Project Description

The “Industry 4.0” research project is jointly funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It was formed under the advice and promotion of the German Academy of Engineering, Fraunhofer Society, Siemens and other German academic and industrial circles, and has been promoted to National level strategy. The German federal government has invested 200 million euros.
The German government proposed the “Industry 4.0” strategy and officially launched it at the 2013 Hannover Industrial Fair. Its purpose is to improve the competitiveness of German industry and take the lead in the new round of industrial revolution. This strategy has been widely recognized by German scientific research institutions and industries. The Fraunhofer Association will introduce the concept of Industry 4.0 to its 6-7 research institutes in the production field. Siemens has begun to introduce this concept into its industrial software. Development and production control systems.
Since its official launch at the Hannover Messe in April 2013, Industry 4.0 has quickly become another label in Germany and triggered a new round of industrial transformation competition around the world.
From April 17 to 21, 2023, approximately 4,000 companies from the mechanical engineering, electrical and digital industries, and energy industries around the world participated in the 2023 Hannover Messe.

 

The concept of “Industry 4.0” includes the basic model change from centralized control to decentralized enhanced control, with the goal of establishing a highly flexible production model of personalized and digital products and services. In this model, traditional industry boundaries will disappear and a variety of new areas of activity and forms of cooperation will emerge. The process of creating new value is changing, and the division of labor in the industrial chain will be reorganized.
“Industry 4.0 provides Germany with an opportunity to further consolidate its position as a manufacturing base, production equipment supplier and IT business solution provider.” Professor Henning Kagermann, President of the German Academy of Engineering, commented on Industry 4.0.
German academics and industries believe that the concept of “Industry 4.0” is the fourth industrial revolution led by intelligent manufacturing, or a revolutionary production method. This strategy aims to transform the manufacturing industry into an intelligent one by making full use of the combination of information and communication technology and cyberspace virtual system – Cyber-Physical System. [5]
The “Industry 4.0” project is mainly divided into three major themes:

“Industry 4.0” Project Theme
Theme Details
Smart factory Focus on the research on intelligent production systems and processes, as well as the realization of networked distributed production facilities;
Smart production It mainly involves the production logistics management of the entire enterprise, human-computer interaction and the application of 3D technology in the industrial production process. The plan will pay special attention to attracting the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises, striving to make small and medium-sized enterprises the users and beneficiaries of the new generation of intelligent production technology, as well as the creators and suppliers of advanced industrial production technology;
Intelligent logistics Mainly through the Internet, Internet of Things, and logistics networks, logistics resources are integrated to give full play to the efficiency of the existing logistics resource suppliers, while the demand side can quickly obtain service matching and logistics support.