Section two of the Transformation Day dealt with our core topic, namely entrepreneurial transformations. Dr. Mennillo from the Academy for Political Education in Tutzing, who had already given the presentation on the status quo of German civil society in block one, took over the moderation.
Two examples from the German corporate world should illustrate at the beginning of this section how leading companies position themselves strategically on a global scale.
In the first of these two presentations, entitled “The Sustainability Transformation“, the “green factory” approach propagated by Bosch was presented. The presentation was given by Dr. Udo-Martin Gomez, Head of Corporate Strategy Board and Bosch Management Consulting. He explained the integral strategic concept and its implementation. Bosch is pursuing an overall approach here, taking into account all parameters of the energy and ecological transition. The Bosch example is particularly interesting because it presents a comprehensive transformation that has already been implemented in product provision and factory design.
In the second industry example, Jens Messer, Head of M&A at Siemens Manufacturing Automation, presented the concept of the “Siemens digital factory“. As the global market leader in integral factory solutions including all equipment, process design and software, Siemens is able to offer in toto factories for vehicle production from a single source, for example. Siemens implements the integral solution model on the basis of Industry 4.0, including all networking within and outside its own factories and the integration of all suppliers. In-depth knowledge of the respective characteristics of all factory domains is a prerequisite for customer-optimized solutions. The concept of the digital twin is consistently applied in factory planning. The digital factory benefits from the Group’s broad portfolio of products and services. Siemens uses artificial intelligence in sustainability management, for example to minimize water consumption. Siemens is integrating information technology (IT) with operational technology (OT). Siemens connects all levels: “From Sensor to Edge to Cloud”. With the help of “Digital Threads”, Siemens realizes the shortest development paths and highly efficient production processes. The production equipment, especially the automation, is connected via an “Industrial Cloud”. All stakeholders in the manufacturing process work together in a dynamically growing digital ecosystem. Strategies and visions converge in an “industrial metaverse”.
These two exemplary solutions from industry were followed by an assessment entitled “Ten years of Industry 4.0: status quo and entrepreneurial potential“. This presentation was given by Dr. Johannes Winter, Affiliate of the acatech German Academy of Science and Engineering and member of the L3S AI Research Center. Spanning from recent industrial history to future potentials, Winter outlined the path from collective products to innovative industrial ecosystems. Each of today’s crises also offers opportunities for innovation. The movement towards Industry 4.0 has changed over time and is now focused on nanotechnologies, resilience, circular economy and strategic agility. Winter concluded with an encouraging appeal, namely that we should feel comfortable in an environment of uncertainty, as this is the basis for constant progress.
Lifelong learning, which Dr. Winter also addressed, plays a central role here. Professor Volker Engert from Heidelberg University of Applied Sciences took up this theme in his subsequent presentation “Intergenerational digital knowledge management: from theory to practice“. He illustrated the structures and processes that companies use to ensure that they retain, develop and do not lose the knowledge they have acquired. This includes the documentation of corporate knowledge as well as processes to ensure that, for example, when an older employee leaves the company, their knowledge is transferred to the next generation of employees in good time. Knowledge is part of a company’s fundamental capital, which must be invested in the same way as financial assets in order to ensure the company’s continued existence.
The concluding discussion among the aforementioned speakers, led by Dr. Mennillo, once again highlighted the role of the company in the socio-political context. The industry has the role of the decisive driver of innovation, from which we all benefit in the long term.
You can watch the recording of this part of the event and all other topics here on the BM&A YouTube channel.
