Hannover Messe is the world’s largest meeting place for the manufacturing and user industries where people come to find not merely new products but solutions.

The lead theme for Hannover Messe 2016 is Integrated Industry – Discover Solutions. Hannover, now in its 70th year, had long ceased to be an exhibition of products. Nor is the fair all about new technologies alone, though the event logo prominently displays the slogan ‘Get new technology first’. Today, it is all about solutions, where of course it comes back to products and technologies. The fair is the world’s largest meeting place for the manufacturing and user industries where people come to find not merely new products but solutions.

Even the solutions have ceased to be of the conventional variety. Instead, there is now a convergence of mechanical and automation technologies coming together in the digital world surpassing the boundaries of traditional manufacturing. It was in the year 2013 that Integrated Industry was the lead theme at the Hannover Messe and the seeds were sown. The term Industry 4.0 was first used at the 2011 edition of Hannover Messe – a collective term embracing a number of contemporary automation, data exchange and manufacturing technologies, which draws together Cyber-Physical Systems, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services. By late 2012, the core companies that had collaborated in the project presented a set of Industry 4.0 implementation recommendations to the German federal government, and at the Hannover Messe 2013, the final report of the Working Group Industry 4.0 was presented. Three years later, the whole world is aware of what exactly the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ is about, and the solutions it offers which conservatively envisage a savings of up to 30% or more in implementation on the shop floor.

“In April, the world’s key drivers of industrial digitalisation will all be in Hannover – among them German specialists from the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering and the electronics industry, as well as leading US software providers and Asian firms also focused on making industrial digitalisation a tangible reality,” remarked Dr Jochen Köckler as the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member responsible for Hannover Messe. “This all adds up to promising new partnerships and business models on the road to the next industrial revolution.” Dr Köckler was addressing the global technical media at the Hannover Fair grounds at the Preview of the event organised on January 27, 2016. Over 100 media persons and around an equal number of manufacturers’ representatives were present at the Preview, with 30-plus companies offering a sneak preview of what to expect at the main event (April 25-289, 2016, Hannover).

In his presentation Dr Köckler stated how, true to the fair’s 2016 lead theme of “Integrated Industry – Discover Solutions”, visitors would be treated to promising ways of making their factories and energy systems smart by means of digital technology. “A world first this year will be over 100 examples of real-world implementations of Industry 4.0. That’s an unparalleled achievement,” he said.

Among the trends to watch at the forthcoming event in April, Dr Köckler highlighted a few:

*Industry 4.0 – Rarely in history has a technology had such a profound impact in such a short space of time, and the new industrial era will gain further momentum at Hannover Messe, not only in terms of the technologies on display, but also the radical new business models stemming from them

*Robots will evolve into the next level of collaboration with humans working with human colleagues and become a key element of the factory of the future

*Energy systems of tomorrow will comprise of many small, decentralised parts that need to be merged and managed by smart, digital technology; and these can be made safe, secure and efficient thanks to various technologies working in concert

*New materials would be formed for innovative solutions with casting technologies, for example, the path breaking work of automaker Audi with lightweight materials, and

*Predictive maintenance in the age of Industry 4.0 will move to the next orbit relying on smart sensors that can determine the condition of in-service machines and schedule maintenance as and when required; using the data gathered by these sensors, machine manufacturers can offer maintenance services to factory operators at just the right time, thereby building up their after-sales maintenance business.

Partner Country USA

For the first time in the history of Hannover Messe will host the United States of America as the Partner Country. “Over the course of its 70-year history, the Hannover Messe has highlighted advances in industry and acted as a driving force for technical progress. Over the years, the Fair has been a brilliant host for some of the most innovative American companies. Now, for the first time since the Fair was established, the United States will be the Partner Country. This will offer the US delegation maximum exposure and numerous face-to-face opportunities to connect to the global industrial technology marketplace and discover new business prospects,” said John B. Emerson, the US Ambassador to Germany.

