Knowledge transfer for practitioners is also a virtual hit

Hygiene dispensers provide usage data. This includes the dispensing amount, fill level, and energy status. © Hagleitner Hygiene/photo: Werner Krug

Traditionally, Georg Wasserloos moderates the management meetings of the learning journey in full halls. © Macils Management Centrum

Whether this is also possible with the new learning journey "Factory of the Future: Lean – Green – Digital" remains to be seen. (Source: Fraunhofer IPA)

To support companies in implementing digital transformation, Fraunhofer IPA, together with Robert Bosch GmbH and Macils Management Centrum, offers the learning journey "Industry 4.0 live". The second edition started in mid-2018 and ends in summer 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the total 15 management sessions and 7 transfer workshops with companies from Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Slovenia were switched from in-person to virtual formats. The intensive exchange between the companies was unaffected by this.

This is also confirmed by Dr. Stefan Aßmann, Business Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for the Industrial Technology division of Robert Bosch GmbH: "It was definitely an unexpectedly different learning journey. When the pandemic started, it was a pity that many appointments were canceled or postponed. But then I was surprised at how well the new virtual formats worked. I was connected via video and felt as if I was right there on site. Zooming into machines brought us closer than often possible in person."

Prof. Thomas Bauernhansl, Director of the Fraunhofer IPA, adds: "In the first learning journey, participating companies gained an overview of holistic transformation concepts. The second journey was more thematically specific. It focused more on specific solutions, on details. Precision was required. These could be well incorporated into digital learning and visit formats."

For both sponsors, the "spark" was ignited, as the learning journey was not a classic video conference but a communication format similar to a TV show with a live character in the style of "Wetten, dass ...? from the factory". Well-made and with appropriate entertainment value.

"Wispering application data directly from the factory into the cloud"

Already involved in the first learning journey and again this time was the company Hagleitner Hygiene from Zell am See in Austria. Business owner and CEO Hans Georg Hagleitner, for whom digitization of the product range is top priority, summarized: "We have made the Internet of Toilets production-ready: Disinfection, cosmetic, and hygiene paper dispensers whisper application data directly from the factory into the cloud in 2021. The easiest way is via smartphone." What was a wish and vision has become reality. You just have to want it—and especially stay committed.

Georg Wasserloos, Managing Director of Macils Management Centrum, who initiated knowledge transfer for practitioners in the form of the learning journey in 2016, also echoes this: "We want to inspire with great examples and spark enthusiasm for the production of tomorrow. When the appetite is sparked, a transformation process begins within the participating companies, and employees take the change work into their own hands."

Also, the learning journey best-practice partner Murrelektronik from Oppenweiler has understood digitization from the beginning as a "huge opportunity," as CEO Stefan Grotzke explains. "We see ourselves as customer-oriented problem solvers who help make production more economical and thus create a competitive advantage." For decades, Murrelektronik has been involved in many production systems, such as fieldbus systems and connectors manufactured by the medium-sized company.

His enthusiasm for digitized production is passed on to his employees through pilot projects. "When they see for themselves the benefits of digitization and how it makes their work easier, it sparks their desire for change," he reports. Inspiration and motivation are provided to company members by the Industry 4.0 live learning journey. There, they discover best-practice solutions from other companies and connect with responsible persons. "A network of like-minded individuals forms, where mutual support is provided," Grotzke observes.

Extended learning journey begins in September 2021

With the conclusion of the current learning journey, a new format will start immediately. Until now, the factory of the future was based on two pillars: lean and digitally connected. Now, a third aspect is added: sustainable, climate-neutral. A trifecta that is ecologically necessary and meaningful in content. The efficient, waste-free use of resources (lean), combined with networking and transparency (digital), opens up potential for environmentally impact-free production (green). The new learning journey "Factory of the Future: Lean – Green – Digital" aims to showcase exciting best-practice examples for a value-stream-oriented and networked ultra-efficiency factory.