acatech STUDY

Industrie 4.0
Maturity Index
Managing the Digital Transformation
of Companies

Update 2020

Günther Schuh, Reiner Anderl,

Roman Dumitrescu, Antonio Krüger,
Michael ten Hompel (Eds.)

INDUSTRIE 4.0
MATURITY CENTER
acatech STUDIE

Industrie 4.0
Maturity Index
Managing the Digital Transformation
of Companies

Update 2020

Günther Schuh, Reiner Anderl,

Roman Dumitrescu, Antonio Krüger,
Michael ten Hompel (Eds.)

INDUSTRIE 4.0
MATURITY CENTER
The acatech STUDY series
The reports in this series present the results of the Academy’s pro-
jects. The STUDY series provides in-depth advice for policymakers
and the public on strategic engineering and technology policy issues.
Responsibility for the studies’ contents lies with their editors and
authors.

All previous acatech publications are available for download from

www.acatech.de/publikationen.
Contents
Foreword 5

Management Summary 7

Project 8

1 Introduction 11

2 Objective and ­methodology 14

2.1 Methodological approach 14
2.2 The acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index 15

3 Design of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index 17

3.1 Value-based development stages 17
3.1.1 Stage one: Computerisation 17
3.1.2 Stage two: Connectivity 18
3.1.3 Stage three: Visibility 19
3.1.4 Stage four: Transparency 20
3.1.5 Stage five: Predictive capacity 20
3.1.6 Stage six: Adaptability 20
3.2 General model design 21

4 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses 23

4.1 Resources 23
4.1.1 Digital capability 24
4.1.2 Structured communication 25
4.1.3 Conclusion 27
4.2 Information systems 27
4.2.1 Self-learning information processing 28
4.2.2 Information system integration 29
4.2.3 Conclusion 31
4.3 Organisational structure 31
4.3.1 Organic internal organisation 31
4.3.2 Dynamic collaboration within the value network 33
4.3.3 Conclusion 35
4.4 Culture 35
4.4.1 Willingness to change 36
4.4.2 Social collaboration 37
4.4.3 Conclusion 38
5 Functional areas in the business 39
5.1 Development 39
5.2 Production 41
5.3 Logistics 42
5.4 Services 43
5.5 Marketing & Sales 45

6 Application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index 47

6.1 Principles of application 47
6.1.1 Stage 1: Identification of the current Industrie 4.0 maturity stage 47
6.1.2 Stage 2: Identification of capabilities requiring development 49
6.1.3 Stage 3: Identifying concrete measures 50
6.2 Quantify the benefits 50
6.3 Example application in a company 52

7 Conclusion 54

References 55
 Foreword

for the overwhelming success of the original acatech STUDY

Foreword ­Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index, which was published in 2017.

Many Industrie 4.0 related projects within companies are cur-

Companies are constantly being confronted with new challeng- rently launched in response to rising competitive pressures and
es. Platforms are changing the face of traditional markets, new growing need to tackle the digital transformation. However, a
technologies and working methods are resulting in shorter inno- large proportion of these projects are failing. This is often be-
vation cycles, while climate change and resource scarcity de- cause they don’t contribute significantly enough to the corpo-
mand solutions that are compatible with a circular economy. In rate objectives, are too strongly focused on individual technolo-
order to remain competitive, it is becoming more and more im- gies, or cannot be scaled up. Accordingly, to add value and
portant for companies to develop competencies such as resil- support the company’s goals, individual pilot projects must be
ience, responsiveness and adaptability. scalable and must deliver positive results within a short
timeframe.
Industrie 4.0 marks the onset of the fourth industrial revolution.
The factory of the future will be hyperconnected, smart and au- In our experience, companies can benefit significantly from car-
tonomous. It will also be characterised by high adaptability and rying out an integrated, systematic analysis of their own individ-
optimal resource utilisation. Industrie 4.0 can deliver huge ben- ual digital transformation that is focused on meeting their corpo-
efits for the productivity and profitability of German manufactur- rate objectives. The strategic implementation of Industrie 4.0 in
ing industry, manufacturing equipment suppliers and enterprise accordance with the systematic approach outlined in this study
software companies. While collaboration between man and ma- facilitates not only the introduction of pilot projects but also the
chine will call for greater flexibility and adaptability, it also of- company-wide scale-up that is essential in order to add value.
fers people the prospect of better, more fulfilling jobs.
The fact that companies are buying into this approach and are
The use of digital technologies and the comprehensive network- increasingly having positive experiences with Industrie 4.0 is
ing of objects, devices and machines in the course of the imple- ­reflected in the huge interest surrounding our original study. In
mentation of innovative Industry 4.0 solutions also contribute to this new Update 2020 edition, we revisit the original guidelines
improvements in the speed of reaction and the resilience of com- for a successful digital transformation in manufacturing compa-
panies in order to better overcome unexpected developments nies, addressing both their business strategy and the four struc-
such as the coronavirus crisis. In addition, real-time networking tural areas of resources, information systems, culture and organ-
simplifies operation while maintaining physical distance. isational structure. Concrete examples from companies that have
successfully implemented this approach and achieved a positive
In recent years, companies have become increasingly aware of impact on their performance are provided in our companion
Industrie 4.0’s potential. Companies see Industrie 4.0 as an ­publication Using the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index in Industry –
­opportunity to gain a competitive advantage so that they can current challenges, case studies and trends.
become market leaders or strengthen their existing market lead-
ership. However, although more and more companies now per- I hope you enjoy reading this new edition.
ceive the digital transformation as an opportunity, 58% of the
board members surveyed by BITKOM Research in 2019 admitted
that their company was lagging behind with regard to digitalisa- Prof. Henning Kagermann
tion. The demand from businesses for clear guidance accounts Chairman of the acatech Board of Trustees

5
 Management Summary

resources, information systems, organisational structure and cul-

Management Summary ture. Each of these areas has two fundamental principles at-
tached to it. The main challenge for companies wishing to imple-
ment Industrie 4.0 is to put these principles into practice by
The term Industrie 4.0 has been used since 2011 to describe the developing the various specific capabilities described in this
widespread integration of information and communication tech- study. Doing so will allow them to generate knowledge from
nology in industrial manufacturing. As well as increasing the effi- data, enabling rapid decision-making and adaptation processes
ciency of processes, routines and systems, Industrie 4.0 offers throughout every part of the company. The acquisition of this
companies new opportunities to differentiate their products and agility provides companies with a significant competitive advan-
services. However, it is not enough to address the developments tage in a disruptive environment. Manufacturing companies can
associated with the fourth industrial revolution from a purely use the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index to develop a digital
technological perspective. Digitalisation also requires companies roadmap that is precisely tailored to their individual needs and
to transform their organisation and culture so that they can be- can be used to implement Industrie 4.0 and transform the com-
come as flexible and adaptable as possible. There is no denying pany into a learning, agile organisation. Since its publication in
that advanced technologies make it possible to access a much 2017, the methodology outlined in the acatech Industrie 4.0 Ma-
wider range of data – artificial intelligence techniques in particu- turity Index has been widely used by companies, both to gain a
lar enable powerful new data analysis and evaluation processes. better understanding of Industrie 4.0 and in particular to guide
However, the ability to implement these technologies and lever- the development of their own digital transformation process. The
age the data’s underlying potential is just as dependent on a fact that the study has been downloaded ten thousand times
company’s organisational structure and culture. The ultimate from the websites of acatech and its project partners bears wit-
goal is to become a learning, agile company capable of adapting ness to this widespread interest.
continuously and dynamically to a disruptive environment – par-
ticularly to better overcome unexpected developments like the This 2020 update revisits the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity In-
coronavirus crisis. dex, incorporating a number of editorial changes into the STUDY
together with updates to some of the illustrations.
The acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index presented in the first
edition of this study in 2017 was developed with the aim of pro- Our new companion publication Using the Industrie 4.0 Maturity
viding companies with a guide to introducing and implementing Index in Industry – current challenges, case studies and trends pre-
the required digital transformation process. This guide comprises sents examples of companies that are already successfully using
a six-stage maturity model in which the attainment of each de- the Maturity Index in practice. As well as reviewing the status
velopment stage delivers additional benefits. The acatech Indus- quo, it identifies current trends, areas requiring urgent action and
trie 4.0 Maturity Index focuses on the four key structural areas of future challenges.

Methodology Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index Application

2017 2020 Industrie 3.0 Industrie 4.0 2020

How can an autonomous response be achieved?
“Self-optimising” Resources Information
Information
Digital capability processing systems
2.2 2.1

What will happen?

“Being prepared” Structured Integration of
Value

1.9 1.9
communication IT systems

Why is it happening? Organic 2.3

internal organisation
2.8 Willingness
to change

“Understanding”
acatech STUDY acatech COOPERATION
acatech STUDY Dynamic collaboration 2.6 2.8

What is happening? Using the Industrie 4.0 in value networks Social collaboration

Maturity Index Organisational

Industrie 4.0
Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index
“Seeing” in Industry
structure Culture
Maturity Index
Managing the Digital Transformation – current challenges, case studies and trends
Managing the Digital Transformation of Companies
of Companies
Computerization Connectivity Visibility Transparency Predictive capacity Adaptability
Update 2020
Günther Schuh, Reiner Anderl,
Roman Dumitrescu, Antonio Krüger,
Günther Schuh, Reiner Anderl, Günther Schuh, Reiner Anderl, Michael ten Hompel (Eds.)

14,58 mm
Jürgen Gausemeier, Michael ten Hompel, Roman Dumitrescu, Antonio Krüger, 16 % 80 % 4% 0% 0% 0%
Wolfgang Wahlster (Eds.) Michael ten Hompel (Eds.)
Predictive
Computerization Connectivity Visibility Transparency capacity Adaptability
INDUSTRIE 4.0
MATURITY CENTER
n=70
INDUSTRIE 4.0
MATURITY CENTER

1 2 3 4 5 6

acatech STUDY update Case study publication

• Editorial changes • Status quo of studied companies
• Updated content • Presentation of case studies
• Revised illustrations • Description of next steps/trends

Figure 1: Study update and companion publication with case studies (source: authors’ own illustration)

7
 – Dr. Ravi Kumar G.V.V., Infosys Ltd.
Project – First version of – Udo Lange, itelligence AG
– Dr. Jan Stefan Michels , Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG
the study 2017 – Jeff Miller, Inspirage, LLC
– Gordon Mühl, Huawei Technologies
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Boris Otto, Fraunhofer Institute for Software
Project management and Systems Engineering ISST, TU Dortmund University
– Felisa Palagi, Internet Creations
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh, RWTH Aachen/acatechh – Dr. Thomas Roser, PTC Inc.
– Sudip Singh, ITC Infotech
– Prof. Dr. Volker Stich, FIR e.V. at RWTH Aachen
Project group – Klaus Strack, itelligence AG
– Erwin Tanger, Atos IT Solutions and Services GmbH
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reiner Anderl, Department of Computer – Dr. Adeline Thomas, itelligence AG
Integrated Design (DiK), Technical University of – Frank Tüg, PTC Inc.
Darmstadt/acatech – Werner Varro, TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Gausemeier, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, – Kevin Wrenn, PTC Inc.
Paderborn University/acatech Executive Board member – Rene Zölfl, PTC Inc.
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh, RWTH Aachen University/
acatech
– Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel, Fraunhofer Institute for Consortium partners/project team
Material Flow and Logistics IML, TU Dortmund University/
acatech – Dr. Tilman Becker, German Research Center for Artificial
– Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Wahlster, German Intelligence, DFKI
Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI/acatech – Dr. Anselm Blocher, German Research Center for Artificial
Intelligence, DFKI
– Isabel Bücker, McKinsey & Company
Experts – Marvin Drewel, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, Paderborn
University
– Ulrich Ahle, FIWARE Foundation e.V. – Andreas Faath, Computer Integrated Design (DiK),
– Dr. Sebastian Busse, Unity AG Technical University of Darmstadt
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, – Dr. Tobias Harland, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
Paderborn University; Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Aachen Campus
Systems Design IEM – Dr. Mario Hermann, TU Dortmund University
– Nampuraja Enose, Infosys Ltd. – Gerd Herzog, Evonik Technology & Infrastructure GmbH
– Kent Eriksson, PTC Inc. – Dr. Philipp Jussen, Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
– Dr. Ursula Frank, Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG – Ulrike Krebs, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen
– Dr. Bertolt Gärtner, TÜV SÜD AG – Dr. Maximilian Lukas, Vaillant Group
– Markus Hannen, PTC Inc. – Benedikt Moser, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen
– Dr. Florian Harzenetter, PTC Inc. – Katrin Pitz, Computer Integrated Design (DiK), Technical
– Dr. Andreas Hauser, TÜV SÜD Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. University of Darmstadt
– Craig Hayman, AVEVA Group – Dr. Daniel Porta, German Research Center for Artificial
– Howard Heppelmann, PTC Inc. Intelligence, DFKI
– Claus Hilger, independent consultant , Hilger Consulting – Dr. Jan Reschke, SMS group GmbH
– Ulrich Kreitz, itelligence AG – Dr. Sebastian Schmitz, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at
– David Kronmüller, KONUX GmbH RWTH Aachen Campus

8
 Project – First version of the study 2017

– Moritz Schröter, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen Funding and project support

– Moritz Weber, Computer Integrated Design (DiK),
Technical University of Darmstadt The study was funded by partners from industry. acatech would
– Lucas Wenger, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen like to thank the following companies:
– Dr. Thorsten Westermann, Miele & Cie. KG
– Dr. Violett Zeller, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen – Infosys Ltd.
– PTC Inc.
– TÜV SÜD AG
Project coordination – Technology Network it’s OWL and affiliated companies
– Atos IT Solutions and Services GmbH
– Christian Hocken, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH – Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG
Aachen Campus – HARTING Technology Group
– Dr. Alexander Werbik, WEVENTURE GmbH – itelligence AG
– Dr. Johannes Winter, acatech Office – UNITY AG
– Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG

9
 – Dr. Tobias Harland, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
Project – Update of the Aachen Campus
– Jonas Kaufmann, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
study 2020 Aachen Campus
– Jörn Steffen Menzefricke, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, Pader-
born University
Project management – Laura Mey, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH Aachen
Campus
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh, RWTH Aachen University/ – Felix Optehostert, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
acatech Aachen Campus
– Dr. Daniel Porta, German Research Center for Artificial
Intelligence, DFKI
Project group – Jannik Reinhold, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, Paderborn
University
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reiner Anderl, Department of Computer – Dr. Sebastian Schmitz, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at
Integrated Design (DiK), Technical University of RWTH Aachen Campus
Darmstadt – Yübo Wang, Computer Integrated Design (DiK), Technical
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu, Heinz Nixdorf Institute, University of Darmstadt
Paderborn University; Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic – Lucas Wenger, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen
Systems Design IEM – Dr. Violett Zeller, FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen
– Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger, German Research Center for
Artificial Intelligence, DFKI/acatech
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh, RWTH Aachen University/ Project coordination
acatech
– Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel, Fraunhofer Institute for – Christian Hocken, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
Material Flow and Logistics IML, TU Dortmund University/ Aachen Campus
acatech – Joachim Sedlmeir, acatech Office
– Dr. Johannes Winter, acatech Office

Experts The first version of this acatech STUDY was realized in 2017
with the support of Infosys Ltd., PTC Inc., TÜV SÜD AG, and the
– Mark Gallant, PTC Inc. Technology Netzwork it’s OWL and affiliated companies. We
– Markus Hannen, PTC Inc. would like to thank PTC Inc., the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center,
– Dr. Florian Harzenetter, PTC Inc. and all professional partners for supporting the acatech
– Howard Heppelmann, PTC Inc. Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index – Update 2020.
– Prof. Dr.-Ing. Boris Otto, Fraunhofer Institute for Software
and Systems Engineering ISST, TU Dortmund University
– Prof. Dr. Volker Stich, FIR e.V. an der RWTH Aachen
– Kevin Wrenn, PTC Inc.
– Rene Zölfl, PTC Inc.

