OREANDA-NEWS. March 17, 2016. “A key element of Industry 4.0 is the exchange of data between industrial companies,” said Dr. Reinhold Achatz at the opening of the CeBIT expo in Hanover on Monday. The Chief Technology Officer of thyssenkrupp AG is chairman of Industrial Data Space e.V., an association presenting itself to the public for the first time at the booth of the Fraunhofer Society.

Founded in January, the association brings together 16 industrial enterprises, the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association ZVEI and the Fraunhofer Society. Their joint aim is to create a secure data space in which companies can connect safely with each other, maintain full control over their data and exchange information easily and quickly via standardized interfaces.
The benefit: Competitive advantages through new business models, smart products and services. For example when retailers, suppliers and logistics providers form a digital ecosystem in which everyone is continuously informed about the location, condition and demand for goods to ensure customers are always supplied with everything they need.

Fraunhofer-President Professor Reimund Neugebauer: „Industrial Data Space is prerequisite for intelligent services, innovative business models and processes. Transport goods can be continuously controlled, production plants can be used jointly or sensitive medical can be integrated in networks.”

Fraunhofer Society is developing the architecture for the data space with funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research. Industrial Data Space e.V. pools the interests of industry, defines standards and requirements and provides practical applications. For example, thyssenkrupp is planning to put truck loading and unloading in its Materials Services and Steel Europe business areas on a new basis by working together with the logistics companies via the Industrial Data Space.
Dr. Reinhold Achatz: “Industrial Data Space sets an internationally recognized standard for the secure exchange of data between companies. The first steps have already been taken at national level, now we will take the platform to European and international level.”

More about Industrial Data Space:  http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/research/lighthouse-projects-fraunhofer-initiatives/industrial-data-space.html

thyssenkrupp is a diversified industrial group with traditional strengths in materials and a growing share of capital goods and services businesses. Around 155,000 employees in nearly 80 countries work with passion and technological expertise to develop high-quality products and intelligent industrial processes and services for sustainable progress. Their skills and commitment are the basis of our success. In fiscal year 2014/2015 thyssenkrupp generated sales of around €43 billion.

Together with our customers we develop competitive solutions for the challenges of the future in the areas Mechanical, Plant and Materials. With our engineering expertise we enable our customers to gain an edge in the global market and manufacture innovative products in a cost- and resource-friendly way. For us, technical progress and innovations, allied with the combined strength of the Group, are key factors enabling us to meet current and future customer and market requirements around the world, grow on the markets of the future, and generate strong and stable earnings, cash flows and value growth.