Mobilizing SMEs Towards Industrie 4.0-enabled Smart Products

Abstract

Today, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of most economies. Additionally, they have the potential to become the foundation of sustainable economic growth if given the right tools and support. In order to stay competitive, SMEs have to adapt permanently both in products and production. Approaches related to the vision of Industrie 4.0 (I4.0) and Smart Factories can help SMEs to address these challenges. The use cases, implementation examples and recommendations of the “Plattform Industrie 4.0” provide a basis for these approaches. However, the success of these approaches will depend on whether or not SMEs will adopt and implement them. Nevertheless, the barriers for adopting I4.0 approaches and technologies are still high. Specialized research institutions in Germany – so-called I4.0 test environments – have a broad infrastructure for developing and testing I4.0-relevant technologies, such as production machines and equipment or ICT testing facilities.This paper introduces an approach to facilitate the collaboration between SMEs and I4.0 test environments for creating new smart products enabled by I4.0 technologies. The overarching aim is enhancing business growth for manufacturing SMEs. Key aspects of this approach are: a) A competence-based matching mechanism implemented in an online platform, b) A funding scheme provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and c) Initiating, planning, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for funded SME projects. This approach will allow the rapid and targeted development of innovative Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and innovative smart products. In addition, this approach enables the cooperation between various I4.0 test environments and the continuous improvement of their offerings to manufacturing SMEs.