The competitive advantages conferred by digital transformation are many, and include new lines of business, increased productivity and end-to-end transparency, to name but a few. KUMAVISION AG, a long-time ERP specialist from southern Germany, has made it its mission at HANNOVER MESSE 2018 to explain to manufacturing firms that digital transformation and its many competitive advantages are about more than just hardware. At "Software and Digitization", a group pavilion in Hall 7 organized by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), KUMAVISION will present the latest version of its ERP solution for midsized manufacturers based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV. It will also be advising visitors on Industry 4.0 and sharing insights gained from successful IoT projects.

"Integrating machines and ERP software to create smart factories and automating data and information flows between manufacturers, customers and suppliers offers enormous potential for all value chain participants," explains Markus Kiessling, Director Sales Manufacturing Industry at KUMAVISION. ERP providers like KUMAVISION are still relative newcomers to HANNOVER MESSE, but visitor interest has been growing steadily. "We've seen steady growth in inquiries about solutions that closely integrate ERP systems with the Internet of Things," Kiessling said. The benefits of these sorts of solutions include increased manufacturing productivity through digitized processes, smart IoT-based services such as preventive maintenance, and lucrative new lines of business for mechanical engineering firms, such as pay per use.