Petr Knap, Head of Consulting, Czech Republic, Head of Automotive, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, EY, opened the session with key trends in modernizing manufacturing. The key enablers to modernization can be grouped in three categories: digitization (team collaboration tools, virtual assistant, digital twin), data (predictive analytics, self-service BI, real-time data processing), and infrastructure (5G/Wifi 6, IoT, data as a service). Investments in smart factories are projected to reach USD 244.8 billion in 2024.

 

Marc Gillis, Strategic Account Manager EPC, Rockwell Automation, presented how the ArcelorMittal’s Steelanol plant creates from CO₂ a by-product- bio-ethanol- demanded by the market. The key is identifying the expertise needed. For instance, since the Steelanol project included bioreactors more often used in the pharmaceutical industry, bringing in a pharma process expert helped achieve larger gains.

Michal Major, Plant Director, Whirlpool, explained that at the start of the process, Whirlpool assessed the digital maturity of its organisation and was dedicated to become a global Whirlpool pilot for Industry 4.0.  Based on an analysis, Whirlpool selected ten areas for improvement.

Uwe Kueppers, EMEA Consulting Services Manager, Rockwell Automation, presented how through the introduction of IoT, Doosan Bobcat company was able to improve production visibility, order management, associate management, quality management, and maintenance management. The idea was not only to improve the performance in production, but also to integrate sale & marketing in the process.

AmCham members can receive the full report from the event, which includes public financing opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

The event was held in cooperation with AmCham Slovakia.