loader image

FOCUS AREAS

what we focus
right now

The members of the OI4 Alliance are the tech­nical back­bone of our commu­nity, driving the devel­op­ment, inte­gra­tion, and stan­dard­iza­tion of solu­tions that enable inter­op­er­ability across indus­tries.

We always go for a struc­tured approach to address chal­lenges in Industry 4.0, ensuring compa­nies can effi­ciently imple­ment digital solu­tions.

By bringing industry leaders, suppliers, and oper­a­tors together, our members trans­late real-world chal­lenges into orga­nized, collab­o­ra­tive efforts that lead to prac­tical and scal­able solu­tions.

From edge
to cloud

Soft­­­ware-Defined Automa­tion (SDA)

Today, each compo­nent supplier brings its own digital solu­tion, and automa­tion ends up as a patch­work of soft­ware tied to specific devices. Intro­ducing a new func­tion can take months, and every update, secu­rity fix, and addi­tional site adds effort on top. SDA sepa­rates soft­ware from hard­ware and deploys it the same way from devel­op­ment to produc­tion, across vendors. In joint OI4 imple­men­ta­tions, this has cut the time to intro­duce new func­tion­ality from months to weeks. Getting there takes coor­di­na­tion beyond any single company, which is why SDA is a core focus at OI4.

READ MORE HERE

“….”

— Martin Flöer, Weid­müller

“Soft­­­ware-defined automa­tion isn’t about cutting out propri­etary hard­ware. It’s the answer to the chal­lenge of total cost of owner­ship and the foun­da­tion for added value..”

— Samuel Greising, Flecs

Indus­trial AI

The OI4 AI Commu­nity brings together members who work on applying AI in indus­trial envi­ron­ments. It serves as a shared space to exchange knowl­edge, align on approaches, and explore concrete oppor­tu­ni­ties for using AI across the value chain. The commu­nity is built on two pillars: strategic enable­ment, which covers AI strate­gies, roadmaps, quick wins and orga­ni­za­tional readi­ness, and prac­tical imple­men­ta­tion, where members develop and refine real-world use cases.

READ MORE HERE

“AI is not just a tool for shopfloor autom­a­ti­za­tion but also for busi­ness model trans­for­ma­tion.”

— Tobias Butsch, Nova­zoon

 

“Empow­ered people, the right tech­nology and a holistic data foun­da­tion are the key ingre­di­ents for a successful AI-based trans­for­ma­tion in manu­fac­turing.”

— Jan Nowak , Comsysto Reply

Digital Twin (DT)

Asset data exists in many places, but rarely in a form the next company or system can use without manual rework. A stan­dard­ized digital twin describes an asset’s data in a consis­tent, seman­ti­cally unam­biguous way, from the compo­nent supplier through the machine builder to the oper­ator. This makes data exchange across company and soft­ware bound­aries possible and lays the foun­da­tion for new asset-centric services. Turning stan­dards into working imple­men­ta­tions takes align­ment between suppliers, soft­ware providers, and users, which is why digital twins are a core focus at OI4.

READ MORE HERE

“In this focus area, we discuss current concepts and chal­lenges related to the stan­dard­ized digital twin (AAS) as the main concept to ensure inter­op­er­ability for rele­vant Industry 4.0 use cases. The objec­tives are best prac­tices and guide­lines to bring the use of stan­dard­ized digital twins into produc­tion and thus drive the imple­men­ta­tion of Industry 4.0 among OI4 members and their customers.”

— Michael Riester, OI4

Indus­trial Cyber Secu­rity (ICS)

Every connected device, appli­ca­tion, and inter­face is a poten­tial entry point, and in plants built from many vendors, the weakest compo­nent sets the secu­rity level for everyone. Different tech­nolo­gies and update cycles make a consis­tent secu­rity level hard to main­tain, while regu­la­tory require­ments keep rising. Secu­rity has to be built in by design, from edge to cloud, instead of being added after­wards by each vendor on its own. Defining shared require­ments that hold across all layers and vendors is why indus­trial cyber­se­cu­rity is a core focus at OI4.

READ MORE HERE

“.…”

— Björn Jansen, secunet

Open Edge Computing (OEC)

Produc­tion data is gener­ated on the shop floor, and much of its value depends on processing it close to the machine and connecting it to IT and cloud systems. Edge computing bridges OT and IT: data is processed where it is created, with low latency and faster response to what happens in produc­tion. When each vendor brings its own edge device and runtime, plants end up with isolated systems that cannot share appli­ca­tions or data. An open, stan­­­dards-based edge plat­form lets appli­ca­tions from different vendors run side by side and commu­ni­cate across layers, which is why open edge computing is a core focus at OI4.

READ MORE HERE

“….”

“Open edge computing plays a key role in Industry 4.0 and IIoT by connecting OT with the cloud and enabling effi­cient, decen­tral­ized data processing at the edge. This reduces latency, enhances secu­rity, and allows for faster responses to indus­trial processes. Through our collab­o­ra­tion, we drive stan­dard­ized, inter­op­er­able solu­tions that sustain­ably accel­erate the digital trans­for­ma­tion of the industry.”

— Thomas Wein­schenk, Endress+Hauser

Compo­nent Supplier (CS)

Compo­nents are the foun­da­tion of every machine, and more and more of them come with digital services and data. Whether these services create value depends on how well they fit into the machine builder’s and operator’s systems. When each supplier brings its own solu­tion and inter­face, inte­gra­tion effort shifts to the customer and services struggle to reach their full poten­tial. Aligning digital services with common concepts and real industry use cases, together with machine builders and oper­a­tors, is why compo­nent suppliers are a core focus at OI4.

READ MORE HERE

“The focus area of compo­nent suppliers provides us with a collab­o­ra­tive plat­form to develop inno­v­a­tive, stan­­­dards-based solu­tions along­side other industry leaders. The seam­less inte­gra­tion of our digital services into diverse indus­trial value chains is crucial for enhancing effi­ciency and driving inno­va­tion.”

— Christoph Baschnagel, Dunker­mo­toren 

“Phys­ical compo­nents are the foun­da­tion of any appli­ca­tion, making their Digital Twin an essen­tial part of its digital coun­ter­part. Collab­o­rating with peers in this area enables unified solu­tions that drive greater value for our customers.”

— Thomas Weiss­chuh, AS-Schneider