"Thanks to our regular contacts with decision-makers at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Economics, we are always able to bring production research topics to the ministries," explains Prof. Jürgen Fleischer, President of the Scientific Society for Production Technology (WGP) and Director of the Institute for Production Technology (wbk) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). At the same time, he called for acceleration: "However, we want to expand our contacts in order to become faster," he said. He continued: "In view of the much-cited Chinese speed, we don't have much time left if we want to remain internationally competitive with our unique expertise in production technology."

Hartmut Rauen, Deputy Managing Director of the VDMA, also painted an ambivalent picture in his speech. Despite the difficult situation in mechanical and plant engineering, there are bright spots: these include the internationally strong scientific infrastructure as well as the leading position in intelligently networked production on the store floor. Germany is also well positioned in automation technology. This opens up opportunities for new business models - but only if knowledge is transferred more quickly from universities to companies.

"Hartmut Rauen speaks from my soul," said Fleischer. "At WGP, we have long been committed to accelerating the transfer of knowledge. That's why we founded the Production Academy many years ago. We are also currently discussing a project for low-threshold research funding for SMEs."

Shopfloor as a data room

Rauen also referred to the structural burdens in the industry: "Germany's mechanical engineering companies are highly competitive, but are struggling with the heavy burden of poor framework conditions at their location." Nevertheless, he sees opportunities, for example in the field of humanoid robotics. "This new type of machine is taking physical AI out into the world," he said. "We are well positioned to play a leading role, we have the Lego box and the best players. But we need to take action now."

The digitalization of SMEs must be significantly accelerated to achieve this. The WGP has already presented its position paper on "AI in production". "We will also complete a position paper on humanoid robotics by the fall. We want to use this to show politicians and industry the potential of these new technologies and make recommendations for action," says Fleischer.

Ingo Sawilla, R&D Manager Research - Head of Manufacturing X at TRUMPF, showed just how much catching up there is to do. Although the equation data = information = knowledge = value is well known in the industry, many SMEs are not yet using so-called data rooms. These make it possible for authorized partners to exchange information securely without disclosing sensitive business data. The benefits are particularly clear in predictive maintenance, for example: data analysis enables machine failures to be detected and prevented at an early stage.

A corresponding infrastructure for sovereign data exchange - based on common rules, standards and agreements - would open up new perspectives, especially for smaller companies. In data ecosystems, they could network with customers and partners, digitize their value creation and develop new, service-oriented business models.

Manufacturing-X as an industrial policy lever

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs is specifically promoting this approach under the term Manufacturing-X in order to strengthen the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the industry. "These developments are a key competitive factor," said the President of the Scientific Society for Production Technology (WGP). "Our SMEs in particular must not miss the signs of the times. We are still international leaders in terms of production technology and are also at the forefront internationally with Manufacturing-X. But companies' productivity is falling. But the productivity of companies is falling. If we don't bring digitalization to the store floor quickly enough now, we will be left behind very quickly."

Artificial intelligence could become a turning point here. Sawilla demonstrated this using the example of manufacturing: While experienced machine operators need years to produce components with an accuracy of a few thousandths of a millimeter, an AI-controlled machine can achieve this precision after just a few months. Automation and, in particular, autonomous manufacturing also promise significant productivity gains - including scenarios in which even unskilled workers could achieve high-quality results. Against the backdrop of demographic change, this could mitigate the shortage of skilled workers.

Factory-X as a testing ground for transformation

A concrete test environment for these developments is Factory-X. The protected data rooms tested there are regarded as a test laboratory for new production processes that can be transferred to entire industries in the future. "With Manufacturing-X and its initiatives, Germany is securing its international competitiveness," said Sawilla. "But we need to become and remain faster in terms of implementation. In doing so, we must make maximum use of our advantage in strong research in the production sciences."

Fleischer concluded by emphasizing the political dimension of the transformation: "In order to quickly advance digitalization on the store floor and connect companies to the higher-level data ecosystems, we need close cooperation between industry, research institutes and politics."