Consortium partners/project team

– Nazanin Budeus, Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and
Logistics IML, INDUSTRIE 4.0
MATURITY CENTER
– Stefan Gabriel, Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic
Systems Design IEM
– Marcel Hagemann, Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH
Aachen Campus

10
 Introduction

Introduction
dynamic environment and resulting complexity mean that busi-
1 Introduction nesses need to make faster and better decisions if they are to
remain competitive over the longer term. Current business prac-
tices often fail to address this challenge and run the risk of los-
The term “Industrie 4.0” was introduced in 2011 by the Commu- ing the control point of their core business. Decision-making pro-
nication Promoters Group of the Industry-Science Research Alli- cesses can take weeks or even months and decisions are often
ance to describe the widespread integration of information and based on a intuitive feeling rather than on hard data. Product
communication technology in industrial production. The “4.0” al- development processes issue product requirements documents
ludes to how this trend’s potentially revolutionary impact follows and set out detailed product specifications without a compre-
directly in the footsteps of the three previous industrial revolu- hensive understanding of the customer’s needs. When some-
tions. Since 2011, a number of initiatives addressing the theme of thing new is learned, it is only possible to make limited modi­
digitally connected industrial production have sprung up around fications to the development or manufacturing process and
the world, for example the Industrial Internet Consortium in the even this can be very time-consuming. Many employees and
US and the Industrial Value Chain Initiative in Japan. ­decision-makers regularly have to spend time searching and
waiting for the right information. These are just a few examples
The value creation potential of Industrie 4.0 for German manu- to illustrate the major shortcomings that currently exist and the
facturing industry is estimated to be between 70 and 140 billion potential for a far-reaching transformation.
euros for the period to 2025 alone.1 One of the main reasons is
that many companies currently fail to appreciate the concrete The chief economic potential of Industrie 4.0 lies in its ability to
benefits of Industrie 4.0. This is confirmed in a study by the Fed- accelerate corporate decision-making and adaptation process-
eral Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) which es. This applies both to processes for driving efficiency in engi-
identifies a lack of transparency regarding the benefits as one of neering, manufacturing, services and sales and marketing and to
the key obstacles to the introduction of Industrie 4.0, especially the focus of entire business units or changes to the business
among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Together model. This study defines Industrie 4.0 as “real-time, high data
with the purported technological and financial uncertainties volume, multilateral communication and interconnectedness be-
and excessively long implementation timeframes, the result is tween cyber-physical systems and people”. The availability of
that for the time being German companies are proving extremely huge quantities of data and information at affordable prices and
reluctant to invest.2 – if necessary – in real-time, enables a better understanding of
how things relate to each other and provides the basis for faster
At present, the only measures implemented in many companies decision-making processes. Coupled with the right organisation-
involve occasional pilot projects that are in fact more akin to al structure, this allows companies to react faster to their cus-
technological feasibility studies. Projects like this are unable to tomers’ increasingly dynamic markets, be faster to develop new
demonstrate the full potential of Industrie 4.0, since they over- products that are more precisely tailored to their customers’ re-
look key aspects of its implementation such as a company’s or- quirements and bring these products to market exponentially
ganisational structure and culture. As a result, the changes are faster. Interconnectedness of the technological and in particular
often only evolutionary in nature. Unfortunately, they also often the organisational components makes it possible to achieve the
fail to reflect the organisation’s actual processes or to meet the agility that is the key capability required by companies in Indus-
real needs of manufacturing companies. Consequently, there are trie 4.0. This transformation into an agile company is the most
limited examples of transformational change either within indi- important opportunity for manufacturing companies in Indus-
vidual enterprises or at the level of the economy as a whole. trie 4.0. Of course, companies will only be able to leverage the
full potential of Industrie  4.0 if they implement the practices
At the same time, manufacturing companies, especially in Ger- described above across all of their business processes and if data
many, are faced with increasingly competitive markets. The and data analysis are visible across the entire enterprise.

1  | See Auer 2018, p. 8.

2  | See BMWi 2015, p. 37.

11
Introduction

The agile company in Industrie 4.0 At present, when an event occurs in a company there is a delay
before detailed insights about the event become available. This
Agility is a strategic characteristic that is becoming increasing- means that there is also a delay in taking the corresponding
ly important to successful companies. In this context, agility ­decisions and (counter-)measures (see Figure 2). One of the
denotes the ability to implement changes in the company in ­reasons is that the relevant information systems are not suffi-
real-time, including fundamental systemic changes to the com- ciently integrated to enable end-to-end data processing, from
pany’s business model, for example. data capture to analysis.

Consequently, the significance of Industrie 4.0 lies in the key role Industrie  4.0 capabilities help manufacturing companies to
of information processing in enabling rapid organisational adap- dramatically reduce the time between an event occurring and
tation processes. The faster an organisation can adapt to an the implementation of an appropriate response (see Figure 3).
event that causes a change in its circumstances, the greater the In practice, this means that, for example, changes in customer
benefits of the adaptation. In this context, the umbrella term requirements based on field data can be incorporated even dur-
“event” may relate to a range of different business decisions. ing a product’s manufacturing process because the company
Events may be short-term in nature, for instance a production possesses the agility to adapt to the new situation. As a result,
line breakdown, or medium- to long-term, for example a change the customer can be supplied with a product tailored to their
in product requirements and the associated modifications to the exact requirements in a significantly shorter period of time and
product design itself, to the manufacturing process and to relat- higher quality.
ed processes in purchasing, quality and service.

Event

Insights about the event

become available
Benefits/value of adaptation

Analysis completed

(Counter-)measure approved

(Counter-)measure
takes effect

Time
Insight Analysis Decision Action
latency latency latency latency

Figure 2: Corporate adaptation processes (source: based on Hackathom 2002; Muehlen/Shapiro 2010)

12
 Introduction

Introduction
A variety of different technologies must be deployed to achieve this
Augmented Reality target state. In addition, relevant information have to be available
by open isolated data silos. However, these technological changes
One example to reduce latencies is Augmented ­Reality: are not enough on their own. New approaches to the company’s
Imposing digital information on a real world environ- organisational structure and culture are also crucial to a successful
ment creates a new dimension of use cases. Digital in- transformation. For instance, the entire organisation must be pre-
formation such as 3D CAD models or data captured by pared to support and shape these continuous changes.
sensors or calculated by IT systems can be placed in con-
text to a real world environment. This creates a dramat- The goal of the transformation is to create a learning, agile com-
ically enlarged information flow from the IT world to e.g. pany capable of continuously adapting to changing conditions
an operator or a service technician. As a result any task thanks to the use of the relevant technologies, organisational
performed by these roles will be completed faster with learning and decision-making processes that take advantage of
less errors, since they can be provided with the exact rel- high data quality that is available more rapidly. The learning,
evant data. Old ways to convey such information e.g. by agile company is able to occupy digital control points. The
manuals or phone calls can be eliminated. ­acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity Index provides manufacturing
companies with guidance both on how to forge their own indi-
vidual path towards becoming a learning, agile company and on
which measures will deliver concrete benefits.

Event

Technological elements of Industrie 4.0

 Real-time capability
A
Benefits/value of adaptation

 Systems integration
(Counter-)measure takes effect
 Big Data Analytics (known hypotheses)
B  Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
(new contexts)

 Decision support systems

D C (visualisation)
 Automated decision making
C
 Vertical and horizontal process and
B D systems integration
 Cyber-physical systems
A

Time

Figure 3: How organisational learning increases the value of an adaptation (source: FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen University)

13
 and allowed projects to be planned and implemented in a
2 Objective and short space of time.

­methodology Figure 4 illustrates how the study methodology was divided into
four constructive stages. Three of these four stages built on each
other, while the fourth provided a constant thread throughout
The overall goal of this study is to provide a means of establish- the study’s duration.
Objective and
methodology

ing companies’ current Industrie  4.0 maturity stage and of

identifying concrete measures to help them achieve a higher The initial “research and industry consortium” stage formed the
maturity stage in order to maximise the economic benefits of basis of the entire study. The extensive support provided by the
Industrie 4.0 and digitalisation. The assessment of current pro- partners from research and industry over a one-year period al-
cesses and the subsequent identification of areas requiring lowed a balance to be struck between theory and practice.
­action provide companies with specific and practical guidance
for shaping their digital transformation. The consortium held regular steering committee meetings dur-
ing which the steering committee members received updates
about the project and reviewed its progress.
2.1 Methodological approach
Finally, the overall methodology was validated in different com-
The close cooperation with the project partners and the practice-­ panies. The validation at technology manufacturer Harting AG &
oriented methodological approach were based on a combination Co. KG is presented in Chapter 6.3. This served to demonstrate
of workshops and case studies. Case studies investigate a con- that the model developed in the study does in fact cover the rele­
temporary phenomenon within its real-life context and are used vant areas within a manufacturing company, confirming the va-
when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not lidity of its formal aspects and content. The specific recommen-
clearly evident.3 This methodology was chosen for this acatech dations derived from the model were shown to be realistic and
study because, from an academic perspective, the field of Indus- to provide companies with practical guidance.
trie 4.0 is a recent phenomenon that lacks clear boundaries, since
it is not yet sufficiently standardised and widespread. The fourth stage, which ran throughout the project’s duration,
involved continuous testing of the interim findings. In keeping
Workshops were employed to pool and make use of the differ- with the goal of continuous improvement, the findings were
ent consortium members’ experience whilst at the same time ­directly used to expand and optimise the methodology. This re-
encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue and cooperation. This duced the time and cost involved in the model’s development
resulted in new cooperation ventures between the participants and is reflected in the quality of the methodology.

Study methodology

Methodology development Steering committee

Validation of overall
by partners from meetings to review
4 methodology
constructive research and industry project findings
stages

Continuous testing of findings

Approach based on combination of workshops and case studies

Figure 4: Study methodology (source: authors’ own diagram)

3  | See Yin 2009.

14
 Objective and ­methodology

The methodology was repeatedly reviewed throughout these The road towards Industrie 4.0 will be different for every compa-
stages, and was continuously optimised based on the experience ny. It is therefore necessary to begin by analysing each compa-
built up over the course of the project. More than ten thousand ny’s current situation and goals. It is important to establish what
downloads since its original publication, together with over a the company’s strategic objectives are for the next few years, the
hundred academic citations and countless more in industry doc- areas in which it intends to add value through Industrie 4.0, the
uments bear witness to the study’s extremely positive reception. extent to which it hopes to do so, and the indicators that can be
Project case studies that contributed to a more comprehensive used to measure the results. For instance, the goal of boosting a

Objective and
methodology
validation of the methodology are included in our companion factory’s productivity could be achieved either by increasing out-
publication Using the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index in industry – put or by reducing production costs, while the goal of sustaina-
current challenges, case studies and trends. bility could be accomplished through energy efficiency measures
and the goal of increased logistics agility by reducing lead times.
The study is also inspiring the development of powerful tools. For Once the objectives have been identified, the extent to which
instance, it provides the basis for the platform operated by the Industrie 4.0 is currently deployed in the relevant part of the
Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center. It is also making an important business can be analysed and measured in order to establish
contribution to the introduction of Industrie 4.0 concepts in spe- which technologies and systems have already been implement-
cific industries, for example through the Pharma 4.0 initiative of ed and how they operate within the company. Based on the re-
the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).4 sults, the next step is to identify the capabilities that the compa-
ny still needs to acquire in order to successfully implement
Industrie 4.0. A gap analysis is used to compare the company’s
current Industrie 4.0 capabilities with what it requires in order to
2.2 The acatech Industrie 4.0
meet its strategic objectives. The measures needed to acquire
Maturity Index the missing capabilities can then be brought together in a digi-
The acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index helps companies to de- tal transformation plan. It is important to recognise that success-
termine which stage they are currently at in their transformation ful transformations happen in stages. Moreover, every company
into a learning, agile company. It assesses them from a techno- must make a strategic decision about the specific benefits it
logical, organisational and cultural perspective, focusing on the wishes to achieve. This methodology results in the formulation of
business processes of manufacturing companies. a digital roadmap for all the relevant areas, with a step-by-step

Input Methodological analysis Output

Corporate strategy & aims Status-quo and planning of Industrie 4.0 capabilities Roadmap for a
step-by-step approach
In which areas and to what extend
should an increase in value be
intended? Gap-analysis

Which key figures should Needed

be considered to measure Industrie 4.0
Development levels
the value? capabilities
Value-based planning
of the digital
Operational strand

Existing transformation
Industrie 4.0 in the company Industrie 4.0
capabilities
How can the current implemeta-
tion of Industrie 4.0 be measured
within the company?

What is the status-quo on

Industrie 4.0 in the company?

Figure 5: Methodology for introducing Industrie 4.0 (source: authors’ own diagram)

4  | See Heesakers et al. 2019.

15
 approach to achieving the benefits that reduces the investment The remaining chapters of this study begin with a detailed de-
risks for the company. The roadmap helps companies to under- scription of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index’s underly-
stand the importance of developing a common digital strategy ing model. The section on structural areas outlines the key or-
for the whole business and provides a basis for the step-by-step ganisational capabilities required by an agile company in
implementation of Industrie 4.0. This approach is illustrated in Industrie 4.0. The following section illustrates potential develop-
Figure 5. ment goals for current corporate functions in the form of visions.
The final part of the study describes the model’s application in a
Objective and
methodology

manufacturing company and uses a series of real-world exam-

ples to further elucidate how the theory works in practice.

16
 Design of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

their transformation into learning, agile organisations. The path

3 D
 esign of the comprises six development stages. Each stage builds on the pre-
vious one and describes the capabilities required in order to at-
acatech Industrie 4.0 tain it and the resulting benefits to the company (see Figure 6).

Maturity Index It is important that the capability is built step-by-step, i.e. the
benefits of the first stage can be achieved with a lower level of
capability than stage two. The transformation process is a con-
tinuous journey of many successive steps that are taken incre-
The model’s approach is based on a succession of maturity mentally and may not be perfectly synchronised across business-
stages, i.e. value-based development levels that help compa- es, plants, lines, and cells. It is up to each company to decide
nies navigate their way through every stage in the transforma- which development stage represents the best balance between
tion, from the basic requirements for Industrie 4.0 to full imple- costs and benefits for its own particular circumstances and
mentation. Since a company’s desired target state will depend should therefore be adopted as the target state for the end of
on its business strategy, it is up to each company to decide the planned transformation process.
which maturity stage represents the best balance between
costs, capabilities and benefits for its own individual circum- Today, companies are still confronting the challenge of creat-

Design
stances, taking account of how these requirements change ing the basic conditions for Industrie  4.0. Accordingly, the
over time in response to changes in the business environment development path begins with digitalisation. Although digi-
and the company’s strategy. To ensure that all aspects of manu­ talisation does not itself form part of Industrie 4.0, computeri­
facturing companies are taken into account, the model’s struc- sation and connectivity are basic requirements for its imple-
ture is based on the “Production and Management Frame- mentation. These two initial stages are followed by four
work”.5 The Framework’s four structural areas enable a further stages in which the capabilities required for Indus-
comprehensive analysis and set out a number of guiding trie 4.0 are developed.
­principles that allow companies to identify which Industrie 4.0
capabilities they still need to develop. The Industrie 4.0 Matu- 3.1.1 Stage one: Computerisation
rity Index provides companies with a valuable tool that can
help them to transform their entire organisation. The first stage in the development path is computerisation,
since this provides the basis for digitalisation. In this stage, dif-
ferent information technologies are used in isolation from each
3.1 Value-based development stages other within the company. Computerisation is already well ad-
vanced in most companies and is primarily used to perform re-
The introduction of Industrie 4.0 involves significantly upgrad- petitive tasks more efficiently. Computerisation delivers impor-
ing a manufacturing company’s digital competencies and capa- tant benefits by e.g. enabling cheaper manufacturing to higher
bilities and entails changes across large parts of the organisa- standards and with a degree of precision without which it
tion. Since this transformation is a highly complex undertaking, would be impossible to make many modern products. Never-
it will usually take several years. It should be planned and imple- theless, it is still possible to find many machines without a dig-
mented in such a way as to ensure that positive impacts on prof- ital interface. This is especially true of machinery with long cy-
itability – i.e. growth and efficiency – occur at various stages cles or machines that are manually operated. In these cases,
throughout the transformation. Benefits should be made visible terminals are often used to provide the missing link between
at any point in the transformation process in order to support its business applications and machines.
overall success. This approach enables quick wins while also driv-
ing towards the overall transformation goal. One example for the computerisation stage would be a CNC
milling machine. Although it can machine parts with great
This strategy necessitates a step-by-step approach to the com­ precision thanks to the use of computer numerical control, the
pany’s development. As part of the study, we developed an In- CAD data detailing which actions should be performed still
dustrie 4.0 development path that starts with the basic require- often has to be transferred to the milling machine manually
ments for Industrie  4.0 and supports companies throughout – in other words, the machine is not connected. Another

5  | See Boos et al. 2011, p. 55.

17
 Digitalisation Industrie 4.0

How can an autonomous response be achieved?

“Self-optimising”

What will happen?

