Project goal
Open up the data treasure troves! That’s what is expected under the EU’s Data Act wants. It requires that companies should to share their company corporate data with each one other, with. tThe goal of: a networked European industry that is stronger, greener and more competitive.
This type of network already exists in the automotive industry – Catena-X is taking care.
The new Factory-X research project is now targeting the entire breadth of industry, while and is also focusing on factory equipment manufacturers and their components.
47 companies, led by Siemens and SAP, are developing an open data ecosystem that will enable the exchange of information across company boundaries.
Project partners
47 cooperatingon partners from research and industry are pooling their expertise and services to make Factory-X a success.
These include:
- Siemens
- SAP
- BASF
- Sharecat
- Trumpf
- DMG Mori
- Festo
- Hilscher
- Ifm
- Lenze
- Phoenix Contact
- Schunk
- SICK
- Wittenstein
- And many others
“Collaborative Informations Logistics” Use Case
There is still lots a lot of manual work being carried out manually in large-scale industry. To give one eExample: iIn large industrial plants, maintenance engineers have to fight their waywade through endless documentation files, manuals and spare parts lists to find important information on plant components. Is there a better way?
There is! The solution lies in the Factory-X shared data room. In future, engineers will be able to use QR codes, for example, to call up information directly and conveniently from component manufacturers directly and conveniently. This requires uniform standards first – and this is precisely where our field of research lies.
Our contribution
We want to help component manufacturers to provide the required data in an automated, standardized, and secure manner. This also involves networking IT (data transfer and processing) and OT (hardware and software in an industrial environment).
That is why we are working on 2 key features of Factory-X:
the Information Provisioning Service (IPS) and the IT/OT Information Service.
The IPS ensures standardized and secure communication between different companies’ systems. It collects and structures data in order to make it available to the information users in the data room. In this way, it bridges language barriers between digital islands, acting as an interpreter.
The IT/OT information service should also make data from the shop floor available in a simple, standardized, and secure way.
OT/IT is our back pocket. For example, we have developed Unibeam: a data hub to connect heterogeneous machines and IT systems in production. This is also exciting in terms of Factory-X, because this is exactly the kind of approach that will be needed here.
Our expertise in OT/IT integration enables automated data flows and promotes smooth communication between systems. The aim is to automate processes in industry – as in the example of the maintenance engineer with the QR code.
This lays the foundation for a more efficient, safer and more innovative industry. With Factory-X, we are moving towards a smart, connected and competitive European industry.
