"The page has turned," says René Büst of Crisp Research. A survey conducted by the analyst firm in the summer of 2016 shows that 85 percent of German companies are strongly or very strongly affected by the digital transformation. In comparison, the year before three out of five respondents stated that their company did not have a digitalization strategy; today every second enterprise has placed the subject at the top of their agenda.

The lead theme at HANNOVER MESSE 2017 communicates a similar message: "Integrated Industry – Creating Value" means that the test phase is over – commercialization of Industrie 4.0 has begun and is already adding tangible value.

With over 400 concrete examples, HANNOVER MESSE 2016 showed how quickly factories were going digital. In 2017, the huge potential of Industrie 4.0 will be even easier to grasp: Visitors can expect a never-before-seen profusion of actual "use and business cases". Developments are put in a nutshell at the "Industrie 4.0 meets the Industrial Internet Forum" . This platform is being organized under this motto for the second time by Deutsche Messe in partnership with Germany’s Industrie 4.0 Platform, the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), and German industry associations VDMA and ZVEI.

With over 8,200 professional visitors, from the start the 2016 Forum was a major draw at HANNOVER MESSE. On stage at the Industrial IT special display (Hall 8), experts from around the world discussed innovative technologies, approaches, and services. Global player such as SIEMENS, ABB, Kaspersky, and Microsoft presented use cases, test beds, new technologies and services.

In 2017, predictive maintenance, humans and work, SMEs, and users were among the main topics examined at the "Industrie 4.0 meets the Industrial Internet Forum". Daily panel talks promoted the exchange of ideas regarding IoT standards, data management, cyber security, interoperability and more.

Additional orientation in terms of what HANNOVER MESSE has to offer regarding Industrie 4.0 is provided by the Guided Tour "Industrie 4.0 & Industrial Internet" . Over 1,000 visitors took this opportunity last year to learn more about the latest IoT developments. During these free tours, selected exhibitors demonstrated how products program their own structural designs, how machines communicate via sensors, and where customized mass production is already at work today.