“Being prepared”
Value

Why is it happening?
“Understanding”

What is happening?
“Seeing”

14,58 mm Predictive
Computerisation Connectivity Visibility Transparency capacity Adaptability
Design

1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 6: Stages in the Industrie 4.0 development path (source: FIR e. V. at RWTH Aachen University)

example involves business application systems that are not allows for much longer addresses than its IPv4 predecessor, all
connected to the company’s ERP system. This can lead, for in- the components can now be connected without the need for net-
stance, to a situation where semi-automated quality assurance work address translation. This is a key requirement for the Inter-
is carried out at a test station, but the recorded data is not net of Things. Connectivity means that, for example, once a de-
associated with the corresponding work order. This makes it sign has been created in engineering, its data can be pushed to
much harder to subsequently determine which quality issues production, so that the production steps can be executed accord-
occurred in which orders. ingly (CAD/CAM processes). Once the manufacturing step has
been completed, confirmation can be provided automatically
Companies at this stage typically have a traditional organisa- and in real time via a Manufacturing Execution System (MES). It
tional structure geared towards efficient operation of the indi- also allows machine tool manufacturers to perform remote main-
vidual departments. Change and innovation are regarded as a tenance on products being used by their customers thanks to the
matter for management and are communicated to employees availability of cheap, high-volume data links.
via fixed communication channels.
In existing factories, assets are kept in production for as long as
3.1.2 Stage two: Connectivity they continue to produce quality products. It is not unusual to
see machines that are 50 or more years old still in use on the
In the connectivity stage, the isolated deployment of informa- shop floor. Since the Internet Protocol enables standardised com-
tion technology is replaced by connected components. Widely munication on the shop floor, new sensor technology mean that
used business applications are all connected to each other and these assets, which remain very productive, can easily be con-
mirror the company’s core business processes. Parts of the oper- nected in order to provide production data.
ational technology (OT) systems provide connectivity and inter-
operability, but full integration of the IT and OT layers has not There is a widespread willingness to embrace change within the
yet occurred. company that is supported by continuous development and in-
novation processes, for example. However, traditional project
The Internet Protocol (IP) is becoming more and more widely management methods continue to be employed. This means
used, even on the shop floor. Since the current IPv6 version that although there is a structured approach to change, the

18
 Design of theacatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

process is cumbersome due to the organisation’s lack of agility, model as the company’s digital shadow. The digital shadow can
and it is not easy to make rapid adjustments. help to show what is happening in the company at any given
moment so that management decisions can be based on real
3.1.3 Stage three: Visibility data. It is thus a core building block for the later stages.

Sensors enable processes to be captured from beginning to end Producing a digital shadow is a major challenge for many com-
with large numbers of data points. Falling sensor, microchip and panies. One problem is that there is usually no single source of
network technology prices mean that events and states can now truth – data is often held in decentralised silos. Furthermore, for
be recorded in real-time throughout the entire company and be- functions such as production, logistics and services it is often
yond rather than just in individual areas like manufacturing still the case that very little data is collected at all, even in cen-
cells, as was formerly the case. This makes it possible to keep an tralised processes. In addition the data captured is in many cases
up-to-date digital model of factories at all times. We refer to this only visible to a limited number of people who are able to access
and understand the respective domain systems. Wider use of the
data is prohibited by system boundaries. In order to achieve the
goal of an agile learning enterprise, comprehensive data capture
right across the company is essential for the provision of relevant
Case study: HIROTEC

Design
data about the operation throughout the business.

Operational downtime is a significant issue facing Origi- For instance, this makes it possible to more rapidly determine the
nal Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) like HIROTEC delivery date variance caused by a particular problem by means
AMERICA. The company is a member of the HIROTEC of real-time KPIs and dashboards so that production planning
Group, an automation manufacturing equipment and can be adjusted by the production manager and customers and
parts supplier with 26 facilities in nine countries around suppliers can be kept informed.
the world. In most cases, the machinery involved runs
without condition-based monitoring, es­sentially operat- This is one area where companies need to change the way they
ing until a failure occurs. At that time, appropriate per- think. Rather than only collecting data to enable a specific
sonnel are contacted to make the necessary repairs. analy­sis or support a dedicated operation, they must instead be
­HIROTEC sought to eliminate this trend of reactive main- able to create an up-to-date model of the entire company at all
tenance and lost opportunities by utilising the informa- times that is not tied to individual data analyses. The combina-
tion and systems it had on hand to gain deeper insight tion of existing data sources with sensors on the shop floor can
into its operations and processes. Recognising the need deliver significant benefits. Integrating PLM, ERP and MES sys-
for connectivity, data ­access and scalability, executives tems provides a comprehensive picture that creates visibility
at HIROTEC worked to develop a competitive strategy to ­regarding the status quo. Moreover, modular approaches and
capitalise on the potential benefits of the Internet of apps can help to build the single source of truth.
Things (IoT). The initiative began with identifying the
fundamental technologies that would fuel the IoT effort. However, building visibility is not just a technological challenge
The company opted for an IoT platform in order to ena- – it also calls for changes in the company’s organisational struc-
ble company-wide device-to-cloud connectivity through ture and corporate culture. Collaboration platforms help to
one overarching toolset. strengthen cooperation between different parts of the business.
This means breaking down traditional operational structures
Implementing this solution has given HIROTEC in- and involving employees more closely in the change process in
creased visibility into its assets and resources by provid- order to enable rapid responses to changing customer require-
ing greater insight into the assets’ current needs and pri- ments. It also requires a non-hierarchical communication culture
orities. This has allowed HIROTEC to improve its where innovations and changes to established processes can be
productivity. “In just six short weeks, we’ve gained more freely discussed and where the focus is on the desire to improve.
visibility into our operations than ever before, reinforcing Employees are comfortable working with the new level of visibil-
our investment and belief in the power of the IoT”, says ity and are also willing for their own capabilities to be made vis-
Justin Hester, Senior Researcher at HIROTEC. ible through quality matrixes.

19
 3.1.4 Stage four: Transparency identify the most likely ones. This involves projecting the digi-
tal shadow into the future in order to depict a variety of sce­
Stage three involves creating a digital shadow of the compa- narios that can then be assessed in terms of how likely they are
ny’s current situation. The next stage is for the company to to occur. As a result, companies are able to anticipate future
­understand why something is happening and use this under- developments so that they can take decisions and implement
standing to produce knowledge by means of root cause analy- the appropriate measures in good time. While measures still
ses. In order to identify and interpret interactions in the digital have to be carried out manually, longer lead times help to limit
shadow, the captured data must be analysed by applying engi- negative impacts. Reducing the number of unexpected events
neering knowledge. The semantic linking and aggregation of caused e.g. by disruptions or planning variance enables more
data to create information and the corresponding contextuali­ robust operation of the business. It makes it possible, for exam-
sation provide the process knowledge required to support com- ple, to flag up recurring logistics issues such as carrier failure
plex and rapid decision-making. before they even occur so that they can be prevented, in this
instance by changing carriers.
New technologies that support the analysis of large volumes of
data can be extremely helpful in this regard. Big data is a buzz­ A company’s predictive capacity is heavily dependent on the
word that is frequently mentioned in this context. It is used to groundwork that it has previously undertaken. A properly con-
Design

describe mass data that can no longer be processed and ana- structed digital shadow combined with a knowledge of the rele-
lysed using conventional business analytics processes. The term vant interactions will help to ensure that both the forecasts and
big data also encompasses the technologies and applications the recommendations based on them are of a high standard.
that enable these extremely large and often heterogeneous data
sets to be processed and combined. Once companies are able to anticipate future events, they must
also be prepared to take any measures required to minimise the
As a rule, big data applications are deployed in parallel to busi- potential negative impacts of these events. This will entail organ-
ness application systems such as ERP or MES systems. Big data isational and cultural changes within the company. Employees
applications thus provide a common platform that can be used will need to be given adjusted decision-making powers to enable
e.g. to carry out extensive stochastic data analysis in order to rapid decision-making as and when necessary. The organisation-
­reveal interactions in the company’s digital shadow. al structure will need to be modified so that capacity can be
swiftly adjusted to new situations. Predictive capacity also calls
This transparency regarding the relevant interactions can, for ex- for critical reflection and openness to change.
ample, be used to carry out condition monitoring of machinery
and equipment. Recorded parameters are searched for mutual 3.1.6 Stage six: Adaptability
events and dependencies that are then aggregated to produce
complex events reflecting the condition of the machine or equip- Predictive capacity is a fundamental requirement for automated
ment. Among other things, transparency is therefore a require- actions and automated decision making. Continuous adaptation
ment for predictive maintenance. allows a company to delegate certain decisions to IT systems so
that it can adapt to a changing business environment as quickly
The benefits of employing big data are not solely dependent on as possible.
the technological aspects – they also require a willingness to use
data in decision-making processes across every level of the com- The degree of adaptability depends on the complexity of the de-
pany hierarchy. Employees initiate changes and innovations and cisions and the cost-benefit ratio. It is often best only to auto-
are involved in their implementation, and this results in collabo- mate individual processes. Accordingly, the fundamental feasibil­
ration between experts from different departments. The use of ity of performing repeatable operations autonomously should be
agile management techniques for change processes means that investigated. It is, however, important to carefully assess the risks
the benefits start to appear within a short timeframe. of automating approvals and acknowledgements for customers
and suppliers. Examples include changing the sequence of
3.1.5 Stage five: Predictive capacity planned orders because of expected machine failures or to avoid
delivery delays.
Building on the transparency stage, the next development
stage is predictive capacity. Once it has reached this stage, the The goal of adaptability has been achieved when a company is
company is able to simulate different future scenarios and able to use the data from the digital shadow to make decisions

20
 Design of theacatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

that have the best possible results in the shortest possible time company has already attained (operations), continuously im-
and to implement the corresponding measures automatically, i.e. prove this performance (optimisation) and, if necessary, radi-
without human assistance. cally realign it (realignment). The digital transformation road-
maps drawn up on the basis of the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index
Adaptability also places a number of demands on the compa- are implemented in the organisation through the corporate de-
ny itself. It calls for dynamic collaboration across the value velopment process in order to facilitate this optimisation and
network in order to continuously review both existing skills realignment.
and the development of core competencies, so that they can
be adjusted as necessary. Change is regarded as the norm. The acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity Index breaks a company’s
Flexible communities and agile project management create an structure down into the four structural areas of resources, infor-
organic organisation. The adoption of a knowledge-based ap- mation systems, culture and organisational structure. A detailed
proach requires the continuous accumulation of knowledge description of the four structural areas is provided in Chapter 4.
and lifelong learning for employees. Two guiding principles together with the necessary capabilities
are identified for each structural area. The capabilities are
geared towards attainment of the various development stages
3.2 General model design and provide manufacturing companies with the basis for trans-

Design
forming themselves into agile organisations.
This chapter describes the general design of the model under-
pinning the acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity Index (see Fig- Corporate processes form the basis of the five functional areas
ure 7). To ensure that the model provides a full description of a investigated by the Index. The five functional areas of develop-
manufacturing company, the acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity ment, production, logistics, services and marketing & sales are
­Index is based on the “Production and Management Frame- addressed in Chapter 5. A vision is outlined for each functional
work”.6 The framework divides the internal aspects of a compa- area, illustrating the features that characterise learning, agile
ny into corporate structure, corporate processes and corporate companies.
development.7 Corporate structure refers to those aspects of a
company that are indispensable for the production of its goods The application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index is
and services. Corporate processes, on the other hand, refer to described in Chapter 6. In use, the structural areas, functional
the process chains in every area of the company, while corpo- areas and maturity stages are combined in order to determine a
rate development refers to the strategic and operational devel- manufacturing company’s overall maturity and the maturity of
opment of the company.8 Corporate development encompasses individual functional areas. We show how once a company has
strategy, optimisation, operations and realignment. It thus in- established its current maturity stage it can develop a digital
cludes all the activities involved in strategic and operational roadmap containing specific measures in an established se-
management.9 The function of corporate development is to quence for both the functional and structural areas.
successfully maintain the level of performance that the

6  | See Boos et al. 2011, p. 55.

7  | In addition to the internal aspects of the company, the “Production and Management Framework” also addresses stakeholder groups and environment
spheres. However, these fall outside the scope of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index and are therefore not included in our study.
8  | See Boos et al. 2011.
9  | Ibid, p. 55.

21
 Principle 1
Structural areas 6 Adaptability
5 Predictive capacity
4 Transparency
3 Visibility
Resources Information Capability A
2 Connectivity
systems
1 Computerisation Capability B
Principle 2 Capability C

Capability n
Design

Organisational Culture
structure

Production and 4
management
framework Application

Corporate
structure acatech
Industrie 4.0
pm te
t
en
lo ra
ve po

Maturity Index
de Cor

der gesetzlichen Vorschriften. zur Bemessung der

Planabweichungen reagieren zu etc.

Corporate
processes 6

Functional areas

Development

Production

Logistics

Services

Marketing & Sales

5 Chapter

Figure 7: Model design of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index (source: authors’ own diagram)

22
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

4.1 Resources
4 Industrie 4.0 capabili-
In the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index, “resources” refer first
ties for businesses to tangible, physical resources. These include a company’s work-
force (human resources), machinery and equipment, tools, ma­
terials and the final product. The workforce must possess certain
This chapter describes the capabilities that a manufacturing competencies in order to make the most of the captured informa-
company must possess in order to transform itself into a learn- tion. Complementary, correctly configured technical resources
ing, agile organisation. It considers the four structural areas of can help to reduce both data and action latency (see Introduc-
resources, information systems, culture and organisational struc- tion). In addition to fulfilling their particular function, companies
ture (see Figure 8). Together, these structural areas make up the should try to ensure that their resources have an interface be-
organisation’s structure. They are connected by the six stages of tween the physical and digital worlds. This creates an informa-
the Industrie  4.0 development path which are depicted as six tion viewpoint in the digital world (the digital shadow) that fa-
concentric circles. cilitates the learning process required to increase the company’s
agility. Two principles follow from this:
Each structural area has two principles running across it that
serve as a guide for its continued development. Each principle Firstly, the resources must possess the necessary capabilities to
com­prises a number of capabilities that must be successively de- work in an information-based manner.10 Employees should there-
veloped for each value-based development stage. The extent to fore be able to identify data sources and potential processing
which these capabilities are implemented determines the matu- techniques. As far as the technical resources are concerned, tech-
rity stage of the relevant principle. The maturity stages of both nological features must be implemented to enable data collec-
principles are combined to provide an overall assessment of the tion and to process this data into information. In this context,
struc­tural area’s current development stage. In Figure 8 the as- information refers to data that is interpreted in order to support
sessments of the structural areas are depicted by the four green decision-making. The resulting principle of digital capability

Capabilities
dots. ­facilitates an information-driven way of working that creates an
awareness of the real situation on the ground. Rather than being
based on the targets in a plan – which are often derived from
assumptions or forecasts – this approach relies on feedback from

Structural areas

Resources 6 Information
5 systems
Corporate
Principle 1

4
structure 3
pm te

2
lo ra

t
en
ve po

1
de Cor

Principle 2 Principle 2

Corporate
Principle 1

processes

Organisational
structure Culture

Assessment of structural area Maturity stages

Figure 8: Structural areas (source: authors’ own diagram)

10  | In this context, information refers to data that is interpreted in order to support decision-making.

23
 the process environment. However, it is still up to the workforce benefit from the widest possible range of knowledge. The ongo-
to ensure that the system is properly configured so that this way ing automation of many process steps means that, in the future,
of working can fulfil its potential. employees will need to be capable of performing high value-add-
ed work11 – in the long-term, applied skills will no longer be
Secondly, a clear overall picture only emerges once different enough on their own. It will also be necessary to give employees
pieces of information are combined. To make sure that the infor- more indi­vidual responsibility in order to speed up the learning
mation is of sufficient quality, data should be exchanged and if and ­decision-making processes.12
possible generated in as structured a manner as possible. This
requires the appropriate interfaces, as well as a consensus re- When employees have to make a decision, it is more important
garding the purpose of the communication. Accordingly, the than ever that they should be able to access, gather and process
principle of structured communication describes the technical data and information so that they can come to a robust final de-
approach to communication media for employees and the inter- cision. As well as a basic grasp of the value of information in
faces between both people and machines and between different short-, medium- and long-term decision-making, the workforce
machines. Figure 9 provides an overview of the principles and should also possess a common understanding of Industrie 4.0.
associated capabilities. These are explained in detail below. As information systems and communication technologies be-
come increasingly widespread, companies must also help their
4.1.1 Digital capability employees to acquire integrated, interdisciplinary IT skills that
provide them with a basic understanding of the applications
In order to generate and analyse data and implement the corre- and processes used in different parts of the business, thereby up-
sponding decisions, the existing resources – i.e. all personnel, grading long-established occupational profiles.13
machinery and equipment, tools, materials and products – must
acquire certain competencies or be upgraded with the relevant When employees are working with IT systems on a regular basis
technological components. These basic requirements for infor- and thus often coming into contact with sensitive data, it is es-
mation-based working and learning are collectively referred to in sential for them to be aware of the importance of IT security. It is
Capabilities

the model as “digital capability”. a crucial part of employee training to create awareness of possi-
ble data leaks and the reasons for them. Given the growing pop-
Provide digital competencies ularity of social media and collaborative tools, new rules must be
Because of the increasingly widespread use of information and developed and applied to internal and especially external com-
communication technology in products and processes, it is im- munication. While having access to a wide data base is useful
portant for companies to promote an interdisciplinary approach when making decisions, part of this data may form the intellec-
in the way their employees think and act. Employees should be tual property of the company and should not be shared with
more closely involved in innovation processes so that these can third parties. Standards like IEC 62443 provide a comprehensive

Resources
Structured communication

Provide digital competencies

Automated data acquisition through Efficient communication
sensors and actuators Task based interface design
Decentralized (pre-)processing of sensor data

Digital capability

Figure 9: Capabilities of the structural area “resources” (source: authors’ own diagram)

11  | See Kagermann/Nonaka 2019.

