Taking Industry 4.0 to the next level

The digital integration of industry, energy and logistics is gathering pace, with traditional boundaries between industries breaking down, productivity rising and new business models popping up like mushrooms. In April 2018, Hannover Messe and CeMAT will lend their combined weight to this trend and take Industry 4.0 to the next level. Together they will open a window on a future in which digitized production, integrated energy systems and intelligent logistics solutions will radically change the way we live, work and do business. Hannover Messe/CeMAT Preview 2018
(Photo: Hannover Messe)

In every smart factory scenario of the future, the starring roles will be played by two main factors: people and machinery. In order for them to achieve top performance, however, the power of digital integration will need to be leveraged to the fullest. “The integration of automation technology, IT platforms and machine learning will take Industry 4.0 to the next level,” commented Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Managing Board at Deutsche Messe. “With ‘Integrated Industry – Connect & Collaborate’ as its lead theme, Hannover Messe 2018 will enable visitors from all around the world to experience the completely new forms of business, work and collaboration that are being made possible by our increasingly connected, digitally networked industrial landscape. They will witness first-hand the benefits of integrated industry: enhanced productivity, future-proof jobs and exciting new business models.”  
Machine learning, IT platforms and integrated industrial robots
The industrial landscape is changing fast. Factory technology is becoming ever more efficient, industrial IT platforms are readily available on the market, and more and more industrial subcontractors are digitally integrated into their customer’s value chains. And now, with machine learning, machines and robots are increasingly able to make autonomous decisions.  
The rapid rise of integration in production and logistics
Digitization is already a critical success factor in logistics, where one of the main challenges lies in managing complex processes and making them more efficient. This is certainly true of the interface between logistics and online retail. "The customer is king – he expects the world and he wants it right now," is how Köckler described the challenge facing online retail – a sector where automated processes are still the exception rather than the rule.
The future of the sector depends on innovative logistics processes that can handle increasingly complex supply chains. The required logistics environment starts with automated warehouses, where all processes are managed by software and where robots work around the clock, moving autonomously through the halls and delivering goods to the right place, at the right time and in the right quantities. Similar things are happening in manufacturing, where production and logistics processes are becoming ever more closely integrated through intelligent technologies as part of the ongoing quest to boost efficiency and flexibility and hence lower costs. At CeMAT, visitors will be able to experience the convergence of production and logistics for themselves.
 
Energy for production and power grids for electric mobility 
Digitization is also transforming the energy industry. Innovative technologies are making our power systems more flexible, intelligently interconnecting different sectors and ushering in new market participants. These key developments will be profiled in depth at Hannover Messe’s Energy show. The show will profile various energy efficiency solutions that will enable industrial companies to achieve enormous savings and make a major contribution to climate protection. It will also present the technologies and steps needed to successfully transition the world to sustainable energy systems.  "Everyone's talking about the mobility transition, but the fact is, our power grids are simply not yet ready for the widespread use of electric cars," explained Köckler. The problem, according to the energy sector, is that electric mobility will result in much higher load peaks than are currently the norm. Moreover, eMobility won’t be able to deliver on its eco-friendly and sustainability promise unless the power it uses comes from renewable sources. Energy companies and municipal utilities around the world are embracing the electric mobility megatrend and its challenges and are starting to build the necessary infrastructure. Initiatives here include providing comprehensive charging station coverage, upgrading power distribution networks and building electrical “super highways”. All of which comes down to digital integration – the challenge of intelligently interconnecting renewable energy sources, energy storage facilities and electric vehicles so that they all work together as a coordinated, seamlessly integrated system. Hannover Messe will next be staged from 23.04.-27.04.2018 in Hanover/Germany.  www.hannovermesse.de