• A funded project by the Rhineland-Palatinate’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture (MWVLW)
  • SmartFactoryKL is brand ambassador for Industrie 4.0
Implementation of technical Industrie 4.0 solutions at small and medium sized companies is a challenge for industry and government. By launching Transfer4Production (T4P), the Economics Ministry takes an important step in getting Rhineland-Palatinate’s manufacturing companies up to speed for the future production environment. The vision of Industrie 4.0 (I40) started to spread around the world from Kaiserslautern in 2011. The world’s first I40 demonstrator was introduced by SmartFactoryKL (SF-KL) at the Hannover Messe (industry trade fair) in 2014, and SF-KL has been pioneering the production of tomorrow ever since.
 

Manufacturing companies benefit from the fact that Industrie 4.0 is a model research priority in Rhineland-Palatinate. “We have been working for years on this topic in Kaiserslautern and we developed shared production to represent the production world of the future,” said Prof. Martin Ruskowski, CEO of SmartFactoryKL. He added, “This involves the use of key enabling technologies like digital twins, 5G, artificial intelligence, and operational safety intelligence.” Petra Dick-Walther, a state secretary in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, supports the continued development of Industrie 4.0 and has awarded funding for the Transfer4Production project in the amount of 430,000 euros. “SMEs characterize the strong manufacturing sector in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Manufacturing accounts for nearly 30 percent of the state’s value creation and it is so very important for companies to have systematic access to innovative technologies so they can remain competitive in the future. SmartFactory Kaiserslautern would like the Transfer4Production project to offer companies a networking platform where they can retrieve information and plan their specific implementation process with partners throughout the state,” said State Secretary Petra Dick-Walther.

The goal of Transfer4Production
Transfer means getting scientific developments into useful applications, while at the same time aligning scientific activities in recognition of the needs of business and industry. Establishing personal contacts and networks is key to successful transfer. “The need for transfer continues to grow during this 4th Industrial Revolution. We learned this from our joint development of Industrie 4.0 solutions with our members. But, we also notice it in an increasing number of requests from SMEs,” said Ruskowski. That’s why T4P holds workshops with companies and has organized a network of companies, associations, and research institutes. Transfer4Production provides support for specific issues like production architecture, manufacturing infrastructure, artificial intelligence in a production environment, digital twins, secure data space, and 5G applications in a production setting, etc. A wide range of knowledge and experience is available to SmartFactoryKL thanks to its connections to RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. But, the main problem is to be found elsewhere. “Many companies are simply not aware that the state and federal governments are promoting measures to digitalize production. It’s our job to assist them,” said T4P project manager Svenja Knetsch.
Project data
  • Lead Manager: SmartFactoryKL
  • Funded budget: 430,000 euros
  • Project term: 01.01.2023 – 31.12.2024
  • The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture, and Viticulture (MWVLW) of Rhineland-Palatinate provides 100% of the funding
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