German industry is very confident when it comes to Industry 4.0. As shown by the newly compiled “German Industry 4.0 Index”, domestic companies have put Germany in pole position internationally on the road to developing the “Smart Factory”. Only Japan and the USA are developing at a similar rate, according to German firms. China, in their opinion, is already hot on the heels of several industrial nations. For the “German Industry 4.0 Index”, 140 industrial firms were surveyed for management consultancy Staufen. “From conversations in the workshops and design offices of our German clients, the sense of self-confidence, of not having to shy away from the issue of Industry 4.0, comes across very clearly,” says Thomas Rohrbach, Business Unit Manager at management consultancy Staufen AG. “Up to now, however, only a relatively small number of pioneering companies have put this confidence in their own strength into practice in the form of operational projects.” This is confirmed by the “German Industry 4.0 Index”. Just under three quarters of the companies surveyed have either not yet taken any concrete measures to address the issue of Industry 4.0 (34 percent) or are currently limiting themselves to playing the role of observers when it comes to networked factories (39%). While there is no complete “Smart Factory“ in Germany just yet, 14 percent of the companies are already running individual operational projects on Industry 4.0. “The disparity between the goal of being world leaders, and the operational implementation rate of Industry 4.0, may seem contradictory at first glance – but it is easily explained,” says Staufen consultant Rohrbach. “The road to the Smart Factory or even to the completely networked company is more evolution than revolution. German industry has, as an ongoing task, significantly streamlined its processes in production, development and administration in recent years (Lean Management). The decision-makers often didn’t realise that by doing this they had already started moving in the direction of Industry 4.0. Creating the foundation for the next stage of development of the ‘Smart Factory’ – in this context we are talking about Lean 4.0 – will be a crucial task for German companies in 2015.” German Industry 4.0 Index
The “German Industry 4.0 Index” is based on a study by management consultancy Staufen AG. As part of the study, a total of 140 industrial firms were interviewed in August and September 2014. The majority of the companies interviewed are from the machinery and plant engineering sectors, the electrical industry and the automotive industry. The air travel, energy and logistics industries are also represented in the “German Industry 4.0 Index”.
