The ‘Communication and Environment’ and ‘Technology and Bionics’ faculties are jointly hosting the second conference on digital production at the Kamp-Lintfort campus on 10 October 2018.
This progress, together with the resulting challenges and opportunities for businesses and industry, are the central themes of the second conference on digital production, jointly organised by the ‘Communication and Environment’ and ‘Technology and Bionics’ faculties at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences. The event will take place on 10 October 2018 from 8.30 am to 6.00 pm in the Lecture Theatre Centre on the Kamp-Lintfort campus (Friedrich-Heinrich-Allee 25, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort).
How can digitalised systems and Industry 4.0 factories be designed and implemented? What specific steps must SMEs take to ‘undergo digital transformation’ and thereby become faster, better and more efficient? What exactly is a ‘digital shadow’ and what is it used for? And what risks does the new digital world of production pose for businesses, the economy and individuals? These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed at the conference, organised by both faculties, and explored in a practical and solution-oriented manner. In ten specialist presentations, speakers from industry, the consultancy sector and academia will address various aspects of digitalisation, ranging from the current state of the art and an assessment of the impact of new technologies on production methods, the world of work and markets, to long-term changes in economic structure and security challenges. In addition, there will be an exhibition visually presenting a wide variety of contributions on the topic of digital production, including, amongst other things, reinforcement learning and the use of factory simulation to optimise factory processes and material flows in logistics centres.
For Alexander Klein, Professor of Integrated Production Management at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences (Faculty of Technology and Bionics), the conference has a clear mission: “We want to give participants very specific advice on how they can digitise and modernise their respective companies in a way that delivers economic benefits. There is more than enough talk about digitalisation and Industry 4.0. Now we want to provide the impetus to get started.”
Torsten Niechoj, Professor of Economics at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (Faculty of Communication and Environment), adds: “Admittedly, the new technologies are not yet reflected in productivity statistics. However, a clear shift is emerging in production and trade, for example through the extensive networking of electronic and mechanical components in production or through payment services via smartphone. The variety of products will continue to increase. It is unlikely that this will lead to fewer jobs, but the way we work will change.”
Registration for the event is open until 24 September 2018 at produktionstagung@hochschule-rhein-waal.de. Further information on the conference, the presentations and the exhibition, as well as the programme, can be found at www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/digitale-produktion.
