“CDO – Discovering, Designing and Implementing Digital Values”

Under this motto, visitors to the CDO in Aachen had the opportunity to listen to top-class lectures, take part in interactive workshops and guided tours, and engage in an interesting exchange with exhibitors and guests. Among other things, there were many opportunities to get an insight into both the work and the community of the Center Connected Industry.

Antje Williams (Deutsche Telekom AG) explained some basics and gave an insight into the possibilities 5G offers for campus networks in her keynote lecture on 5G. This is particularly exciting considering the launch of the campus network coming soon in cooperation with Telekom and the Center Connected Industry at the Aachen campus.

In her presentation, Katharina Geutebrück (Geutebrück GmbH) presented the added value of video-based solutions for process optimization and information security. Afterwards the visitors could convince themselves of the potentials of this technology during the interactive guided tours through InnoLabs and DFA. Especially for the CDO, Geutebrück integrated a copy of their latest camera system into the real test environment of the Center Connected Industry.

Using the example of the SICK I4.0 Factory in Freiburg, Joachim Schultis illustrated the modern transparent production in the sense of Industrie 4.0. As an innovative company, SICK is very active in the field of digitization and Industrie 4.0. For example, the field test in the context of Smart Carrier took place in the immediate vicinity in cooperation with the Center Connected Industry.

In addition, participants of the rapid prototyping workshop had the opportunity to independently implement their ideas for solving complex problems in Industrie 4.0 using a modular technology system. The participants’ prototypes resulting from the workshop were then discussed and evaluated together with the moderators Dries Guth from itelligence and Christian Maasem from the Center Connected Industry.

Stephan Noller (ubirch GmbH) explained in another workshop why it is necessary to verify the origin and absence of manipulation of the generated data in the emerging digital business models. The participants could develop a blockchain-based solution for this problem themselves. Finally, the Blockchain demonstrator developed jointly by ubirch and the Center Connected Industry was shown.

Visitors were also able to learn about the implementation of a transparent supply chain from suppliers to logistics service providers and finally to the factory, which was developed within the framework of Future Logistics. The lighthouse project of the Smart Logistics cluster meets the challenges faced by manufacturing companies in their daily business: Do the supplied parts arrive on time? If not, do I have to reschedule my own production in order to avoid or cushion delays?

The answers to these questions are now available at the push of a button using the e.GO Mobile AG supply chain as an example. For this purpose, raw data from the supplier DFA, which are obtained directly from the running processes with the help of sensors and telematics, are merged, analyzed and displayed in a web-application. The resulting transparency allows recommendations for action to be given in order to react appropriately.

Further information on the project can be found on page 17 of the magazine “Unternehmen der Zukunft” and in the theme park of Center Connected Industry.