Industry 4.0 – A chance for the Swiss industry: Status and developments

Abstract – Industrie 4.0 or the digitalisation of the manufacturing industry has been started by a German project “Zukunftsinitiative” in 2012. Since then, the visibility and coverage of the topic in technical and public communities has continuously increased over the years. In a survey conducted in summer 2016, Swissmem wanted to asses to what extend the engineering companies in Switzerland are engaged with Industrie 4.0. Additionally it was asked which aspects of Industrie 4.0 are considered the most promising. The presentation will highlight the major findings and an active adoption of the topic in Switzerland. Also the presentation offers an overview of the concept of Industrie 4.0 in an effort to build a common understanding for the Swiss industry and data science sector. A number of implemented applications will show how interconnectivity and data are the core of innovations in products and processes. Competencies and in-depth understanding of the processes of the acquisition and evaluation of data will be essential for future competitiveness. Collaborations with data specialists and at the same time new methodologies and technologies in data analytics will be key. The field of data acquisition and analytics will provide highly customized solutions to the manufacturing companies. The presentation will be concluded with some exemplary use cases to underline the significance of data acquisition and processing en route to increase the competitiveness of the companies.

Biography – Robert Rudolph is following his passion for technology and innovation throughout his career. Following his masters in electrical engineering at ETH Zurich he worked as an R&D engineer in a start-up company. Equipped with an degree in industrial management he joined a corporation in the packaging industry where he had positions as early stage R&D and technology manager. He continued his career at the Paul Scherrer Institute, the largest Swiss research institution where he was responsible for the technology transfer office. For four years now, Robert Rudolph is member of the board at Swissmem, the national association for the engineering industry, and serves in several working groups on national and European level. He was the initiator and co-founder of the initiative Industrie 2025 which has the goal to promote and foster the implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts in the Swiss manufacturing industry.