President Barack Obama has already confirmed his presence at the event, in what could probably be his last official visit to Germany. “President Obama’s participation illustrates how important this show will be for the US business community. Our Department of Commerce team is consulting with each US exhibitor and we believe their unique products, innovations, and investment opportunities are well suited for the global industrial technology market. Foreign attendees and exhibitors will have the chance to connect with some of the leading American companies and organisations at the event,” said Ambassador Emerson. He also pointed that last year the US became Germany’s largest trading partner. US President Barack Obama will be leveraging the world’s foremost trade fair for industrial technology to promote the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

“The German industry and their European partners are all intent on leveraging the fair to promote the TTIP free trade agreement,” said Dr Köckler. “We share the view of Germany’s leading industry associations that the TTIP will promote growth and employment on both sides of the Atlantic in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering and the electronics industry. With its focus on industrial automation and energy and a strong lineup of some 5,000 exhibitors from 70 different countries, Hannover Messe is the perfect platform for transparent and constructive dialogue in support of the TTIP.”

Industry 4.0 in motion

While theoretically, Industry 4.0 sounds great and makes immense sense, what about practice? How effective is this concept in implementation?

Johann Soder, technology and innovation manager at SEW Eurodrive – one of the leading companies in drive technology – focussed on this aspect with an illuminating presentation of the actual implementation of Industry 4.0 in his company. A passionate advocate of Industry 4.0, Soder is reported to have once observed during a seminar: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change.”

At SEW Eurodrive, integrating machines, tools and production is already a reality. The company has successfully implemented Industry 4.0 concepts on its shop floor with promising results. At the basic level, the company identified the following tools for the implementation: mobile assistant systems; contactless energy transmission; automation controller; communication and functional safety; SLC – SEW Logistics Controller; hybrid energy storage; and tracking and navigation. In fact intelligent logistics is at the heart of the system with smooth movement of the ‘mobile logistics assistants’.

The technology is not revolutionary, but evolutionary with clear economic goals and global cooperation. The Smart Factory is essentially modular, a collection of segmented, lean optimised Small Factory Units (factories inside a factory), which is the organisational basis for Industry 4.0. Here people, things, processes, services and data – everything is connected with each other. The goal is to reach a higher degree of collaboration productivity between humans and technology.

“Digital guidance lets our workers assemble countless drive models completely independently,” said Soder. “This not only increases our manufacturing flexibility; it also gives our production workers a more interesting and varied work environment.” Monotonous workstations are disappearing, and new types of employment taking form. Employees are becoming not just multi-taskers, but increasingly also problem-solvers, decision-makers and innovators.

Ants are the best logistics experts in the world. At the heart of the smart factory is intelligent logistics and at SEW Eurodrive, the company has designed the Mobile Logistics Assistant and Goods Transportation Capsule to change the transportation logistics of the company. Adhering to the maxim ‘The individual is nothing, community is everything’, each SEW Logistics Assistant and the goods transportation capsule talk to the other, exchange position, make appointment and decide who takes on the task.

All this does not mean a diminished role for the human in the work system. In fact it only emphasises the new work model:

*Increase of Human-Technology-Cooperation leads to relief for the employee

*Overall less physical demand through changes in tasks and rotation

*Automation makes interaction of human and machine more efficient

*Short-cycled, precise communication in every work sequence to the customer order

*Intelligent decision maker in unplanned and unpredictable situation, and

*Human in the role of problem solver, decision maker and innovator.

The fact is companies across the world are already implementing these concepts. Closer home, Bosch, the leading supplier of technology and services in the areas of mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and building technology, offers a broad range of Industry 4.0 solutions such as hardware, software and services. The company also implements Industry 4.0 in its own manufacturing plants and already has more than 100 pilot projects, including Nashik, Bidadi and Jaipur. In fact Bosch aims to implement connected production in all its 14 manufacturing locations across the country.

Hannover Messe 2016 features five parallel trade fairs: Industrial Automation, Digital Factory, Energy, Industrial Supply, and Research & Technology. The core topics for 2016 are industrial automation and IT, energy and environmental engineering, innovative subcontracting solutions and lightweight design, and research and development. The event runs from 25 to 29 April 2016 in Hannover fair grounds, Germany.