12  | See acatech 2016.
13  | Ibid.

24
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

security strategy for the IT security of networks and manufactur- machinery and equipment to have their own on-board proces-
ing systems.14 sors, the relevant technologies are also increasingly being incor-
porated into tools and transport equipment.
Data acquisition through sensors and actuators
As far as the technological resources of machinery and equip- 4.1.2 Structured communication
ment, tools and products are concerned, the priority is their de-
velopment to create cyber-physical systems (CPS). CPS are creat- The suitability of centralised control systems is increasingly
ed by enhancing mechatronic components with embedded ­being called into question as the required number of decisions
systems such as sensors, actuators and information processing ­rises. Growing complexity means that centralised systems are be-
systems, together with a communication layer.15 Ex­perience indi- coming harder to manage. Consequently, decentralised control
cates that companies attempting to implement CPS tend either loops, which have already been used to optimise many technical
to build local control loops that do not interact with other re- processes, are also set to become established at the business
sources or to use labels (barcodes or RFID) to inventory existing process level. The introduction of these control loops can have a
objects without making full use of the potential of automatic positive impact on the responsiveness and robustness of busi-
identification.16 ness processes. However, in order to ensure delivery of the rele-
vant goals, all the stakeholders must work together to align the
It is already common for machinery and equipment in particular target systems.17 The use of communication technology to create
to be fitted with numerous sensors. These are mostly used to temporary networks enabling the resources to interact with each
monitor the stability of technical processes and any short-term other is therefore a key requirement.
adjustments made to them. In addition to this standard monitor-
ing of physical parameters, a key requirement for monitoring Efficient communication
business processes through the generation of feedback data is Communication between employees should always be traceably
the ability to locate objects. Furthermore, advances in imaging documented, redundancy-free and enabled in a manner that
are opening up new ways of recording quality data. Defining the meets the needs of the relevant stakeholder groups. Employees

Capabilities
relevant data requirements and selecting the right sensors are still spend a lot of their time searching and waiting for informa-
therefore key to the creation of a digital shadow. tion. Traceable communication means that the context of the
message is known thanks to automated tagging or can be ac-
Decentralised (pre-)processing of sensor data cessed in real time by integration with the relevant business ap-
Alongside sensors and actuators, embedded systems are also plication system. Redundancy can be prevented through central-
key components of cyber-physical systems. They form the link be- ised data storage. If there is only one valid version of a file
tween the communication layer and the electromechanical com- (single source of truth), then instead of the file being sent to a
ponents (actuators). Increases in processing power and reduc- recipient they are simply provided with the relevant authorisa-
tions in transistor size are making it possible to build ever smaller tion to access it. Moreover, role profiles and credentials make it
and cheaper units. This allows (pre-)processing to be decentral- possible to add employees to a communication process contex-
ised and performed directly on embedded systems linked to the tually and, if necessary, retroactively. Similar requirements apply
technical resources. The reduction in the signal propagation de- to approval procedures. Even today, analogue signatures are of-
lay means that time-critical computations can be carried out fast- ten required to authorise certain decisions. The introduction of
er, enabling new applications, for example in the field of human-­ digital signatures makes approval procedures faster and more
machine collaboration. Embedded systems can be deployed in a transparent and even enables approvals to be revoked. The
variety of different ways – while it is already common for stakeholders are directly informed of the status and the relevant

14  | See IEC 62443.

15  | See Bauernhansel et al. 2016.
16  | For example, a company in the metalworking industry ran a pilot test that involved fitting an old machine with structure-borne sound sensors in order
to monitor wear and tear on the tool so that preventive maintenance could be carried out. Measurements were recorded and analysed and a correlation
was eventually identified between structure-borne sound and remaining service life. However, since the solution was developed as a closed control loop
and was not integrated with the company network, maintenance jobs still have to be created manually.
In another pilot project, a range of tools for a particular type of machine that had previously been labelled by hand were given RFID labels so that they
could be located more easily. Each geoposition was associated with a particular status (in use, in storage, being reworked). However, this information
was not entered into the company’s Manufacturing Execution System (MES).
17  | See Bauernhansel et al. 2016.

25
 information can be directly linked to the approval procedure. IT connectivity of their control systems and sensors into account.
systems that support this type of communi­cation are collectively These may be implemented as wireless or wired solutions, de-
known as groupware. pending on the conditions in which they are deployed. Prefer-
ence should be given to open interfaces in order to avoid de-
Task-based interface design pendency on particular machine or tool manufacturers. In
In human-machine communication, identification and visuali­ addition, the appropriate (e.g. industrial ethernet-based) infra-
sation technologies form the main interface between the real structure should be installed in the factory. As for legacy sys-
world and the digital world. Assistance systems are becoming tems, a growing number of retrofit solutions are becoming avail-
essential due to the growing complexity of processes and the in- able for existing machines, meaning that these too can be
creasing range of tasks that employees are expected to perform. integrated.19 As well as enabling connectivity between in-house
Auto-ID solutions enable direct recognition of objects and their systems, these solutions should also provide internet connectivi-
attributes. In conjunction with a graphic interface, this makes it ty. This is especially important so that the maintenance and pro-
possible to provide context-sensitive information. duction planning functions can remotely access machinery and
equipment.
Hardware interfaces play a key role in enabling different types of
technological resources to interact with each other. In the future, The same thing applies to materials – if there are enough report-
cyber-physical systems will not necessarily exchange self-descrip- ing points, it is possible to track and trace goods if they can be
tions across different levels of the automation pyramid but will automatically identified either via their carrying medium or via
instead do so as part of a dynamic network.18 Identification tech- identifiers on the goods themselves. In conjunction with systems
nologies enable (mutual) recognition of technological resources integration (see information systems), this makes it possible to
and people and the negotiation of specific information require- meet customers’ growing requirements with regard to product
ments. When acquiring new systems, it is important to take the traceability.
Capabilities

Digital capability Structured communication

Provide digital competencies Task based interface design

Decentralized (pre-)processing Data acquisition through

of sensor data sensors and actuators Efficient communication

Figure 10: Capabilities required in the structural area “resources” (source: authors’ own diagram)

18  | See Bauernhansel et al. 2016.

19  | See Ciupek 2016.

26
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

A critical factor in all these developments is the company’s abil- decisions in real-time with the aid of a digital shadow. However,
ity to identify its information requirements and select the appro- many manu­facturers are still failing to use this data and informa-
priate technologies. When carrying out process integration, it is tion to support their decision-makers. There are two reasons for
also important to take usability and ergonomic aspects into this:
­account. For the human-machine interface, see Chapter 4.2.1.
Firstly, the captured data is not processed into information and,
4.1.3 Conclusion because it is not delivered in a suitable form, employees cannot
use it to support their work. So how can the captured data be
Figure 10 illustrates the characteristics that a manufacturing prepared and delivered to employees in a way that allows them
company’s resources should possess once it has reached the “ad- to make data-based decisions? In order to be usable for deci-
aptability” maturity stage. Established employee skills profiles sion-making, as well as being analysed and processed into infor-
should have been expanded to include broad-based IT skills. mation, the data must also be delivered in a user-­friendly man-
Technological resources should have had a data processing layer ner. Consequently, the first principle of information systems is
added to them in order to control the connected sensors and that data should be prepared and processed in a manner that
­actuators and generate feedback data. The resources interact to supports decision-making. In order for the data to be usable,
aggregate this data and create a digital shadow. Human-human, the organisation must meet the technical requirements for re-
machine-machine and human-machine communication should al-time access and possess an infrastructure that enables the
be configured so that data and information can be exchanged in necessary data processing and seamless information delivery.
real-time and so that all the stakeholder groups are included in
the communication process. Secondly, the same, centralised data is not used throughout the
different parts of the company. Systems must therefore be inte-
grated in order to enable the use of common data across the
4.2 Information systems value chain. To do this, it is necessary to create an information
system architecture for agile companies with a central platform

Capabilities
Information systems20 are socio-technical systems in which infor- that connects existing IT systems to each other and to the re-
mation is provided based on economic criteria by both people sources. This ensures that everyone is using the same data – rath-
and information and communication technology. They prepare, er than data having to be duplicated in different IT systems, it is
process, store and transfer data and information. The configura- all contained in a single, primary information system (single
tion of a company’s information systems is key to ensuring that source of truth). Consequently, the second principle is: integra-
the available data and information can be used to make deci- tion in order to enhance data use and increase agility. The
sions. The progress that has been made with regard to the creation of a platform connecting the different information sys-
digitali­sation of businesses means that it is becoming easier and tems requires standard interfaces, flexibility, openness, compre-
easier for manu­facturing companies to make these data-based hensive IT security and appropriate data quality.

Information systems
Information processing

Automated data analysis Horizontal and vertical integration

Contextualised data delivery Data governance

Application-specific user interface Standard data interface

Resilient IT infrastructure IT security

Integration

Figure 11: Capabilities of the structural area “information systems” (source: authors’ own diagram)

20  | This study draws a distinction between information systems and IT systems. The term “IT systems” describes individual application systems (e.g. ERP
systems), whereas “information systems” refers to socio-technical systems as defined above.

27
 Figure 11 illustrates the development of information systems It is also important that the data analysis should not be confined
­using the principles of information processing and integration. to known cause-and-effect relationships – companies must keep
learning and identifying new patterns in the data that they cap-
4.2.1 Self-learning information processing ture. When unforeseen events occur such as machinery break-
downs or delivery deadlines being missed, the causes should be
The principle of information processing involves aggregating analysed and interpreted on the basis of the relevant data. Once
data in order to create information and provide material to sup- a validated correlation has been identified, it can serve as a new
port decision-making so that decisions are ultimately data-based. pattern for future use.
It requires companies to understand data and information as a
resource that adds value, as well as to process this data and in- Recurring events can be used to generate assumptions about
formation and make it available to their employees. how the data will develop in the future. Optimisation algorithms
integrate the impacts of e.g. a predicted breakdown (for instance
In this context, self-learning refers to the use by information sys- delays to delivery deadlines) and automatically generate corre-
tems of new technological solutions capable of identifying sponding recommendations.
cause-and-effect relationships in order to continuously improve
their computational processes. This is enabled by technologies Deliver contextualised information
such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Contextualised information delivery allows the results of the
data analysis to be used to support decision-making. It means
Automated data analysis that instead of the user having to search for the information
Data-based decision-making is enabled by automated data across several different IT systems and process, sort or interpret it
analy­sis that continuously aggregates the data to produce in- themselves, the information is prepared and delivered in accord-
formation, extracts knowledge from this information and pro- ance with the requirements of the specific context (push princi-
vides the user with information to support their decisions. This ple). Successful companies apply the “system of engagement”
requires automatic data analysis capabilities that allow cause- principle, which means that employees are informed by efficient
Capabilities

and-effect relationships to be identified using data from differ- and effective information logistics that deliver the right informa-
ent sources and future events to be predicted using e.g. simu- tion to the right place, at the right time, in the right quality, to
lations or regressions. The data streams must be continuously the right person and in the right quantity. For instance, it is
monitored in real time according to specific rules and correla- ­possible to provide an easily understood visualisation of com-
tions so that they can be aggregated to produce value-added plex assembly operations using context-based 3D animations.
information. One simple application is the continuous analysis Other examples of information delivery include providing the
of various machine and tool parameters, allowing e.g. ma- production control department with projected order completion
chine faults or quality issues to be predicted with a high de- dates or maintenance workers with details of the cause of a
gree of confidence. This is often referred to as “condition breakdown together with additional in-depth information.
monitoring”.
Apps can be used to ensure that only the relevant information is
In agile companies, data-based decisions are also taken at the delivered (see Figure 12). The app obtains the required informa-
overall production level. One example of such a decision would tion from the underlying IT systems so that the employee is only
be to ascertain how on-time delivery would be impacted by provided with the information required to perform the task at
priori­tising specific orders or temporarily shutting down a ma- hand.
chine for maintenance. In other words, as well as being neces-
sary at the machinery and tools level, automated data analysis is Task-specific user interfaces
also required at the overall production level. Since the relevant The information provided must be continuously matched to the
data streams are much larger, broader and more diverse, data needs of the recipient and its format adapted to its current use.
analysis at this level involves the processing and correlation of Its content and presentation should be adapted to the task be-
very large and frequently heterogeneous data sets. Accordingly, ing performed and the employee’s skill level. Depending on the
companies will need applications and technologies capable of application, user interfaces may, for instance, deliver data in the
performing this type of processing. form of tables, animations, Augmented Reality or speech. In

28
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

Development Cycle Production Cycle User Cycle

Smart Expert
Decision Support

Agent Event-driven Autonomous Adaptive

Decisions A Actions Processes
Multi-Modal Information Access
Smart Data
Data Data Storage Context sensitive
Data Integration
Digital Shadow Model and Caching Processing

Analytics Correlation Cluster Learning Meta

Analysis Algorithms Algorithms Heuristics

Aggregation and Synchronization

Middleware+
Management of data access to proprietary systems
Data Provision and Access
Application
Software ERP/
PLM CAD FEM SCM MES BDE CRM CAQ

Raw Data Product CAD Simulation Process Machine Feedback Costumer Test
Data Data Data Data Data Data Data Data

Figure 12: Infrastructure of the Internet of Production (source: Schuh et al. 2017)

Capabilities
other words, as well as having the data displayed to them, em- The Internet of Production refers to the architecture of informa-
ployees may also be provided with verbal instructions to guide tion systems that can provide real-time information in a system-
them through the process. Users have intuitive options for re- atic, situation-based manner (see Figure 12). Raw data obtained
sponding to events and communicating with the IT systems. Ges- from specific systems such as Manufacturing Execution Systems
ture or voice control may be used, depending on the task in (MES) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems can be
question. made available to specific users in a targeted manner via middle-
ware. The data systems for handling the large volumes of data
Build a resilient IT infrastructure and implement situation-based needed to create the digital shadow and the technology for car-
data storage rying out the in-depth data analysis are located in the next layer
Data analysis and delivery rely on a resilient IT infrastructure up. The data can ultimately be used to support decision-making
that fulfils the relevant technical data capture, transfer, storage or as the basis for decisions taken autonomously by agents.
and processing requirements and guarantees IT systems func-
tionality. This requires the IT infrastructure’s technical per­ 4.2.2 Information system integration
formance to be continuously adapted to current requirements
and is enabled by redundant data storage or system design. De- Integrated information systems are intended to ensure the use of
pending on the design, these redundancies may be implemented common data throughout the value chain. The goal of the inte-
internally or in the cloud. Backups or specialised software pre- gration principle is to integrate existing IT systems in order to
vent threats to people and material assets and guarantee the facilitate access to and use of the data and information that
system’s long-term usability. Situation-based data storage en- they contain.
sures that the data can be accessed within an appropriate time-
frame. In-memory databases allow frequent accessing of the Integrate information systems vertically and horizontally
data, so that it can be used to provide rapid and stable deci- The use of common data throughout the value chain is enabled
sion-making support. by information systems that are fully integrated both vertically

29
 and horizontally. Information is exchanged continuously be- and provides users with the information they need for operations
tween all the IT systems in the value chain so that order informa- and decision-making and enables access to data and informa-
tion is always linked to product, work and process instructions tion. It is also important to ensure transparency regarding the IT
and customer information, and all users access the same data systems that are employed – different departments must not be
set. This marks a move away from the status quo of overly com- allowed to use their own shadow IT systems that are not over-
plex architectures with redundant data storage. The primary IT seen by the IT department.
system containing the order information is linked to everything
from the production and planning systems to the machine and Standardise data interfaces
field level. Once they have completed a job, the machines auto- Rather than requiring everything to be stored centrally, the key
matically send back an order status report. to creating a single source of truth is to connect all the IT sys-
tems to each other via standard data interfaces. APIs, micro
This creates a “single source of truth” – information only resides services and data interfaces facilitate the exchange of data
in one primary logical information system that is accessed by all and information from individual IT systems and should there-
the users in the value chain and the system of record. Today, fore be selected based on the required information flow. To
product and design data is often found in a PLM system, whilst always ensure an agile information flow and data exchange
order data resides in the ERP system and the associated custom- transition when switching from one information system to an-
er data is located in the CRM system. The absence of metadata other, it is necessary to implement neutral or standard inter-
integration means that the development, production and mar- faces and data exchange formats across all the relevant sys-
keting functions thus have their own, separate data sets which tems.21 These should use an open standard that is universal
are not shared effectively across the related operations applica- for the application category in question. One example of a
tions and decision support tools. As a result, changes in one of standard interface that is particularly popular in the field of
these functions are not shared with the others. Agile companies Industrie 4.0 is the OPC-UA22 architecture for machine-to-ma-
therefore require a logical or physical platform that integrates chine interfaces.
Capabilities

Information processing Integration

Information availability and delivery Horizontal and vertical integration

Self-learning
information processing

Data analysis Integrated

information systems Interfaces
1001001010010100
10101011110
10101011110011100
! 1010001101001
1001001011010100
100110101

IT infrastructure Data storage

Data Governance IT security
1001001010010100
10101011110
10010010100101 10101011110011100
0010101011110 1010001101001
101010111100111 1001001011010100
00101000110101 000101100110101
10010010110101
00100110101

Figure 13: Capabilities required in the structural area “information systems” (source: authors’ own diagram)

21  | See Schuh et al. 2014, p. 288ff.

