You don't have to buy a machine to be able to use it: Digitalization is making new business models possible that are based on the automated exchange of data. Experts from science and industry are clarifying the conditions that need to be met for these business models to be economically and technically feasible in the large-scale research project "X-Forge".
Digitalization has not only changed the way in which manufacturing companies produce their goods. The business relationships that companies enter into with each other have also changed in the course of the fourth industrial revolution. The rigid value chain has become a flexible value network that no longer has fixed processes and whose players are constantly changing. This complex interplay is reminiscent of a natural ecosystem of animals, plants and microorganisms, which is why experts also refer to a value creation network as a digital ecosystem.
A digital ecosystem is kept running by the automated exchange of data between all players. And this constant exchange enables new, data-based business models in which manufacturers not only become service providers, but all processes in a factory can also be understood as individual services: Everything as a Service (XaaS). In the large-scale research project X-Forge, experts from research and industry are now investigating some of these new business models and clarifying which data needs to be collected and exchanged for this and how this data transfer can be technically implemented.
X-Forge is divided into four consortium projects. The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA is involved in all of them:
When the planer sends an invoice
The woodworking industry in Baden-Württemberg consists mainly of small and medium-sized family businesses. It is often very difficult for them to afford the high acquisition costs of new high-tech machines. They therefore prefer to maintain their existing machinery, delay investments for years and risk falling behind their competitors. One possible solution: pay per use. The woodworking machines remain the property of the manufacturer, while joineries and furniture factories pay monthly for their use.
In the consortium project "Wood Working as a Service" (WOODaaS), researchers led by Oliver Schöllhammer, Head of the Corporate Strategy and Development department at Fraunhofer IPA, are currently investigating how such a usage-based business model should be structured to make it equally attractive for manufacturers and users. The central question here is: What is billed at the end of the month and how do invoicing and payment work? To clarify this, Schöllhammer and his team need to find out whether the data generated by the sensors on existing planing and moulder machines is sufficient for the new business model and which additional data may need to be collected. Ultimately, invoices, payment and maintenance processes are to be triggered automatically.
In addition to Fraunhofer IPA, the consortium project also involves the mechanical engineering company Michael Weinig AG from Tauberbischofsheim (consortium leader), the engineering firm Roth GmbH & Co. KG from Billigheim and Hogra-Holz GmbH from Limbach in the Neckar-Odenwald district. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism is funding WOODaaS with almost 2.3 million euros from the InvestBW funding program.
The cutting machine, which configures itself
Contract manufacturers and metalworking suppliers are under massive price pressure in international competition. They therefore need to use their cutting machines effectively, i.e. around the clock if possible, with consistently high process and production quality and at low cost, even for small batches and individual items. A usage-based business model should also make this possible here: in future, contract manufacturers and suppliers will no longer have to purchase expensive machines. Instead, they will pay for a package consisting of machine tools, cutting tools and IT services.
In addition to automatically triggered payment and maintenance processes, the latter should also consist of intelligent algorithms that independently intervene in the machining process and improve the process parameters during operation. The aim is to avoid excessive wear and damage to components. "Machinists will no longer have to struggle with machine settings or hire external service providers to optimize their production processes," says scientist Schöllhammer from Fraunhofer IPA. Schöllhammer and his team want to achieve this by combining the process and production data, which were previously available separately, and making them accessible to a self-learning algorithm.
In addition to Fraunhofer IPA, the consortium project "Productivity as a Service" (PRODaaS) also includes Karl Walter Formen- und Kokillenbau GmbH & Co. KG from Göppingen, sensor manufacturer Blum-Novotest GmbH from Grünkraut in the Ravensburg district, machine manufacturer F. Zimmermann GmbH from Neuhausen auf den Fildern, tool manufacturer MAPAL Dr. Kress KG (consortium leader) and platform provider c-Com GmbH (both from Aalen). The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism is funding PRODaaS with around three million euros from the InvestBW funding program.
The drive system that provides tips for better product quality
For most companies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify and implement optimization potential for their own products or manufacturing processes. However, thanks to digitalization, new approaches are constantly emerging that can be used to achieve further optimizations. In the consortium project "Product Life Cycle Enrichment as a Service" (PLCEaaS), Paul Thieme and his colleagues from the DigITools competence center at Fraunhofer IPA want to collect all the data generated by WITTENSTEIN SE during the entire product life cycle of a drive system at a central location and make it accessible.
This central point is a so-called administration shell, which stores all relevant data in a sorted manner like a digital file - starting with the production of the individual parts, through the assembly and delivery of the finished drive system to the utilization phase with all its faults, downtimes, damage claims, repair and maintenance processes. This data can be processed and evaluated using an easy-to-use analytics toolbox. "This approach can be used for much more than just predictive maintenance," says Thieme. "It also provides information on how the drive system can be used in a more resource-efficient way and shows the manufacturer how to further improve product quality."
In addition to Fraunhofer IPA and WITTENSTEIN SE from Igersheim (consortium leader), ASCon Systems Holding GmbH and TruPhysics GmbH (both from Stuttgart) are also involved in the PLCEaaS consortium project. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Tourism is supporting PLCEaaS with around two million euros from the InvestBW funding program.
A factory hall full of services
The project partners are going one step further in the consortium project "Smart Factory as a Service" (FABaaS). It is not the operation of a single machine or the life cycle of a specific product that is being developed into a usage-based business model, but the entire end-to-end process in a manufacturing company - from ordering and production to delivery and payment. "Placing sales, logistics and payment processing in the hands of external service providers has long been common practice," explains Anja Reuter from the DigITools Competence Center at Fraunhofer IPA. "But splitting everything that happens on the shop floor into individual bookable services from external providers is a new approach to production that is only made possible by digitalization."
But up to what point is such production from well-orchestrated services profitable for everyone involved? What data needs to be collected and exchanged? What data can be exchanged at all without violating applicable law? What technical requirements must the individual machines fulfill and how is the IT architecture structured? Reuter and her project partners are clarifying all these questions in the FABaaS consortium project and finally implementing individual services as examples.
In addition to Fraunhofer IPA, FABaaS also involves the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH & Co. KG from Ditzingen (consortium leader), the two software providers Heidelberg Mobil International GmbH and XETICS GmbH from Stuttgart, the two sensor manufacturers SICK AG from Waldkirch and Kinemic GmbH from Karlsruhe, the vacuum technology manufacturer J. Schmalz GmbH from Glatten, STOPA Anlagenbau GmbH from Achern, ACD Elektronik GmbH from Achstetten in the Biberach district and the international management consultancy umlaut SE. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism is funding FABaaS with almost five million euros from the InvestBW funding program.
