Industry of Future 2024
Under the title “Industry of Future 2024”, Dr. Schönheit + Partner invited top executives from the manufacturing industry to Cologne on 23 January 2024 to exchange experiences on the Industry of Future. The central questions were: What are the success factors for industrial companies to still be producing successfully in Germany in 2050? How can leaders prepare their companies for this future today? Managers of well-known companies from 18 sectors, from mechanical and plant engineering to safety and medical technology to robotics and automation, came together to address these challenging questions.
Because if you want to be successful in the future, you have to set the course today. Knowing that the useful life of factories, industrial buildings and industrial sites is 50 – 100 years, the factory of the future must take into account the needs of Generation Z and provide them with a flexible, adaptable, meaningful and climate-neutral workplace. Accordingly, the event focused on the topics of Green Factory, Digital Twin and Leadership – sustainability, digitalization and leadership. There were also numerous exciting keynote speeches on forward-looking concepts and products that provided inspiration for dialogue among like-minded people:
- Peter Trapp, Managing Director, Fusion Cologne GmbH – Urban Production
- Bastian Maiworm, Managing Director, ambeRoad Tech GmbH (amberSearch) – Big Data + KI
- Christoph Alt, Managing Director, ligenium GmbH – Cradle to Cradle
- Thomas Hähn, Managing Director, United Robotics Group GmbH – Automation + Robotics
- Tobias Kuhnert, Managing Director S + P Consulting, Dr. Schönheit + Partner – #nxtfctry: Factory of the Future
In subsequent focus sessions on the three main topics, the most urgent fields of action for the participants crystallized:
- To realize the zero-emission factory, creative energy concepts paired with courage and a willingness to change on the part of management departments are required, without waiting for changes in politics.
- Digitalization and automation are key success factors for long-term success at the production site and support people in production.
- Leadership will continue to provide the basis for competitiveness and success in the future, with orientation and appreciation across all generations.
“Germany as an industrial location impresses me with its maximum flexibility, an infrastructure of engineering disciplines for digitalization and automation and, above all, with solutions for the green factory and thus a major industrial contribution to a sustainably better climate. I was inspired by this responsibility and the spirit of optimism of 32 entrepreneurs from many sectors when drafting the INDUSTRIE 2050 strategy,” summarizes Dr. Martin Schönheit, Managing Partner of S + P.
We would like to thank everyone involved as well as the host of the premises, Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG (HGK), for the all-round successful, forward-thinking event and look forward to seeing you again next year!
