Industry 4.0: industries must learn from one another

Lufthansa Industry Solutions at the transport logistic trade fair

The topic of Industry 4.0 cannot be seen as a purely technical challenge. This was the upshot of the panel discussion on the topic of Industry 4.0 at the transport logistic trade fair. Instead, industries must learn from one another, SMEs must cooperate and take people along on the trip to the future.

“Industry 4.0 is in the first place only a vision for the future viability of business and society,” Dr. Holger Schlüter of Lufthansa Industry Solutions emphasized, who gave the keynote speech on the subject. “After all, in Germany there is a gap between a functioning idea, which is often born in universities and institutes, and a product ready for marketing.” The development costs are often too high for universities or individual SMEs. Holger Schlüter referred in his speech particularly to the final report of the Industry 4.0 Task Force of the German Ministry of Education and Research, which was published in late April 2013. It defines fields of action and also especially mentions the social effects of the digital transformation. The rapid changes in the world of work thanks to new technologies can only be coped with through a process involving all of society. “And through sensible management of ideas and processes in companies and collaborations between industries,” Schlüter said. “So that good ideas can also become innovations.”