22  | The OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) is a platform-independent communication protocol for machine-to-machine communication.

30
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

Implement data governance 4.3 Organisational structure

In addition to the data interfaces, IT systems integration also
relies on sufficiently high data quality. Poor data quality in the Whilst the transformation into a learning, agile company is en­
IT systems results in incorrect aggregated data and inaccurate abled by the technologies described above, its implementation
feedback, ultimately undermining confidence in both the IT ­requires the right organisational structure. In our model, organi­
systems and their contents. This makes it impossible to achieve sational structure refers to both a company’s internal organisa-
the goal of data-based decision-making. Companies must there- tion (structure and operational processes) and its position within
fore acquire the relevant technical and in particular organisa- the value network. In contrast to area of “culture” (see below),
tional capabilities in order to improve the quality of the data. the “organisational structure” establishes mandatory rules that
Data governance policies provide organisations with guidance organise collaboration both within the company and externally.
for the processing, storage, management and presentation of “Culture” covers the value system within the company and thus
high-­quality data within the company. Technical capabilities describes the soft factors of collaboration. Nevertheless, both
for improving data quality include automated data cleansing structural areas are mutually dependent and must be coherent
(identification, standardisation, duplicate removal, consolida- with each other.
tion and enhancement of data) and master data management
systems. The structural area “organisational structure” is spanned by the
two principles of organic internal organisation and dynamic
Upgrade IT security collaboration within the value network. It therefore describes
The increasing integration of information systems as well as hu- the organisation from both an internal and an external perspec-
man factors and other contributors is accompanied by the risk of tive (see Figure 14).
criminal attacks. The potential damage that these attacks can
cause increases in proportion to the degree of integration. IT se- 4.3.1 Organic internal organisation
curity encompasses different strategies for identifying and imple-
menting security measures. Compliance with standards such as The organic organisation is the antithesis of the mechanistic or-

Capabilities
IEC 62443 can help to contain the risks. Such standards include ganisation. Its employees have fewer constraints and a high de-
proactive measures to maintain IT security and adapt it in re- gree of individual responsibility. This form of organisation is thus
sponse to changing circumstances. The measures cover asset ad- particularly well suited to organisations with highly skilled work-
ministration issues, user identification and authentication, sys- forces that exist in a dynamic environment.23
tem health validation and data flow control. Responses to
existing IT security incidents are also covered in IT security Flexible communities
standards. In an agile organisation, the necessary resources within the com-
pany must be configured dynamically. In terms of the company’s
4.2.3 Conclusion organisational structure, this means that employees will regularly
be required to change the tasks they perform and switch to differ-
Figure 13 illustrates the characteristics that a manufacturing ent teams. Even though they will continue to be assigned to a
company’s information systems should possess once it has ­particular department in the company’s organisational chart, in
reached the 6th maturity stage of “adaptability”. High-quality practice they will perform their work as members of task- or
data are stored centrally and analysed automatically. The analy- goal-oriented teams. At the same time, the company needs to fa-
sis and processing are self-learning, meaning that the informa- cilitate collaboration between experts on specific topics by creat-
tion systems continuously adapt to changing circumstances. The ing parallel teams of experts to address specialised themes. This
knowledge acquired in this way is delivered to employees in a approach aims to enhance communication between different de-
contextualised manner and supports them in their work. This is partments and pool employees’ skills. It allows the company to
made possible thanks to integrated information systems. Hori- ensure that people with different skills from different parts of the
zontal and vertical integration and standard interfaces combine business are all pulling in the same direction in pursuit of a com-
to create highly flexible information systems. mon goal. The way the company is organised should therefore en-
able increasingly needs-based cooperation in individual teams.24

23  | See Burns/Stalker 2001.

24  | See Jassawalla/Sashittal 1999; Love/Roper 2004.

31
 This approach ultimately leads to the concept of communities, involvement in communities, as well as facilitating communica-
where organisational units form around a specific theme (e.g. tion and supporting assignment management. Management
the implementation of a new IT solution) or task (e.g. operating will also need to consider new technologies that enable these
milling machines). While permanent communities may take care flexible communities by dramatically improving training speed
of the company’s routine business, other communities may be via intuitive, in-context 3D and augmented reality solutions that
project-based and be formed on a purely temporary basis before guide workers safely through new operations.
being disbanded again. The goal of this form of organisation is
to ensure that work is performed by the employees with the right Decision rights management
skills for the job, irrespective of where they sit in the hierarchy or Two contrary mechanisms must be weighed up against each oth-
which department they belong to. It also enables a rapid re- er when allocating the authority to make decisions or selecting
sponse to new events and knowledge. In companies such as the best decision-making procedure. Evidently, all the relevant in-
Google, for instance, it is not unusual for small teams to form formation must be available in order to make the right decision.
spontaneously around a particular topic and build a prototype If decentralised decisions are taken, the local decision-makers will
within a few days or weeks which is then evaluated to decide have better information about the actual circumstances, since
whether it should be taken any further. they are closer to the facts. Achieving the same quality in a cen-
trally taken decision would be more expensive because of the
This form of organisation is subject to certain restrictions. Evi- cost of conveying the information to the central level. On the oth-
dently, the efficient completion of routine operations should not er hand, decentralised decisions also generate costs either be-
suffer as a result of this concept. Thus, for processes that require cause they are not properly coordinated with each other and
high efficiency and stability, the degree of flexibility should be therefore potentially fail to consider what is best for the company
limited. The benefits of this concept primarily concern innova- as a whole or because they require additional management input
tion and problem-driven tasks. In these cases, employees’ strong- to align them with the company’s overall goals. Consequently,
est skills are leveraged if they are able to participate flexibly in certain decisions must be taken centrally, for instance decisions
different communities. Agile organisations are able to maintain concerning the company’s strategy, whereas other decisions can
Capabilities

stable processes whilst at the same time also being capable of be made more cost-effectively if they are decentralised.26
adapting rapidly.25
One of the benefits of Industrie 4.0 is better information availa-
The introduction of this type of organisation makes manage- bility. This means that even at a decentralised level it is possible
ment’s role more complex, since every employee is active in their to achieve transparency concerning the consequences of deci-
own particular set of communities which, moreover, changes on sions and their alignment with the company’s goals, enabling
a regular basis. IT-based collaboration platforms can provide faster and better decentralised decision-making. Collective
transparency regarding employees’ skills profiles and their ­decision-making processes may also be employed. This involves

Organisational structure
Organic internal organisation
Dynamic collaboration in
value networks

Flexible communities

Decision rights management Focus on customer benefits

Motivational goal systems Cooperation within the network

Agile management

Figure 14: Capabilities of the structural area “organisational structure” (source: authors’ own diagram)

25  | See McGrath 2012.

26  | See Jensen 1998.

32
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

bringing together the stakeholders in the company who are most dynamic environment. The required approaches are instead char-
competent to make decisions about the matter at hand.27 For in- acterised by rapid prototype development, concrete (interim) re-
stance, the members of expert communities can be selected by sults and high frequency feedback cycles with the stakeholders.
conducting a kind of peer review of the candidates. Likewise, the One principle followed by agile development projects is to vali-
potential of new development projects can be evaluated by the date assumptions and hypotheses about the product or outcome
entire workforce rather than just a handful of managers. Compa- as early as possible in a real-world environment. This involves fo-
nies must develop the capability to manage decision rights in a cusing on a product’s core functionality in order to produce what
way that strikes the right balance between centralisation and is known as a “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP).31 MVPs are mar-
decentralisation in order to maximise the effectiveness and effi- ketable products with restricted functionality that can be tested
ciency of decision-making processes. directly on the market, allowing systematic and rapid continued
development of the product based on customer feedback.
Motivational goal systems
Appropriate goal systems are needed to channel employees’ These approaches can be applied not only to product and ser-
greater autonomy and ensure that they remain focused on the vice development but also to the management of in-house pro-
company’s overall goal of delivering customer value.28 Overly jects. Physical manufacturing processes can be compared with
specific goals that are measured one-dimensionally (e.g. the digital models to identity opportunities for further improvement.
number of pieces produced) result in local optimisation and a Another example of one such process is the Scrum approach that
“silo mentality”. Instead, companies should introduce multi­ originated in the field of software development.32 This process
dimensional goal systems that encourage employees to focus on accelerates continuous improvement initiatives with a ‘start
process efficiency and continuous improvement. This calls for small and scale fast’, data-driven approach to innovation.
the development of completely new competencies such as finan-
cial controlling of communities or measuring the success of Smart products with increasingly software-based functionality
teams of experts. One example of a possible goal for an em­ support this type of approach by enabling widespread data-­
ployee working in the field of development would be to require based observation of real user behaviour so that product func-

Capabilities
them to give a certain number of presentations at conferences tionality can subsequently be enhanced, enabled or even disa-
attended by experts from outside of the company. This would bled. An integrated system landscape also acts as a catalyst for
provide a targeted means of encouraging them to subject their the use of similar methods within the company itself. For exam-
own ideas to critical evaluation by third parties. ple, changes in the product’s design can be automatically com-
municated to all the relevant actors (e.g. in the form of revised
Goal systems are closely linked to remuneration systems. These work schedules).
should not produce a purely transactional organisation where
the only thing motivating employees is their pay.29 The goal and 4.3.2 Dynamic collaboration within the value
remuneration systems should combine to provide employees network
with a degree of security and confidence that they are allowed
to make the occasional mistake, whilst at the same time moti­ Automated and seamless information exchange between differ-
vating them to contribute all the skills at their disposal to the ent companies enables them to cooperate more dynamically and
organi­sation. This calls for the right mix of monetary incentives provides increased transparency with regard to the market. It
and non-monetary incentives such as training opportunities, also helps to reduce some of the barriers to greater flexibility,
­development prospects and individual freedom.30 such as manual processes for enquiries, ordering and order pro-
cessing. Operational visibility can be extended to include a sup-
Agile management plier’s production status and quality performance using today’s
Inflexible conventional development processes are unable to IoT technologies. The result is a more efficient exchange of infor-
cope with the vague or changing requirements encountered in a mation, goods and services.

27  | See Schulte-Zurhausen 2014, p. 207ff.

28  | See Andersen et al. 2006.
29  | See Grunau 2014.
30  | See Sturm et al. 2011; Afshari/Gibson 2016.
31  | See Ries 2011.
32  | See Reichwald/Piller 2009.

33
 Focus on customer benefits how his bearings are used by the machines’ end user. By ana-
According to the concept of core competence33 or “strategic lysing the roller bearings’ condition data using a cloud solu-
­success positions”34, companies should have a clear focus on a tion, he is able to provide the end user with additional services
limited number of competencies in order to provide a unique that help them run the machine more efficiently. This in-depth
propo­sition to the market. This concept is becoming even more understanding of the end customer’s requirements also makes
important as markets grow more transparent and value creation him more attractive than the competition to his direct custom-
becomes increasingly network-based and dynamic. The dynamic er (the machine manufac­turer), since it means that the overall
marketplace is an idea that is set to become hugely important. solution provided by the machine fulfils the customer’s needs
The suppliers that succeed in a transparent marketplace with more successfully.
well-functioning market mechanisms will be those who are best
able to satisfy individual demand. Companies should be able to continually review their competen-
cies and, if necessary, adapt them to changed circumstances.
Specifically, companies have to determine how they can con- They must also establish exactly what role they should play in
tribute to satisfying the end customer’s needs. Even if the com- the value network. The targeted contribution of specialised com-
pany doesn’t itself deliver directly to the end customer, its prod- petencies to an overall solution and the integration of several
uct or service still forms part of the end customer’s solution. individual solutions in order to create a single overall solution
The better the contributions made to this solution by the indi- can both be potentially successful strategies.
vidual partners, the more successfully the companies in ques-
tion will be able to differentiate themselves from the competi- Cooperation within the network
tion. An example would be a roller bearing manufacturer who Companies may consciously adopt a strategy either of outsourc-
concentrates not only on the immediate requirements of the ing certain manufacturing and transport operations or of posi-
machine manufacturer who is his direct customer but also on tioning themselves as suppliers of certain competencies to the

Organic internal oganisation Dynamic collaboration within the value network

Capabilities

Agile management Focus on customer benefits

Daily
Scrum

Sprint

Motivational goal systems

Flexible communities
%

Decision
rights management

Cooperation within the network

Figure 15 Capabilities required in the structural area “organisational structure” (source: authors’ own diagram)

33  | See Prahalad/Hamel 1990.

34  | See Porter 1989; Pümpin/Amann 2005.

34
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

value network. Competency management refers to the syste­ 4.4 Culture

matic integration of different partners’ competencies.35 Compa-
nies that pool their competencies to meet specific needs are able A company’s agility is highly dependent on the behaviour of its
to respond more rapidly to changing market requirements. By employees. Experience with lean management in the 1990s and
working together, the partners are able to develop and supply 2000s showed that the key to successful implementation of lean
new products that they could never have delivered on their own management throughout a business is to change the company’s
or that would have first required them to embark on a lengthy culture – in other words, to change the mentality of its em­
in-house competency building process. ployees. The same applies to the digital transformation into a
learning, agile company in Industrie 4.0. Companies will be un-
Flexible marketplaces that control the entire market already exist able to achieve the desired agility if they simply introduce digital
today for less complex, standard services (e.g. in logistics). One technologies without also addressing their corporate culture. In-
of the challenges is providing the very precise descriptions re- stead, they must begin by deciding how they want their compa-
quired for the services to be traded. In cases where companies ny to do things in the future and which skills their employees will
that have not previously worked together wish to collaborate de- require. Only then should they identify and introduce the tech-
spite not yet having built up trust in each other, the effort re- nologies needed to support the desired way of working. Digital
quired to negotiate a cooperation agreement is likely to out- assistance systems are a case in point. In itself, the introduction
weigh the benefits of a short-term and potentially one-off of such systems does not add value for a company. Before digital
collaboration. assistance systems can start to add value, the company must
have a culture in which employees trust these systems and are
Digital rights management plays an important role in this con- prepared to accept their suggestions.
text. The seamless exchange of sensitive data, e.g. CAD models,
is accompanied by the risk of the data not being used only for The necessary transformation of corporate culture is encap­
the intended purpose. Precautions must be taken to ensure that sulated in two key questions. Firstly, to what extent are employ-
the right access to the data is granted for the defined purpose, ees willing to continuously review and adapt their own behav-

Capabilities
e.g. to use a CAD model for a 3D-printed spare part only once iour in response to a changing environment? The ideal scenario
and not several times. is for the entire workforce to be willing to change. Moreover, this
willingness to change should not be confined to situations
4.3.3 Conclusion where changes are already being implemented. Importantly, it
also means that people should look at their own environment
Companies can get closer to the goal of a flexible, open market- and the corporate environment with open eyes, recognise when
place by first of all cooperating more efficiently within existing there is an opportunity or a need for change and initiate the rel-
networks. Horizontal order data integration and universal data evant actions themselves. Willingness to change is the first prin-
exchange platforms (e.g. for joint development projects) can act ciple of culture and is a key enabler of agility.
as catalysts for cooperation.
Secondly, to what extent do employees think that their actions
Figure 15 summarises the key aspects of the structural area “or- should be guided by data- and fact-based knowledge? The ideal
ganisational structure” once the “adaptability” stage has been scenario is for them to believe that their actions should be entire-
attained. The left-hand side illustrates the internal perspective of ly knowledge-based. The term “knowledge” encompasses any
the individ­ual company. This is characterised by agile structures knowledge acquired through targeted observation, by chance,
such as internal communities and agile management. The right- through data-based analysis or from practical experience. An en-
hand side illustrates the external perspective with the notion of vironment characterised by trust and social relationships pro-
a marketplace where ­value chains are configured on an or- vides the basis for open, uninhibited knowledge sharing be-
der-by-order basis. tween employees. Consequently, the second principle of culture,
social collaboration, helps to accelerate knowledge sharing
within the company.

35  | See Schuh/Kampker 2011, p. 504ff.

