The demands are high. This is because industrial production is facing a fundamental change: plants are becoming more complex, processes more individual, systems more dynamic. At the same time, the center of power is increasingly shifting towards software. It orchestrates machines, controls processes and connects previously separate worlds. Traditional automation structures are reaching their limits - not least because many established systems exist side by side in isolation and are difficult to integrate.

Production IT: more flexible, scalable and connectable

The tension is particularly evident in the convergence of IT and OT. While one side focuses on scalability and flexibility, the other stands for real-time capability and stability. In practice, this leads to growing complexity - and to the question of how suitable solutions can be selected and integrated at all.

Components communicate via common interfaces and platforms

A key principle is loose coupling: components do not communicate directly with each other, but via common interfaces and platforms. This facilitates the integration of new applications and the expansion of existing systems. This is complemented by a corporate data space that brings together company data from different sources. Technically, the concept is based on the Asset Administration Shell as a digital twin and OPC UA as a link between machines and the integration layer.

"With the Open SmartFactory Architecture, we are creating a basis for making the growing complexity of modern production systems manageable. Our aim is to show companies a clear way to gradually digitalize their production while at the same time making it flexible and future-proof," says Martin Ruskowski, CEO of SmartFactory-KL.

With _PHUKET 2.0, this claim will be visible in this form for the first time. Visitors to Hannover Messe 2026 will be able to get an idea of what modern automation concepts look like in concrete terms and what potential an open, data-driven production architecture can unfold.

Implementation with strong partners

The partners at the stand, including Harting Technologiegruppe, Pfalzkom GmbH, Pilz, Proalpha, Xitaso, Yaskawa Europe, Fraunhofer IESE, 8com Cyber Security, SSH Communications Security, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, show that this is not just about theory. They provide the use cases that will bring the concept to life.

The presence in Hanover also extends beyond this: the "Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Kaiserslautern" transfer project is also represented. In Hall 27, Stand B35, it will be showing its AI demonstrator DIRKI and participating in the stage program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the trade fair.

Hannover Messe 2026, Hall 13, Stand C35