up their disadvantage in the hardware area with software solutions. Secondly the Obama administration heavily promotes the Industrial Internet with billions of dollars.
You often hear that the US is far behind in terms of production techniques and production methods. So this is not true? I strongly believe that this is a false assumption! One of the reasons is MTConnect. The US is making big leaps and bounds which leads to new products new SMART Factories and value-added processes with suppliers and customers. It is no longer just about IT technology but also about novel methods and processes such as 3D printing 3D laser scanning but also issues in energy and resource efficiency. In contrast to our Fourth Stage of the Industrial Revolution Americans distinguish between an evolution toward a SMART Factory in three stages. The first stage is as we all know - the industrial revolution. The second is the Internet and the third current stage is the merger of Internet-based processes and techniques.
Manufacturing Renaissance in the US
So speaking of a Manufacturing Renaissance would be more realistic?
The Manufacturing Renaissance was actually proclaimed by President Obama himself. This approach allows to friendly bypass the already very aggressive attitude of companies towards the digitization of production. The core idea of the Obama initiative is the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) a nationwide network supported by initiatives and institutions. Institutions include the AMP 2.0 - Advanced Manufacturing Partnership - a nationwide cross-industry initiative to create more jobs and the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation (DMDI) Institute in Chicago. DMDI’s network includes 73 companies universities and research institutions that solely focus on the development of value-added process and digital production cycles.
What about the Manufacturing Renaissance and the topic of Industrial Internet alongside other issues - such as cheap energy and the fracking boom?
The relationship should be obvious: A modern digitally linked production helps drive efficiency gains by 20 to 30 percent in no time - no matter if you produce cars lipsticks pacifiers or energy - plus an additional 10 percent saved in energy costs. The Industrial Internet offers enormous competitive advantages in cost savings product and service quality and Return-on-Investment (ROI). Americans are much more determined to use these benefits fully aware of its importance. I believe that the Americans are convinced that now is their time to lead in Information Technology combined with the Old Economy and related Hardware in the production. And if they can generate the energy for this renaissance themselves - the better. An energy revolution in Germany at a pace of a snail would therefore be a great risk in the international race. Would you not agree?
The American Way
How does the approach of US companies differ from the approach of European and German companies in regard to Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet?
Enthusiasm for technology is noticeably higher in the United States and even Asia than it is in Europe. It is therefore no coincidence that digital giants like Microsoft Apple Amazon Google Facebook Twitter and the like - come from the USA. Whereas in Europe many great technologies are invented but are only successfully deployed in foreign markets at the moment. Popular examples are computers MP3 players or fax machines. Luckily Europe has much to offer otherwise in industries such as automotive chemical electrical aerospace engineering medical pharmaceutical. But because the US-Internet giants also now focus on the industrial production sector we must be very cautious to keep ahead of the race. And it is not just caution that is advised for Europe’s businesses but forceful and goal-oriented action.
And this is FORCAM’s very mission for the digital factory. What role do large US companies such as General Electric Rockwell Automation and Cisco Systems take when it comes to the Industrial Internet? It seems that all companies - whether producers or service companies - are intensively involved in the discussion of the Industrial Internet today. Incidentally even all major research or consulting firms are involved such as Accenture and McKinsey. Car manufacturers like VW cooperate with Google in terms of innovative control systems and services. And Continental is already working with Cisco and IBM.
Now how does the approach of American Associations and organizations differ from the European or German counterparts in regard to Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet?
It differs in pragmatism. The cooperation of companies research institutions and associations is very goal-oriented and unbureaucratic in the US. In Germany however we seem to find pronounced silo thinking and attachment to benefices. But what matters now is the future.
What topics and objectives are discussed and pursued regarding the platform Industry 4.0 and which by the Industrial Internet Consortium? Both discuss the same things: Merging the Internet with the production infrastructure and the use of IT technology to achieve productivity and new value-added processes.
Political Support
How strong is the policy-related support of Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet in the United States compared to Europe and Germany?
The support is strong by politicians on all continents. The EU has now even a Commissioner for Digitization Mr. Guenther Oettinger. But I fear that the pace and emphasis differ quite sharply by which speed things are moving forward. Take President Obama as an example who has provided a one billion US dollar fund to promote his Industrial Internet Initiative NNMi in 2014. The amount of promotion I recall for the European initiative refers rather to the next few years and runs under the program umbrella Horizon 2020 on the topic of the Industrial Leadership with a total fund of 658 million euros. Recently German Federal Minister Gabriel announced at the recent IT Summit in Hamburg Germany a 430 million euro fund by 2017. Professor Michael ten Hompel from Dortmund’s Fraunhofer Institute recently mentioned in one of his presentations that he will spend 80 million euros for the promotion and development of Industry 4.0 software this year. Google spends this kind of money on innovative ideas in a day.
What is the difference in discussion on the topic of Industry 4.0 or Industrial Internet in the United States compared to Germany or Europe?
There is little difference in the goals and approaches. Every nation every region alike will position its region for success in the race for dividends locations of business and jobs. Activities and measures are usually identified correctly such as more research networks more courage in the SME sector flexible working time models more education in MINT-courses (mathematics engineering natural sciences and technology) and new university majors.
Europe is running out of time!
The head of Deutsche Telekom Timothy Hoettges was recently quoted in the press: Germany has lost the first half of digitization a view I share. Let’s be realistic in light of digitization in our daily lives - Apple Facebook Google & Co. - we are unable to catch up in the race. Major effort is needed now so we do not also lose the race in the second half of the digitization of the industrial production. As a consequence the German Telekom has teamed up with Siemens to start a research partnership to cross-link German sites of business. In my opinion this proactivity for investment is the right attitude going forward. Politicians and organizations must support these initiatives of companies by all means - with funding research and with uniform legal safety standards and norms.
Invest now!
The second half of digitization of the industrial production has already started.
About FORCAM
FORCAM the preferred global technology partner for the application of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) is providing rapid and actionable results for its customers on industrial shop floors FORCAM serves leading discrete manufacturers in industry sectors like Automotive Aerospace & Defense Pharmaceutical Medical devices Food and Beverage and Oil and Gas. Valued customers like Daimler BMW AUDI BorgWarner Mahle Schaeffler MTU Aero-Engines GKN Aerospace Pratt & Whitney DePuy Synthes Weir Minerals Schlumberger and many more trust FORCAM with their most expensive assets all over the globe. FORCAM’s awarded Shop Floor Management Technology helps Fortune 500 companies not only to increase productivity far over 20% within less than 12 months but also helps them to compete against their fiercest competition. We stand for rapid Return-On-Investment (ROI) an increase of Return-On-Capital-Employed (ROCE) and a competitive surge in overall cost savings in our client’s production. With over 50000 machines already connected when can we take your operation to the Cloud?
www.forcam.com
Editorial: ak
Source: http://www.elektroniknet.de/automation/sonstiges/artikel/115806/
Translation: FORCAM Marketing
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