35
 4.4.1 Willingness to change initially be unfamiliar with the underlying technologies because
they have not previously been deployed in the company. One ex-
The first principle of the structural area “culture” is based on five ample is the use of data-based assistance systems in agriculture.
capabilities that must be acquired by employees of learning, ag- Optimisation of the route taken by harvesters across the field can
ile companies. These capabilities should not be treated as sepa- increase crop yields by as much as 20%. Various systems are now
rate from each other – it is only when they are combined that available on the market that are capable of computing the opti-
they result in willingness to change. mal route based on current environmental conditions and how full
the harvester is. However, many farmers are reluctant to change
Recognise the value of mistakes the habits of a lifetime. Consequently, one agricultural machinery
Learning, agile companies attach great importance to mistakes. manufacturer decided to install their system free of charge on a
These companies have understood that learning and change pro- trial basis. This allowed the farmer to see the direct benefits for
cesses can only be triggered by mistakes. Mistakes provide an himself and convinced him that it was time to start doing things
opportunity to gain a better understanding of the company’s pro- differently. The trial demonstrated the value of “hidden” data and
cesses and uncover previously unknown cause-and-effect relation- the information obtained from it. Openness to innovation and
ships. The way a company deals with mistakes is therefore a key new ways of doing things is therefore an important capability that
aspect of its corporate culture. Two fundamentally different ap- is required in order to initiate change and adopt the right meas-
proaches to mistakes exist. A negative attitude towards mistakes ures, even if they may sometimes be rather unconventional.
is reflected in a strategy based on the systematic avoidance of
errors, strict penalties for making mistakes and the correction of Data-based learning and decision-making
errors as rapidly and unobtrusively as possible. Employees of com- Manufacturing companies’ innovation cycles are getting shorter
panies where this culture prevails are not usually willing to dis- and shorter. In other words, they have less time to develop appro-
close mistakes. This attitude inhibits their willingness to change. priate responses to changes in the business environment. This also
On the other hand, a culture that recognises the value of mistakes means that errors must be spotted and their causes identified as
is characterised by open discussion of mistakes when they occur, quickly as possible. Rather than dealing with errors based on gut
Capabilities

systematic error documentation and a determination to find both instinct, it is important to gain a data-based understanding of
the causes of the mistakes and their solutions. When investigat- their causes so that the right measures can be taken to resolve
ing mistakes, it is critical to focus on understanding the causes them. Learning, agile companies are able to do this because they
rather than on finding out who is to blame. continuously monitor their value-added processes by capturing
the relevant data. They then analyse this data, often comparing
Openness to innovation the digital model to the physical data and base any measures on
A comprehensive understanding of how new technologies and ap- the results of the analysis. Their employees have confidence in the
proaches work is essential in order to ensure that they are integrat- data and are willing to learn from it and base their decisions on it.
ed into the company in a way that adds value. The benefits of in- At Google, for example, employees’ decisions about new measures
novations are not always immediately apparent, since people will are based almost entirely on data that has been captured and

Culture

Willingness to change

Recognise the value of mistakes

Social collaboration

Democratic leadership style Openness to innovation

Open communication Data-based learning and

decision-making
Confidence in processes and
information systems Continuous professional development

Shaping change

Figure 16: Capabilities of the structural area “culture” (source: authors’ own diagram)

36
 Industrie 4.0 capabilities for businesses

ana­lysed. This is possible because the workforce is committed to Shaping change

continuous improvement and realises that decisions should not be The faster a company is able to provide an appropriate response
based solely on one person’s individual experience. They under- to external events, the greater the benefits of the change for
stand that data-based decision-making produces faster and better those affected by it. Consequently, the right changes must be
results than relying on the experience of individuals. ini­tiated, implemented and completed as quickly as possible. It
is therefore important to ensure that the initiative is taken by
Continuous professional development those employees who are best able to interpret the external
The digitalisation of industry is dramatically transforming the skill event based on the knowledge at their disposal. Since these will
sets required by employees of manufacturing companies. Changes often be the employees who work most closely with the system
in manufacturing technology and the growing use of ICT mean or machine in question, they may not necessarily have the au-
that the required skills are changing more frequently. Whereas in thority to make decisions. Transferring decision-making powers,
the past there was a high demand for specialists with a lot of in- allowing employees greater leeway and giving staff with the
depth knowledge, in the future there will be a growing call for relevant technical expertise the opportunity to share their
“multi-versatilists”. These are employees who have an interdiscipli- knowledge are thus all important requirements. The critical fac-
nary understanding of interrelated processes and are capable of tor, however, is for employees to understand that they too are
acquiring the necessary specialist know-how in a short space of responsible for shaping change. Rather than simply going along
time. Such employees understand that some of the skills and with change, they should be willing to initiate it of their own
knowledge they have acquired in the past will only remain useful accord and be prepared to take the first step in order to make it
for a limited time. They are characterised by a desire to keep learn- happen.
ing throughout their lives. The fact that they keep track of how
their environment is changing means that they are quick to identi- 4.4.2 Social collaboration
fy any new training requirements. They are therefore able to jointly
formulate training programmes that address the required compe- The second principle of the structural area “culture” is based on
tencies whilst also meeting employees’ needs. three capabilities. The principle of social collaboration helps to

Capabilities
Social collaboration Willingness to change
Data-based learning Openness to
Confidence in innovation
systems and processes
Act
Check

011000101010
010010100101
0111110001100
1011011011000
101010010010
Plan

1001010111111
001010101001
0001010111110
0011001011011

Democratic Collaboration
Do
leadership style

Willingness
to change Shaping
change

Continuous professional
Open communication development
Recognise the value
of mistakes

Figure 17: Capabilities required in the structural area “culture” (source: authors’ own diagram)

37
 accelerate knowledge sharing within the organisation and is en- entire workforce is willing to share knowledge with everyone, it
abled by the combination of these three capabilities. becomes possible to signifi­cantly accelerate learning processes
within the company.
Democratic leadership style
The increasing frequency of changes in the environment means Confidence in processes and information systems
that decisions about how to respond must be taken faster, but The lessons learned from the introduction of information tech-
without impairing their quality. In addition to ensuring availa- nology since the 1970s teach us that it is not enough to focus
bility of the right knowledge so that the appropriate measures exclusively on functional requirements. The acceptance and sys-
can be decided on, the decision-making processes for these tematic use of information technology and systems can only be
measures must also be quicker. Adopting a more flexible ap- ensured if the affected personnel are included in the change
proach to decision-­making and giving people greater leeway process right from the outset and can actively participate in
creates the organisational framework for faster decision-mak- shaping the changes. As well as involving employees in the de-
ing processes. In addition to creating the right framework, how- sign of the relevant information systems, the entire workforce
ever, it is equally important for employees to have confidence must understand that the benefits of these information systems
in each other so that decisions are not only taken quickly but will only be realised if they are systematically used by everyone.
also implemented swiftly. Rather than merely seeing employ- The fact that employees of learning, agile companies have confi-
ees as resources, this requires management to value them as dence in the chosen processes and information systems en­ables
part of the community because of the competencies that they rapid sharing of documented knowledge, in a role-base, contex-
bring to the table. The underlying capability that makes this tual way. This confidence is based on the fact that the employees
possible is a democratic leadership style. understand how the information system makes its decisions and
recognise the concrete benefits of its recommendations. At the
Open communication same time, however, they keep a critical eye on the system and
In order for companies to respond rapidly to unforeseen events are keen to enhance it with their own knowledge in the interests
in their environment, their employees should ideally have in- of continuous improvement.
Capabilities

stant access to the necessary explicit and implicit knowledge.

While explicit knowledge can be provided through the appropri- 4.4.3 Conclusion
ate communication technology, the sharing of implicit knowl-
edge calls for direct communication between the people who Figure 17 illustrates the characteristics that a manufacturing
possess the knowledge and the people seeking it. For example, company’s culture should possess once it has reached the “ad-
when production machinery is damaged or develops a fault, aptability” maturity stage. Social collaboration exists between
maintenance workers can access most of the production para­ employees and with customers and partners. Confidence in sys-
meters that they need to analyse via the relevant information tems and processes results in high process stability. People are
systems (MES/ERP systems). However, operators’ firsthand ex- willing to document their acquired knowledge and share it with
perience of working with the machines and information that is others. The democratic leadership style values people for the
not captured by sensors, such as changes in noise levels, can contribution they make and there is a culture of open communi-
only be shared directly between employees. Consequently, the cation. Moreover, the workforce is both receptive and willing to
workforce must stop thinking in terms of rigid hierarchies and change. They learn systematically from the captured data, are
abandon the “us and them” mentality. Employees have ac- open to innovative approaches and participate in shaping
quired the capabil­ity of open communication if, having taken change processes. Employees are also conscious of the need to
on board the fact that openly sharing knowledge and working continuously develop their skills and competencies. While mis-
together to achieve a vision increases the total sum of knowl- takes are still made, people recognise that they are valuable
edge, they then also act accordingly. Once the organisation’s ­because they have the potential to trigger improvements.

38
 Functional areas in the business

the product even after it has delivered it to the customer – field

5 Functional areas data from product users provides input for targeted further devel-
opment. This requires products to be capable of capturing and
in the business transferring data. Furthermore, some product functionalities can be
updated and changed via software. This offers the company new
opportunities for efficient, short-cycle release management – new
In the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index, the capabilities de- functionality can still be added to products long after they have
scribed above are investigated separately for each of a compa- been launched on the market and faults can be fixed rapidly.
ny’s functional areas. The specific maturity stage of each capabil-
ity may be different for different functional areas and the Additive manufacturing processes constitute another valuable
business processes contained within them. In the following sec- resource. The systematic implementation of this technology in
tions, the vision of a learning, agile company is applied to the the relevant processes is critical to ensuring that prototypes and
five functional areas (see Figure 18). The description of the key primotypes can be built rapidly and cost-effectively.
capabilities for each area is broken down into the four structural
areas. To make the model easier to use, the functional areas are Information systems
examined at the level of their constituent business processes. Development is carried out by small interdisciplinary teams on
virtual platforms that enable cross-company collaboration. This
requires a complete digital model of the development process to
5.1 Development be built up in a primary system such as the PLM system. This ap-
proach provides a transparent picture of function tests and com-
A fundamental change is occurring in the development function ponent dependencies, requirements and changes throughout
of manufacturing companies, as the technological, cultural and the entire product lifecycle. The model constitutes the product’s
organisational aspects of Industrie  4.0 increasingly penetrate digital shadow. Change requests relating to the documented de-
corporate processes. The conventional design theory of Pahl & pendencies can be automated, thereby significantly improving
Beitz as well as the approach to mechatronic systems design set the responsiveness of the product development process.
out in the VDI 2221 and VDI 2206 standards are giving way to
the realisation that not all of the customer’s requirements are Systems integration is not confined to the field of development.
known or can be properly addressed at the beginning of the de- Cooperation with other directly and indirectly connected areas
velopment process. Rather than starting with a rigid finished ensures availability of the latest product documentation and
product in mind, it is becoming increasingly common to work product feedback. The data is also made available to the produc-
with a product vision that can keep evolving in response to new tion department so that production workers have access to the
requirements and automated change requests throughout the latest versions of the design documents such as the drawings

Functional areas
development phase and even once the product is in use. and parts lists. This ensures that the production and assembly
teams are directly informed about any changes to the product.
Advanced Systems Engineering is an integrated product develop-
ment methodology that underlines the importance of autonomy, Organisational structure
dynamic networking, product-service systems and the socio-tech- Agile methods such as Scrum are revolutionising the develop-
nical interactions between new technological systems.36 The Ad- ment process not only in software development but throughout
WiSE project, which is coordinated by acatech, is helping to all disciplines so that requirements can be implemented through
strengthen German companies’ competencies in this area by de- short iteration cycles focused on individual aspects of the prod-
veloping a strategy and connecting the relevant actors.37 uct vision. Rather than getting bogged down in the theoretical
specification of the product’s details at the beginning of the de-
Resources velopment process, the aim is to test the key hypotheses about
In addition to highly-qualified personnel who adopt an interdisci- the product as quickly as possible. “Primotypes” deliver concrete
plinary approach to their work, the main resources of the develop- insights based on actual use and user feedback. Rather than
ment function are the products. The company retains its focus on merely validating functionality, these prototypes which are

36  | See Heinz Nixdorf Institute, https://www.hni.uni-paderborn.de/ase/.

37  | See acatech AdWiSE, https://www.acatech.de/projekt/adwise-vernetzung-der-akteure-zur-disziplinuebergreifenden-entwicklung-komplexer-vernetzter-
sozio-technischer-systeme-fuer-die-wertschoepfung-von-morgen-advanced-systems-engineering/.

39
 manu­factured with near-series processes implement the “Mini- Case Study: Lockheed Martin
mum Viable Product” concept. This allows customer feedback to
be incorporated into the development process to deduce specific The technology company Lockheed Martin leverages a
customer requirements, significantly reducing both the time “Digital Tapestry” – a fully integrated electronic domain
­taken to implement the product and the associated costs. Get- that weaves together all elements of the product devel-
ting it wrong early on in the process and learning from these opment process into a seamless digital environment.
mistakes is an integral part of this approach. This enables the entire enterprise (engineering, IT, sup-
pliers, manufacturing etc.) to benefit from a complete
The design decisions for primotypes are based on data as well as digital product definition. The Digital Tapestry is helping
assumptions. Real data from people who have used the product to spur innovation and collaboration. This program has
and customer requirements documented by marketing & sales allowed Lockheed Martin to identify problems and refine
are supplemented by formal design, production and assembly solutions while still in the concept design phase – result-
knowledge to enable continuous data analysis with a view to ing in significant savings in both time and money.
improving product quality and cost-effectiveness.
Lockheed Martin uses the Digital Tapestry in many pro-
Interdisciplinary collaboration beyond the development phase is grams in their Space Systems organization, including the
also critical in order to succeed. Approaches like system engi- Orion Spacecraft. The Orion Spacecraft ushers in the
neering and service engineering are becoming increasingly im- next generation of human space exploration by taking
portant to enable systematic learning from the product over the up to four astronauts to deep space and safely back to
whole product lifecycle. Earth. During a live test with NASA, Lockheed Martin
was able to capture over 200 GB of data, including data
Modular product design promotes collaboration with other such as cabin pressure and temperature from the proto-
companies in networks. Partners develop function modules type and feed this data back into the design cycle to im-
right up to the point where they are ready for series production. prove the design for future missions.
In this case too, however, they are initially only given very gen-
eral speci­fications (e.g. product dimensions or target price),
with the detailed specifications being elaborated during the Culture
course of the development process. It is important to ensure The radical transformation of the development process leads to
that the people working on the modules adopt an interdis­ a change in the company’s culture. From an early stage, custom-
ciplinary approach in order to enable the development of inno- ers are presented with ideas, concepts and primotypes that are
vative and efficient solutions. The goal is to accelerate the purposely not yet fully developed so that disfunctionalities are
product industrialisation process by building individual detected as early as possible in the process. This approach also
Functional areas

­production-ready modules.38 informs the “Minimum Viable Product” concept which involves

Functional areas
Corporate Business processes
structure
Development
pm te
t
en
lo ra
ve po
de Cor

Production

Corporate Logistics
processes
Services

Marketing & Sales

Figure 18: Overview of functional areas (source: based on Boos et al. 2011)

38  | See Kampker 2015.

40
 Functional areas in the business

building a product as quickly as possible with only the most es- anytime, anywhere. Target completion is monitored continuously
sential functionality. This mentality is very different to the perfec- and reliable predictions are provided regarding the impacts of
tionist approach that is prevalent today. Intentionally allowing any variance. Operators must be able to safely operate multiple
mistakes to happen and dealing with them constructively will machines as these grow increasingly complex. Analysis of the
thus be important aspects of culture in the future. captured data enables production planning and control person-
nel to discover new connections between planning variances
The company’s culture is also characterised by the notion of in- and manufacturing processes. Experts such as supervisors, fore-
ternal and external collaboration. Ideas are judged based on men and shift leaders are able to concentrate on making non-­
their usefulness rather than on where they come from. A range automated decisions and working with data scientists to investi-
of different sources are drawn on, including e.g. close coopera- gate the causes of faults.
tion with and observation of customers or involvement in com-
munities of practice with other companies and institutions.
Additive Manufacturing

5.2 Production While in the past engineering and manufacturing has

been a sequential process chain, both now get an inte-
Production will remain the heart of tomorrow’s manufacturing gral capability, allowing dramatic improvements in
companies as manufacturing and assembly techniques continue throughput time and flexibility. For example, Aircraft en-
to develop. The way that products are processed and manufac- gine components were oftentimes difficult to manufac-
tured has to be aligned with the customer’s requirements con- ture as they are consisting of several parts that needed
cerning the product, making new value creation strategies neces- to be produced each with an individual process, assem-
sary. Companies will focus on their core competencies. The fact bled and welded and are finally subject to intense qual-
that they will form part of a genuine value creation network will ity assurance procedures. With additive manufacturing
lower the degree of vertical integration. This will also enable those components can be be designed with less con-
higher flexibility in terms of the product features and the port­ straints from the production process and can be opti-
folio to meet customers’ individual needs. The partnering ecosys- mized towards their purpose. Right at the end of the
tem will also provide higher customer focus as well as more ­design process they can be printed directly – requiring
cost-efficient ways of producing the desired (tailored) goods. In almost no human preparation or interaction. Design
order to maintain the competitiveness of companies in high- changes are effective immediately and do not require
wage countries, it will be essential to ensure efficient resource lengthy and cost intensive production process changes.
utilisation by enabling better decision-making on the shop floor.

