Pepperl+Fuchs supports the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) in its role as one of the founding members. This new association was established by the German trade associations ZVEI, VDMA, and Bitkom, along with 20 companies from the machine building and electronics industries. The aim is to increase use of Industry 4.0 through joint development of a "digital twin."
The digital twin functions as the interface for physical industrial products in the digital world within Industry 4.0 applications. The association plans to combine the various parallel development strategies pursued to date into a globally viable, open-source solution. This solution will provide continuous data availability across an entire product life cycle, from planning and development, production and commissioning, to use and recycling.
New business models for small and medium-sized factory
The solution will unlock new business models for small and medium-sized factory equipment manufacturers and large end users from the automotive and process industries. Users will benefit from early insights into the digitalization of industrial products, and can use this information to reduce integration time and costs in their own value creation chains. In addition to the German trade associations ZVEI, VDMA, and Bitkom, companies such as Bosch, SAP, Siemens, and Volkswagen are among the founding members of IDTA. Dr. Matthias Bölke from Schneider Electric was elected chairman and Dr. Horst Heinol-Heikkinen, owner of Asentics, is the deputy chairman.
"Standardized development of the digital twin as an open-source solution is really important for the progress of Industry 4.0. This is why I'm very happy for Pepperl+Fuchs to contribute to this new user association. IDTA will now represent a significant global strategy for its members," commented Dr. Gunther Kegel, CEO of Pepperl+Fuchs.
