Opening of the "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" Nucleus for growth
On September 24th, 2014 the "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" was opened at LESC (Lifecycle Engineering Solutions Center) together with Solid Line AG and Bechtle IT system house and the Forschungszentrum (FZI). Numerous informative lectures on Industry 4.0 and diverse live demos illuminated the subject Industry 4.0. Under the slogan "SMEs meet Research" the partners from industry and research will work together in future projects with the common goal of jointly enable medium-sized enterprises in the transition to Industry to 4.0.
The "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" as an integrated software and hardware environment was created for the concrete implementation of life-cycle thinking in product development. An important target group is the engineers of tomorrow. Thus, each of the approximately 4,000 KIT-engineering students from the first semester has a SOLIDWORKS CAD license. In addition, the engineering as well as graduate students from related disciplines such as electrical engineering, computer science or mechatronics use an expanded range of applications of SOLIDWORKS and the institute's own CAVE for learning, research and experimentation. Next to teaching on an equal footing is the practice. According to the credo of "SMEs meet Research" offers the Lab companies the opportunity to test their ideas and products at an early stage and to familiarize with the work in 3D environments. Also an appropriate training of employees can be realized here. In general, the "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" will be an open platform for cooperation between companies and research institutions.
Industry 4.0 represents the fusion of the surrounding physical products, machinery and equipment with virtual reality, built from vast amounts of data. Thanks to the seamless networking and communication on the Internet arise unforeseen business opportunities that are for medium-sized companies of interest, if they are available for them. For an SME a concrete solution and measurable added value is important for business. Existing infrastructure should continue to be used, which then will be gradually improved, including the automation of processes, increase of capacity, saving energy and reducing costs.
The gap which is closed with Industry 4.0 in the field of product development, is the IT support completeness and consistency. Products are developed successfully, but with too much time and expense. In the "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" next to development data systematically more data sources are involved, the laboratory provides for this willing interlocking software and hardware structures. This can be better taken into account respective individual requirements and shorten the development times. Through the use of virtual engineering, which supports the entire product lifecycle from process and from IT-system view holistically, new engineering methods are developed. These are applied in the "Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab" for voting, rating and verify the results of all partners, using modern information and communication technologies such as CAD / CAE, PDM / PLM, Web, Cloud and Virtual Reality.
For SMEs Industry 4.0 is considered to be a permanent topic, where new technologies and their immediate practical use will be linked. This requires an ongoing basis to ask questions and try new concepts. The change is not "top to bottom". Industry 4.0 solutions for SMEs need to be pragmatic and specific. Changes occur in the nucleus, like any evolutionary development. The Industry 4.0 Collaboration Lab provides a learning and experience space to start small and get the chance to grow.
More about "Industrie 4.0 Collaboration Lab": SOLIDnews (S. 20-21), Bechtle