Functional areas
Resources Information systems
Resources are key to value creation in manufacturing companies. In the manufacturing environment, too, information systems will
Information and communication technologies can be used to continue to provide the basis for the management and alloca-
enhance formerly isolated or entirely passive objects, creating tion of human and technological resources. However, monolithic
cyber-physical systems (CPS). Connecting these objects to each structures are set to disappear, with data coming instead from a
other and to the relevant information systems provides a com- single source of truth but accessible to various applications. Dy-
pletely new level of transparency in the production environment, namically configurable planning systems will perform complex
ultimately resulting in the creation of a digital shadow. Real computations to maximise productivity independently of the re-
data from the shop floor is captured by a multitude of sensors, source management function. The results will be delivered to
processed into information and used to make decisions. Assis- workers on the shop floor context-sensitively and on the end de-
tance systems or actuators in the CPS are then used to imple- vice of their choice. Employees will also have access to a suite of
ment the chosen measures. role based and task-specific apps.

Throughout the entire value creation process, the products and In tomorrow’s value networks, companies’ business applications
materials in the field of production are clearly allocated to a spe- will not only be used in-house but will also be connected to the
cific order. Real-time order progress information is available systems of their suppliers, customers and other partners in the

41
 value network. This data will be included in the single source of techniques can help to promote open discussion of mistakes. As
truth. The high availability and quality of the data provided will the tasks that employees are required to perform grow increas-
improve the responsiveness of all the actors. Just-in-time and just- ingly complex and diverse, they will need to become more proac-
in-sequence strategies will become even more important, allow- tive in sharing best practices with each other. Appropriate mod-
ing inventory levels to be reduced, work-in-progress to be opti- eration and documentation is urgently necessary in order to
mised and supply chain latency to be minimised. Data scientists make this possible. In the future, shop floor workers in particular
and process experts will work together using data analysis tech- will encounter IT systems far more frequently.
niques to examine quality data, machinery and equipment con-
dition data and process parameters for converting this informa-
tion into knowledge. The objective will be to find the optimal Case Study: CNB
resolution of the goal conflict between logistics costs and logis-
tics performance. CNB is a leading manufacturer of customizable yachts.
The company integrated the whole information flow from
Organisational structure engineering to manufacturing and vice versa. While using
Seamless collaboration between the partners is key to creating a PLM-system to maintain all relevant product information
value in a network. The companies involved in a value network in a unified system of record, CNB also uses IoT solutions
provide the machine capacity and manufacturing expertise. In to digitally link information from engineering to manu­
exchange, they gain access to external expertise and capacity. facturing, e.g. with dashboards or digital assembly in­
Core competencies in specialised manufacturing processes and structions. Using a 3D digital mockup of the product, en-
personnel capacity are advertised on virtual marketplaces and gineers are able to choose parts to be put into the
priced dynamically based on the company’s current capacity engineering Bill of Materials (eBOM) of the single yacht.
utilisation. Conventional supply chain hierarchies are partially Then information in the eBOM is transformed automati-
replaced by non-hierarchical competency- and capacity-based cally to the manufacturing Bill of Materials (mBOM) in a
structures. format that the manufacturing stakeholders need to build
the product on the assembly line. This gives CNB the digi-
Shop floor teams are no longer assigned to work on just a few tal continuity that enables parallel design and manufac-
tasks, but instead form part of an interdisciplinary team respon- turing planning. Early access to information stored in the
sible for the product as a whole. A regular dialogue on product-­ eBOM cuts down on the cycle time required to manufac-
specific issues between members of different departments such ture a product. With these new processes, it has become
as quality control, component manufacture and production plan- easier for CNB to deliver a boat on time and on budget.
ning and control promotes knowledge sharing and continuous
learning. This also allows e.g. change requests from the engi-
Functional areas

neering function to be easily implemented in production. Em-

ployees are empowered to make their own decisions in order to 5.3 Logistics
enable faster response times. Both new and old solutions are
documented, jointly evaluated and converted into structured In terms of logistics, the priority for learning, agile companies is to
knowledge. Employees are evaluated based on their willingness meet the needs of customers, consumers and users of their servic-
to share knowledge as well as on the results of their work. es. Logistics is understood as an integrative, crosscutting function
both inside and outside of the company39. The primary function of
Culture logistics remains unchanged: to ensure the availability of the right
Changing a company’s culture in relation to mistakes can unlock goods, in the right quantity, in the right place, at the right time, for
significant potential in the field of manufacturing. Discussing the right customer and at the right cost.40 This applies not only to
mistakes allows weaknesses in the corresponding processes to finished goods but also to spare parts, in order to ensure the avail-
be identified and potentially resolved. It can prove useful to bor- ability of sold machines and assets. However, the paradigm shift
row certain ideas from lean production – the implementation of caused by Industrie 4.0 will bring about a fundamental change in
continuous improvement processes and shop floor management the associated information flow and this will affect the entire

39  | The changes described here refer primarily to logistics in manufacturing companies rather than the changes affecting logistics providers.
40  | See Gudehus 2010, p.3.

42
 Functional areas in the business

logistics delivery process. As a result, logistics will become more current location, earliest possible delivery time and cost. Eventu-
closely integrated into the overall value chain and there will be a ally these developments will lead to even more fourth-party logis-
shift towards service-oriented logistics on demand.41 tics business enterprises. The last mile could be served by the
lowest bidder at the exact moment of demand.
Resources
Materials handling equipment and packaging are fitted with in- Culture
formation technologies such as beacons or Real Time Location The workforce accepts the fact that last-minute changes to
Systems (RTLS) technology. Technical resources such as forklift logistics processes will become increasingly frequent. Everybody
trucks are able to autonomously identify themselves, determine understands that all logistics decisions are entirely data-based in
their current location and capture data about their status and order to enable continuous process improvement. The effectiveness
the transported goods. Complete information transparency ex- of these data-based decisions is ensured by the systematic use of
ists regarding the storage period, location and quantity of stored information technology and systems. Employees also contribute
goods. The connected goods autonomously communicate rele- their own knowledge to logistics processes. They are able to learn
vant information, for example about their condition. Autono- from the data by combining IT and knowledge management.
mous vehicles are also included in this communication process.
They are capable of decentralised data aggregation, allowing
them to interact with the other transport units in order to autono­ 5.4 Services
mously perform vehicle and order management functions using
agent-based swarm intelligence. Industrie 4.0 offers manufacturing companies new opportunities
to profitably develop the various parts of their business. The tra-
Information systems ditional activity of only selling products that the company has
Service-oriented logistics on demand relies on integrated informa- made itself is increasingly being superseded by new, solution-­
tion systems that enable continuous communication between driven service business models. In the future, companies will
sender and recipient. Integrated IT systems allow the recipient, transform from a transaction-based sales model, in which the
e.g. the production department, to request an item autonomous- customer owns the product, to a “product-as-a-service” model.
ly. The fact that transport units, autonomous vehicles and ware- This allows customers to have access to the product but pay
housing facilities are connected to these systems creates a digital based on product usage or some other metric tied to the value
shadow of the real world. This virtual model of all the process the product delivers to the customer (e. g. Rolls Royce “Power by
components enables simulation-based control using real-time the Hour” for aircraft engines).
data, as well as automatic monitoring and real-time documenta-
tion. The system compares the current process status against the Customers’ specific and at times diverse needs are no longer pre-
target data. In the event of variance, the plan is revised and the dominantly addressed by products but by individually configur-

Functional areas
current process sequences are adjusted autonomously. The chang- able data-based services that combine products made both in-
es are communicated to the relevant vehicles or displayed to their house and by external partners. A simple example is a predictive
drivers so that they can be implemented with immediate effect. maintenance service based on a remote connection to the prod-
uct. The ability to tailor services to the customer’s specific require-
Organisational structure ments results in more effective service delivery and strengthens
The crucial organisational change in the field of logistics will be the relationship between customer and service provider, enabling
the greater decision-making autonomy available to logistics part- the establishment of a long-term relationship. The service provid-
ners. Decentralised decision-making facilitates leaner logistics er assumes more responsibility for individual steps in the custom-
planning, since connectivity ensures that the actors have access er value creation process, thereby becoming more closely integrat-
to a virtual model of the processes. An in-depth understanding ed into this process. Examples include service level agreements,
of upstream and downstream processes allows logistics to be output-based business models and revenue models where the ser-
closely integrated into the value network. Instead of logistics vice provider receives a share of the revenue from productivity
­operations being allocated to individual people or vehicles, logis- gains. One thing that all of the above have in common is that
tics platforms are used to identify who is best placed to perform they involve payment of a fee to the manufacturer based on a
a given operation. The decision is based on criteria such as subscription model.

41  | See ten Hompel 2013.

43
 Resources The question of the IT infrastructure must also be addressed.
Smart, connectivity-enabled products on which services are per- Software-defined platforms are not dissimilar to the service plat-
formed or which are used to provide services are a key require- forms used to organise service delivery as described in the previ-
ment for data-based services. These products are characterised ous section. Software-defined platforms provide the environment
by the ability to capture their own operating and environmental for data aggregation and the provision of data-based services.
data, process it themselves – at least to a certain extent – and Providers are already positioning themselves in this area today
send it to the service provider. This does not only apply to the and are offering operation of the relevant infrastructure as a ser-
products that a company has made and sold itself. Instead, it is vice. Third-party companies can use these platforms to connect
once again important to think in terms of an ecosystem in which their smart products and provide their customers with individual
all the products in a value chain contribute their own data. app-style services.
Whilst this does of course include the company’s own products
that are used at different stages of the value creation process, it Organisational structure
also includes third-party products. The successful providers will In the future, customers will have access to highly specific service
be those that manage to aggregate the data for all of the rele- bundles, depending on their particular needs. These will be deliv-
vant manufacturers and customers, thereby gaining control of ered by an individually configured group of companies in the val-
the “digital control point”. ue network and may comprise both conventional services involv-
ing personal contact with the customer and automated, data-based
It is only by capturing and aggregating data in this way that services. For instance, the manufacturer’s technical service may be
companies can transform their business models as described combined with highly specialised third-party services such as data
above so that they are more closely integrated with their custom- analytics. The service platforms that enable this collaboration form
ers’ processes and able to establish subscription- and outcome-­ the lynchpin of these new data-based services.
based models. For instance, a company needs accurate condition
and operating data for a product if it wishes to guarantee its One of the main challenges companies are facing is to define
availability with a minimum of risk and at a competitive price. exactly which role they should play themselves. This may be any­
An example is Trane, an HVAC manufacturer that is now able to thing from a specialist in an individual service or provider for a
guarantee high performance climate control in entire buildings platform right up to a service platform integrator or operator.
because it can monitor its equipment remotely, 24/7. Likewise,
companies wishing to optimise the way a factory runs must be The boundaries of the industry in which the company operates
able to relate data from upstream and downstream process stag- will become less clearly defined and each company will need to
es to their own products. decide how much it wants to expand its service activities. For ex-
ample, mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global expanded
Information systems the scope of its services from individual pieces of equipment to
Functional areas

The service dimension is added to the established Product Lifecy- the optimisation of the entire equipment fleet in a mine. At a
cle Management approach. In addition to product development technical level, this leads to the question of whether a company
data, the system also incorporates data generated or required in should itself develop competencies in specific areas (e.g. operat-
connection with the product’s use and the delivery of product-re- ing an IoT platform) or buy in the required competencies.
lated services. This creates a comprehensive digital shadow of
the product, with different, domain-specific views of the data Culture
(e.g. services and development) to provide service visibility and Since service technicians are continually being confronted with
real-time product data. There are many applications for this sin- new problems and finding solutions to them, the aggregation of
gle source of truth. For example, a service technician in the field their collective know-how harbours huge potential. It is therefore
always has access to the most up-to-date product documentation especially important that service technicians should be willing to
and can also view the service history and access operating and share and document their knowledge. In the future, social com-
condition data for diagnostic purposes. Meanwhile, the develop- munication between service technicians involving the use of
ment team can use operating data to inform the product’s con- communication platforms to discuss solutions will be an impor-
tinued development. tant means of systematically building up knowledge. The advent
of advanced technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtu-
al reality (VR) and speech recognition will radically change the

44
 Functional areas in the business

way service technicians operate and share knowledge. Text-based 5.5 Marketing & Sales
technical information and knowledge sharing is notoriously inef-
fective, leading to low productivity among service technicians The main objective of an agile company is to be strategically fo-
across industries. The ability to visualise repair instructions in cused on systematically understanding and fulfilling its custom-
context and issue voice-based commands, including speech-to- ers’ requirements. The marketing & sales function plays a key
text, will enable faster learning and enhanced collaboration. role in this regard by actively guiding customers towards a buy-
ing decision in what is known as the “customer journey”. Inte-
These new insights from the service function can then be used grating individual processes to create a personalised, end-to-end
e.g. in development projects to help ensure that customer re- digital buying experience adds value for the customer, generat-
quirements are incorporated into the development process from ing customer loyalty from an early stage and placing the custom-
an early stage. The closed loop between development and ser- er at the centre of the company’s business.
vice also ensures that products are designed for efficient servic-
ing. If service technicians are viewed as an interface with the Resources
customer, then as well as channelling feedback on marketing In addition to human resources, the most important resources for
and sales related issues they can also carry out certain marketing marketing & sales are the production machinery and equipment
and sales functions themselves. and the products themselves. It is only possible to make a prop-
osition to a customer if punctual delivery can be guaranteed
based on reported and projected machine and equipment capac-
Case Study: Trane ity. Moreover, feedback data about product use provides new in-
sights into customer requirements and makes it possible to check
Aftersales services are becoming increasingly important that the product is being used correctly.
for heating, ventilation and air conditioning products in
homes and buildings. This is also true for manufactur- Information systems
ing company Trane, which worked with cinema opera- The agile company is able to actively control the contact points
tors in the US to develop a real-time climate control sys- on the customer journey. This is possible thanks to the compre-
tem that responds to current ticket sales and film hensive, high-quality data obtained both from the CRM and ERP
showing times. The available data is used to find the systems and from market research which enables the identifica-
optimal temperature for each auditorium and set the tion, analysis and evaluation of individual customers. Data ana-
thermostat accordingly. lytics techniques are used to assess business relationships with
customers in terms of economic criteria, based on their historical
The use of smart technology allows the company to avoid order data, internal company data and external environmental
a scenario where as soon as something stops working it factors. The results are then broken down into product require-

Functional areas
has to be repaired as quickly as possible. Instead of this, ment and behaviour profiles. Collaborative filtering is employed
data is now used to determine when a motor is at risk of to analyse typical customer behaviour patterns and make con-
failing and calculate how long it will continue working text-sensitive predictions about what they are likely to do next.
for. This information makes it possible to send a mainte- Foreseeable sales, current capacity utilisation, customer histories
nance technician to work on the right unit at the right and market information are combined so that dynamic pricing
time – and to conclude better service agreements. “For models can be reliably used for revenue management purposes.
every dollar we make from product sales, we have the po- Customers can be offered new contract models that, for instance,
tential to make twelve dollars in aftersales. At present, exclude verifiable warranties or offer improved after-sales service
our product and service turnovers are virtually identical. thanks to product feedback generated during use. The data-based
But services are much more profitable”, says company approach allows the integration of bespoke service propositions
spokesperson Per Bollom. Like many other manufacturers, with the customer’s processes and the supply of the relevant in-
Trane expects that the share of its top and bottom line formation to the customer to be realised so seamlessly that the
accounted for by services will continue to grow. customer shows minimal interest in alternative products.

