EU Industry Days 2022: Accelerating the uptake of advanced manufacturing

More collaboration

To accelerate the adoption of advanced manufacturing, "more collaboration across sectors and also across companies – especially in the world of industrial data – is key", Dr Bölke said. Industrial data are complex because they are distributed in different devices, they are heterogenous, and they often have real-time requirements, he explained, so we need to take out the complexity using digital twin concepts and by standardisation. "So we need to come together and not only agree on standards but adopt them, use them".

A supportive environment

Linda Dijkhoorn, CEO and Founder of EV Biotech, agreed that "collaboration is where the magic happens" and also stressed the need for a supportive environment in Europe. The most sophisticated technology and knowledge in her company’s field actually comes from Europe, she said, "all we need to do is create an environment where we can exploit it." Currently, she said, "we are very limited – also in legislation ways – in being able to use our technology and make it beneficial in Europe".

Concrete business scenarios

A key challenge, said Dieter Wegener, ZVEI and Vice Chair, Digital Manufacturing Executive Council, Digital Europe, is how to extract value from manufacturing data in an industry friendly manner. He emphasised the need for digital twin technology, for Gaia X, and also for concrete business use cases for industry. He mentioned that Siemens is implementing a digital nameplate concept involving a QR code on its products that takes you to a space where you can share data all along the lifecycle of the product.