KUKA is working with SAP, Microsoft, Siemens and around 80 other member companies in the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance to drive end-to-end connectivity within the industry, from the machine via the edge to the cloud and right into the ERP system.
Dr. Christian Liedtke, Head of Strategic Alliances, said: “Digitization in industry will only work if companies also leave their own path to some extent in order to create something great together in ecosystems.”
Over the past ten years, it has become clear that connectivity and digitization within the industry require a level of perfection, in theory, rarely found in practice behind the factory gates. Industry 4.0 means connectivity, but it also means complexity. The big challenge is how to connect different machines. Interfaces exist, but they are not yet seamless.
Dr. Liedtke added: “Industry 4.0 applications are not scalable today. The communication of the individual components must be coordinated, individually with each machine supplier. In the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance, we rely on open standards and interfaces to actually transfer Industry 4.0 into practice.”