45
 Organisational structure these platforms to communicate their individual product design
In the future, marketing & sales will concentrate on those chan- requirements which can then be passed on directly to the devel-
nels that are a seamless fit for the customer journey and can be opment or production teams.
most closely integrated with the customer’s processes. The goal
is to be “top of mind” at the forefront of the customer journey, Culture
to reach the customer at the optimal time, often as early as pos- A radical transformation occurs in marketing & sales culture, par-
sible, and to be ready and waiting for them when they make ticularly as far as the silo mentality of sales representatives is con-
their purchase decision. This can be partly achieved by electron- cerned. Customer contacts are managed centrally in a CRM sys-
ically connecting companies’ own sales platforms to their cus- tem that provides a single source of truth. Sales representatives
tomers’ systems so that marketing and sales operations on the feed their implicit knowledge about the customer’s current prob-
supplier side can be automated. Online product visualisations lems into the development process and are willing to act as impor-
support the customer by compiling targeted information and tant internal collaboration partners. They have a positive attitude
­automatically displaying the details they need to make their towards the constant change that characterises agile companies
­purchase together with supplementary information about the and engage actively in driving continuous improvement. They are
product. Digital collaboration platforms provide new ways of also accepting of innovative data-based products and service bun-
­interacting with customers. For instance, customers can use dles that call for new marketing and sales strategies.
Functional areas

46
 Application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

them into a road­map with a view to developing the capabilities

6 A
 pplication of the identified in stage 2.

acatech Industrie 4.0 6.1.1 Stage 1: Identification of the current

Maturity Index Industrie 4.0 maturity stage
The identification of the current Industrie 4.0 maturity stage is
based on the Industrie  4.0 capabilities outlined in Chapter  4.
Companies can use the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index to The capabilities are determined on the basis of the business pro-
help them plan their own specific Industrie 4.0 development path cesses in the functional areas. They are evaluated using a ques-
and prepare them for the step-by-step transformation into an agile tionnaire that rates the capabilities for each process. Each ques-
company. The Index facilitates a clearer picture of the understand- tion has multiple-choice answers that are linked to the six
ing and status quo of digitalisation within the company and of the development stages.
measures required by individual parts of the business or processes
to enable targeted synchronisation across the entire company. An example is provided in Figure 20 below. This part of the ques-
tionnaire relates to a process in the functional area “production”.
It evaluates the extent to which the value of mistakes is recog-
6.1 Principles of application nised in the structural area “culture”. The multiple-­choice answers
allow a clear rating to be assigned to the capability in question.
The use of the Index comprises three successive stages (see Fig-
ure 19). The first stage is the identification of the current maturi- The evaluation takes place on site at the company. A tour of the
ty stage in the different functional areas. Stage 2 involves the site allows an initial impression to be formed of how the process-
company identifying the target development stage that it wishes es work. The processes are then evaluated in a workshop where
to attain at the end of the transformation process, based on its the status quo is analysed based on the order management pro-
corporate strategy. This involves analysing its existing Indus- cess. The scores for the capabilities belonging to the relevant
trie  4.0 capabilities by functional and structural area. A gap principle are then aggregated and shown for each individual
analysis is used to identify the missing required capabilities that process. The acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index uses concen-
it still needs to develop. These will depend on the current devel- tric circles (see Figure 19) to represent the maturity stages of the
opment stage ascertained in stage 1 and the target state that four structural areas. The greater the radius of the circle, the
the company wishes to achieve by the end of the transformation. greater the maturity of the manufacturing company as deter-
Finally, stage 3 involves formulating actions and incorporating mined by the evaluation.

Resources Information systems Resources Information systems

Operational strand Connectivity Visibility Transparency

Close link to costumers

and suppliers

Productivity

Process reliability

Overall

Actions
Employees, resources and IT- Digital shadow of all relevant Data allows cause
Application

Organization Resources systems communicate digitally processes and resources and effect analysis
IT-Systems Culture

Organisational structure Culture Organisational structure Culture

Phase 1: Identification of current Phase 2: Identification of capabilities

Phase 3: Measures
maturity stage requiring development

Figure 19: Application of the Maturity Index (source: authors’ own diagram)

47
 Culture
Willingness to change

1 Recognise the value of mistakes

2
Social collaboration

Openness to innovation
3 Data-based learning
4 Continuous professional
5 development

6 Shaping change

Development

Production

Logistics

Services

Marketing & Sales

What is employees’ attitude towards mistakes?

1
Errors lead to finger-pointing and are often covered up. There is no internal discussion of
errors to try and prevent people from taking the blame or being blamed by others.

2 Company policy recognises the importance of tracing the causes of errors and ensuring that
everyone learns from them, for instance by discussing them in one-on-one interviews.
However, a lack of resources or funding means that this policy does not usually translate
into systematic error documentation and follow-up.

3 Employees strive to avoid errors; they observe the quality management guidelines on
standardised error documentation and are willing to discuss errors within their own
department.

4 Employees see errors as a valuable resource and want to identify and understand them;
there is no finger-pointing and there are no cover-ups – when errors occur they are
addressed in a constructive spirit. The measures taken to address major errors are
documented, forming a new standard that is integrated into the relevant process.

5
Errors are communicated openly. The focus is on understanding the cause and on shared
learning rather than on assigning blame. For example, details of errors are displayed
Application

publicly in order to raise awareness about them.

6
All errors without exception are analysed and appropriate measures taken to address them.
Moreover, the effectiveness of these measures is evaluated so that they can be adjusted as
necessary.

Figure 20: Example question (source: authors’ own diagram)

48
 Application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

6.1.2 Stage 2: Identification of capabilities and equal levels of maturity among the four components. These
requiring development could include complex logistical operations, the success of which
is determined mostly by organisational effectiveness, or predic-
The scores for the individual processes can then be aggregated tive maintenance improvements where the most critical role is
to produce an overall score for each functional area and for the played by effective information systems. Once the required levels
company as a whole. The visual depiction of the scores makes it of maturity and alignment have been achieved, the company
possible to rapidly determine the average maturity stage and can move on to address the additional actions required to attain
flags up differences in the development stage of the four struc- the target state (attain a higher maturity stage). This two-stage
tural areas. The main aim of understanding how the different process is illustrated below in Figure 22.
structural areas compare to each other is to ensure that they are
developed at a similar rate. If, as in the following example, the Resources Information
“resources” and “culture” structural areas score more highly than systems
the other two structural areas, this means that they possess ca-
pabilities that cannot be taken advantage of because the rele-
vant capabilities are lacking in the “information systems” and
Company level

“organisational structure” structural areas (see Figure 21).

It is therefore recommended that, as a general rule, companies

should begin by addressing those areas where action is required
in order to attain the same maturity stage for all four structural
areas so that the full benefits of this maturity stage can be real-
ised (achieve maturity stage consistency). There may be some
operating areas or functions where the majority of the available
benefits may be achieved without the requirement for balance Organisation Culture

Figure 21: Aggregation at company level

(source: authors’ own diagram)

Stage 1: Achieve maturity stage consistency Stage 2: Attain higher maturity stage

Application

Figure 22: Defining the areas where action is required (source: authors’ own diagram)

49
 6.1.3 Stage 3: Identifying concrete measures The measures for both of the stages that must be completed in
order to reach the target state – i.e. maturity stage consistency
The next step is to formulate measures addressing the areas and attainment of a higher maturity stage – are first of all plot-
identified as requiring action. The necessary measures can be ted along the time axis so that they can be prioritised, coordinat-
deduced from the missing capabilities in the four structural ed with each other and implemented in a logical sequence.
areas. The fact that individual processes have been evaluated
makes it possible to target these measures very precisely. The The measures can also be evaluated using a cost-benefit matrix.
company is now in a position to produce a development An indicator system was employed to assess the benefits, with
roadmap and start implementing the measures as soon as an indicator being assigned to each capability. The development
possible. of the relevant capability is reflected in an improvement in the
indicator score, allowing the benefits of a particular measure to
The measures for individual processes can be assigned to func- be evaluated. The assessment of the costs is left up to each indi-
tional areas depending on which functional areas these pro- vidual company.
cesses belong to. Moreover, measures that are thematically
very similar are clustered together under “operational strands”.
The roadmap sets out the measures for each operational 6.2 Quantify the benefits
strand, such as process reliability, productivity or customer/
supplier relationships, in a sequence that supports the progres- Indicators are used to quantify the benefits of Industry 4.0 appli-
sive raising of the Industrie 4.0 maturity level (see Figure 23). cations for enterprises. The basic idea is to link well-established
If a comparison of the roadmaps against the measures for indi- indicators with the impacts of Industrie 4.0. By linking the indi-
vidual plants or parts of the business reveals that there are a lot cators with the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index, the results
of similar measures, the results of these smaller units can be of the assessments can be depicted with concrete numbers (see
consolidated to create an overall roadmap for the entire Figure 24). This allows enterprises to understand how an im-
business. proved maturity level affects certain indicators.

Operational strand Connectivity Visibility Transparency

Close link to customers

and suppliers

Productivity

Process reliability
Application

Overall

Actions
Employees, resources and IT- Digital shadow of all relevant Data allows cause
Organization Resources systems communicate digitally processes and resources and effect analysis
IT-Systems Culture

Figure 23: Identification of measures (source: authors’ own diagram)

50
 Application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

Integrated software map

Q SF 1 Charakteristika der Antworten

# Maturity Level
Qragen SF 1 1Charakteristika
2 3 der Antworten
4 5 6
Score

Reliable data source Wie ist der Informationsfluss

Questions Informations
SF 1Answer2 characteristics
3 4 5 6
imWie
Engineering gestaltet?
ist der Informationsfluss -systeme
Informations
1 2 3 4 5 6
im Engineering
How gestaltet?
is the information flow in -systeme
Information
engineering structured? systems
Two-way information flow

Resources Information systems

Maturity levels

Organisational structure Culture

Industrie 4.0

Customer satisfaction Innovativeness Productivity

Output Input
Indicator system

Costs Quality Deadlines

On-time deliver Flexibility

Application

Overall systems effectiveness

Performance factor Availability factor Quality factor

Figure 24: Linkage between key figures-classification scheme and the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index
(source: authors’ own diagram)

51
 The indicator classification system is necessary in order to evalu- Harting has already done a lot of work in the field of Indus-
ate the benefits of Industrie 4.0 applications.42 Complex coher- trie 4.0, especially in its manufacturing facilities. The upgrading
ences, e.g. the benefits of self-optimising production processes, of its IT infrastructure over the past few years and the systematic
need to be explained in a way that can be easily understood. A provision of feedback from the shop floor have made it possible
self-optimising production process can improve the overall effec- to create a digital model of the production environment in the
tiveness of a machine and can result in improved adherence to company’s information systems. Individual pilot projects in dif-
delivery deadlines by lowering the rate of unexpected failures. ferent production areas are generating an in-depth understand-
This can have a positive impact on the output of an enterprise ing of the relevant technology. The company has also learned a
and its overall productiveness. The short example makes it clear lot from the process of integrating these pilot projects with its
that the indicator classification system needs to portray the rela- existing operational processes. By way of example, one of the
tionships between the indicators themselves.43 Established indi- ­pilot projects involves automatically detecting the condition of
cators were therefore examined and transformed into a hierarchi- die cutters using structure-borne sound.
cal structure.44 The maturity level of the enterprise is shown in the
topmost layer, while the innovation capacity, productivity, etc. are
shown underneath. Productivity is the ratio between a company’s Resources Information
output and input. Measurable figures, e.g. the performance factor systems
of a machine, are shown in the lowest layer. The impacts of Indus-
trie  4.0 applications can be directly assigned to figures in the
lowest layer. When one of these figures is affected, the implica-
Results for Harting

tions for figures in the higher layers can be visualised. To estimate

the benefits of a higher maturity level, the figures for the lowest
layer are connected with the capabilities of the Maturity Index.

6.3 Example application in a

company
Organisation Culture
The acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity Index was validated at
­Harting AG & Co. KG’s Espelkamp site in early August 2016.
Harting manufactures industrial connectors, device connection
technology and network components. In 2016, it employed ap-
proximately 4,300 people across a total of 43 sales companies Figure 25: Assessment for Harting
and 13 manufacturing facilities. The company’s head office is (source: authors’ own diagram)
located in the town of Espelkamp and this is also the location of
its largest manufacturing facility.
The assessment found the company to have attained the “visi-
Harting drew up a detailed inventory of the processes in all of bility” maturity stage (stage 3) due to the implementation of
the relevant functional areas. In addition to interviews with ex- these Industrie 4.0 pilots in the value chain and the existence
perts in the individual functional areas, a site visit was carried of a digital model as illustrated by Figure 25. Having estab-
out during which the process of making of a standard product lished the status quo, measures were formulated to ensure that
Application

was demonstrated so that the transitions between different de- all aspects of this maturity stage attained a consistent level be-
partments and the availability of information on the shop floor fore taking action to help the company reach the next maturity
could be evaluated. stage.

42  | See Obermaier 2016.

43  | See Lingnau und Brenning 2015, pp. 455–460.
44  | See Pfeifer et al. 2014.

52
 Application of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index

Harting’s roadmap contained over 30 measures across the differ- all of the production lines (see left-hand side of Figure 26). Con-
ent functional areas, with the incremental goal of attaining ma- sequently, this measure aims to integrate the individual pilot
turity stage 4 “transparency”. Measures to attain maturity level projects into an end-to-end process in order to take full advan-
5 and 6 are not included in the current roadmap. These actions tage of the Industrie 4.0 potential. This involves choosing an in-
will be integrated into the results of a subsequent assessment. tegrated approach for a particular product or product group and
rolling out the pilot project across the entire value creation pro-
One measure in the functional area “production” involves inte- cess. As well as the deployment of additional sensors, this also
grating and rolling out the existing pilot projects across the en- includes integration with the relevant operational and decision-­
tire manufacturing process. Since the pilots are running on sepa- making processes in order to enable data-based decision-making
rate production lines, they are currently only resulting in local (see right-hand side of Figure 26). The experience gained from
process improvements. These improvements are isolated and implementing the pilot projects is used to inform their roll-out on
fragmented, since their potential is not being leveraged across a larger scale.

Product Group A
Step 3 Resources Information

Step 1 Step 2 Step 4 Step 5

systems

Pilot A

Product Group B Organizational

structure Culture

Step 4
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 5
Pilot B
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Product Group C Pilot A Pilot B Pilot C (Pilot ?) (Pilot ?)
Step 1
Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5
Pilot C

Engi- Produc- Marketing Engi- Produc- Marketing

Logistics & Sales
Services Logistics & Sales
Services
neering tion neering tion
Product Groups A, B, C, ... Product Group A

Figure 26: Example of measures identified (source: authors’ own diagram)

Application

53
 delivers additional benefits to the company. The index can be
7 Conclusion used to develop a digital roadmap precisely tailored to the needs
of each individ­ual company in order to help them master the digi­
tal transformation across all involved relevant business units.
The term Industrie  4.0 first appeared in a publication in 2011
and has since then been used to describe the widespread integra- In the future, the model and the study’s findings can be used to
tion of information and communication technology in industrial develop tools and best practices that assist companies with the
production. However, the term is sometimes misinterpreted and concrete shaping of the transformation. This should be done sepa-
focusing only on a technological perspective. In fact, companies rately for different industrial sectors in order to ensure that the
also need to transform their organisational structure and culture. recommendations are as specific as possible and to reflect the dif-
The ultimate goal is to become a learning, agile company capa- ferences between individual industries. Consequently, further vali-
ble of continuous, agile adaptation to a changing environment. dations should be carried out to investigate the specific character-
istics of different sectors and types of business. It is important for
The acatech Industrie  4.0 Maturity Index provides companies the model to keep receiving additional input so that it can con­
with guidance for carrying out this transformation into a learn- tinue to develop in the spirit of continuous learning. In addition to
ing, agile company. The index presents six consecutive develop- further validations, we hope that this input will also come from a
ment stages for four key areas of every company. Each stage dialogue with interested partners in research and industry.
Conclusion

54
 References

BMWi 2015
References Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (Ed.): Industrie
4.0. Volks- und betriebswirtschaftliche Faktoren für den Standort
Deutschland. Eine Studie im Rahmen der Begleitforschung zum
acatech 2016 Technologieprogramm, 2015.
acatech (Ed.): Kompetenzen für Industrie 4.0. Qualifizierungs­
bedarfe und Lösungsansätze (acatech POSITION), Munich 2016. Burns/Stalker 2001
Burns, T./Stalker, G. M.: The Management of Innovation, Oxford:
acatech AdWiSE Oxford Univ. Press 2001.
acatech: AdWiSE – Vernetzung der Akteure zur disziplinübergreif­
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57
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Authors/Editors:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Schuh Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reiner Anderl
FIR e.V. at RWTH Aachen University Department of Computer Integrated Design
Campus-Boulevard 55 Technical University of Darmstadt
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Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger

Heinz Nixdorf Institute German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, DFKI
Paderborn University Stuhlsatzenhausweg 3
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Prof. Dr. Michael ten Hompel

Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML
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acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, 2020

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Recommended citation:
Schuh, G./Anderl, R./Dumitrescu, R./Krüger, A./ten Hompel, M. (Eds.): Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index. Managing the Digital
Transformation of Companies – UPDATE 2020 – (acatech STUDY), Munich 2020.

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As well as promising faster and more efficient manufacturing
processes, digitally connected industrial production in the context
of Industrie 4.0 also provides opportunities to design and imple-
ment new business models. Companies need to be extremely agile,
flexible and good at learning in order to adapt dynamically to a
disruptive environment. In addition to building and refining the
necessary technological (artificial intelligence) and data-based (big
data and cloud solutions) capabilities, companies must also make
the relevant adjustments to their organisational structure and corpo-
rate culture.

This publication is an update of the original acatech STUDY

published in 2017. Featuring updated text and illustrations, it
describes the concept of the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index,
which provides companies with guidance for their own individual
transformation process. The Index is based on a six-stage maturi-
ty model that analyses the capabilities in the structural areas of
resources, information systems, culture and organisational structure
that are required by companies operating in a digitalised industrial
­environment.