SAP Solution: Industry 4.0

While SAP CEO Christian Klein uses artificial intelligence primarily as a sales vehicle for his cloud strategy and invests huge sums in hyperscaler partnerships, Siemens CEO Roland Busch has a much sharper and more independent vision.

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.

The latest Industry 4.0 barometer from MHP and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich states that an uncertain future is holding back the development of Industry 4.0 in Germany. Uncertainty about the return on investment is preventing progressive digitization and automation at two-thirds of all companies. Supply chain planning is on the agenda, but operationally there are many gaps.

Industry 4.0 is changing our everyday working lives in many areas. By definition, this so-called digital revolution is accompanied by a massive change in the role of the human resource in the work process.

More and more companies are turning to the support of a digital twin when planning new production facilities and supply chains or when expanding or improving old logistics concepts.

For 50 years, the IT community has known the software group SAP as the ERP market leader. The term ERP defines a subject area, but says little in concrete terms. This E-3 cover story deals specifically with the keywords SCM, logistics, Industry 4.0, (I)IoT and Digital Twins. The three SAP partners Camelot, FIS and Orsoft supported the E-3 editorial team in the research....

SAP offers a comprehensive solution portfolio for digital manufacturing with the Digital Manufacturing Cloud at its core. To be able to view all production data centrally and control the associated processes accordingly, companies should also use a central IIoT solution such as Synsights.

Fast and cost-efficient adoption of digital manufacturing and seamless traceability are business-critical for mid-sized manufacturing companies. A lean MES with an UX design that users can configure themselves makes it possible.

10 years ago, the fourth industrial revolution was proclaimed in Germany. The goal of this Industry 4.0: to digitally dovetail industrial production across companies.

With regard to the implementation of innovative Industry 4.0 and IoT scenarios, the factory edge concept in particular is becoming increasingly important. An SAP connection is also an essential component here.

Many retailers are labeling their products electronically now, and why shouldn't they? Using electronic shelf labels is efficient, flexible, and reliable. Even intralogistics processes benefit.

High scalability, holistic control and complete traceability are prerequisites for Otto Fuchs, a company in the non-ferrous metals industry. Thus, it was necessary to digitalize.