A tour through Hall 8 obviously left an impression on Emmanuel Macron in 2016 when he was still France’s Minister of Economic Affairs: Two years later at any rate Germany’s neighbor is showcasing itself as a 4.0 hotspot at HANNOVER MESSE. In addition to the large national group pavilion from Business France (Stand F07), the Région Grand Est for example has its own large stand in Hall 8 (A17): The Alsace, Lorain, and Champagne-Ardenne regions, together the second-largest industrial location in France, are exhibiting in Hall 8 with a dozen companies viewed as the "nucleus of Industrie 4.0" since 2011.

Along with other national group pavilions for countries such as Spain, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), The German Plattform Industrie 4.0 will be showcasing itself in Hall 8, along with diverse regional unions. At the group stand "Innovations from Hessen Universities" for example, the TU Darmstadt is presenting "Cloud-based durability monitoring for mechatronic Systems", and the CCASS at the University of Darmstadt will be showcasing "Support along the way from the Internet of Things to Digital Strategy". The Deutsche Institut für Normung (DIN) among others is dealing with the key 4.0 issue of standardization in Hall 8 (Stand A16).

A classic example of the trade show’s slogan "Integrated Industry – Connect & Collaborate" is provided by the companies Phoenix Contact, Rittal, and ePlan with their project "Smart Engineering and Production 4.0". With the motto "From the Top Floor to the Shop Floor" these providers of engineering software (ePlan), control cabinet systems (Rittal), and automation technology (Phoenix Contact) are presenting five stations: Using a control cabinet, they will demonstrate how engineering data can flow from comprehensive, virtual manufacturing descriptions via standardized data exchange formats such as Automation ML into the manufacturing process.

Animation at the stations first show a digital description of an end product, followed by the engineering using a control cabinet set up as an example, the NC-supported mechanical processing of components, and finally the automated and intelligent series production of their assembly. This year for the first time, the project is using openAAS (open Asset Administration Shell), the new administration shell from ZVEI for Industrie 4.0.

"As a whole, what we’re showing here is an example of real, highly-automated manufacturing of single lot sizes 1 which signifies uniform digitalization and the complete integration of data across divisions and systems," says Michael Brunstering, who oversees the project for Phoenix Contact "For example, at an AR application at our project stand we are showing how easily smart wiring can simplify the wiring process." In the end, it’s also about "making old machines intelligent and equipping conventional production for the future."

Upgrading conventional plants for Industrie 4.0 is also the focus of discussions at the Industrie 4.0 meets the Industrial Internet forum, which is also being held in Hall 8. "Other key themes include standardization, security, and platform economy," explains IAMD project manager Markus H. Schorak from Deutsche Messe. The forum, which is sponsored by IIC among others, is seen as the leading global forum for digitalization in production. "Once again in 2018, the forum is extremely popular and cast accordingly with top notch, international speakers," says Markus H. Schorak. "There eight times the number of presentation requests than slots."

The boom shows that Industrie 4.0 left its nucleus – Hall 8 of IAMD – long ago. The theme runs throughout all of HANNOVER MESSE. For example, "Allianz Industrie 4.0 Baden-Württemberg" is setting up its group pavilion at Digital Factory (Hall 6). And the key theme at the intralogistics event CeMAT – "Logistics 4.0" – which is running at the same time, is closely related.

One suggestion: Those who don’t want to miss any of the 4.0 highlights at HANNOVER MESSE just need to follow the Red Carpet Route . The red carpet runs through all the IAMD halls and Digital Factory. It seamlessly connects to the Blue Carpet Route at CeMAT .