Digitization, automation, and orchestration are the drivers for further value creation in industry. The term Industry 4.0, which is mainly used in German-speaking countries, does not go far enough because it is only understood as digital transformation. This E3 cover story in collaboration with Orbis clearly demonstrates that industrial digitalization also encompasses business management, organization, and technology.

Edge computing: Real-time, energy-optimized sensor intelligence devices (SID), such as those developed by the Fraunhofer Center for Sensor Intelligence ZSI, act as an intermediate or meta-level between operational technology (OT) at the machine level and IT systems at the business level: for example, a manufacturing execution system (MES), an IoT platform, or an ERP.

The NETZSCH Group also wants to secure its success in the future through a digitization strategy. Completely digitalized processes in production are an important component of this. The Pumps & Systems division has set the course for this with a future-oriented, uniform and interoperable store floor platform that combines applications from SAP and ORBIS MES with the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

In the future, Oerlikon Balzers will use the ORBIS Distributed Shopfloor Processing (ORBIS DSP) solution to establish interoperability between technical data and processes on the production level, the IOT platform and IT systems on the business level such as ORBIS MES and SAP ERP.

Türelemente Borne develops, produces and markets a wide range of ready-to-install, high-quality interior doors and frames.

Digitization, IIoT, Industrie 4.0 and cloud computing are leading manufacturing companies today to extend their SAP on-premises landscape, also in terms of store floor processes, with SaaS cloud solutions from other vendors.