Germany talks about Industrie 4.0, and the USA about the Industrial Internet of Things, but they mean the same thing: IT and the industrial sector are merging, and factories are becoming intelligent.

The extent to which the Internet of Things is already affecting the world of manufacturing will be explored at the Forum Industrie 4.0 meets the Industrial Internet . For the third time, the international event is being organized by Germany’s Industrie 4.0 Platform, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), German industry associations VDMA, ZVEI, and Deutsche Messe. Located at the center of the Industrie 4.0 – IIoT – Industrial IT display area, the forum presents opportunities for digitalizing value chains and products along with benefits for users.

Predictive maintenance, B2B platform economics, humans and work, SMEs, interoperability, security, and standards are the main themes. International experts will present use cases, test beds, technologies, and services. Last year, global players such as Microsoft, National Instruments, GE Digital, Lufthansa Industry Solutions, IBM, OPC, and KUKA participated in the daily panel talks.

Regional and international joint pavilions distinguish the area of Industrie 4.0 – IIoT – Industrial IT, including Hessen Trade & Invest, Industrial Internet Consortium (USA), Japan Management Association, FME-CWM (Netherlands), the French regions Grand Est and Auvergne Rhone Alpine, along with Business France, and Plattform Industrie 4.0.

Visitors can get an actual look and feel for Industrie 4.0 at the manufacturer-independent research and demonstration platform SmartFactoryKL. Partners from science and industry – first and foremost the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) – will be setting up their model factory in Hall 8.

Nearby, the Wireless, M2M & IoT area will focus on integrating the entire value chain, data exchanges between technical devices via public wireless networks, and resource management.

In the neighboring Halls 7 and 6, the topics of business (MES, ERP, CRM, DMS) and engineering software (CAX, PLM), additive manufacturing, and industrial security will form the perfect complement