Who uses Industrie 4-0 in Germany?

BITKOM, the federal association of the German ICT industry has presented the results of a survey regarding the application of Industrie 4.0.  From each of four core industries – automotive, chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering- 100 participants were chosen from companies with at least 100 employees. BITKOM represents the interest of over 2,200 businesses, 1,400 of whom are direct members.  They include nearly all global players as well as 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and numerous start-ups.

The survey provides numbers for Germany, they show that about four out of ten companies (44 percent) in these industrial core industries already use Industrie 4.0 applications.  The automotive industry has the lead in the use of Industrie 4.0 applications with 53 percent, in electrical engineering it is 48 percent, in the chemical industry 42 percent, and in mechanical engineering only 41 percent.

According to the survey, 18 percent of the companies are planning to use Industrie 4.0 applications in the near future, another quarter is currently not using it, but can imagine to do so in the future.  For about one in seven companies (14 per cent) Industrie 4.0 currently not an issue, this number his higher in smaller companies.

The digitization and networking of the production offers advantages from a business perspective:  Around three-quarters of respondents (76 percent) believe that Industrie 4.0 solutions can optimize the processes in their factory. 72 percent believe that it is possible to reduce production costs, as efficiency increases through the use of IT.  71 percent say that using IT can improve capacity utilization and 70 percent believe that it allows for work to be flexibly organized.  Of the companies that already use Industrie 4.0 applications or plan to, 51 percent expect their sales to be boosted. 49 percent of the users and planners think that they can keep their sales stable in the future thanks to Industrie 4.0.

Furthermore the survey looked into the most current application examples of Industrie 4.0 in the user companies.  The numbers show that predictive maintenance and social machines are strongly represented followed by smart products, global facilities and augmented operators

Winfried Holz of BITKOM: "Those who want to make their production future-proof will need to invest first. These investments are but just as essential as the regular care and maintenance of machines and equipment.  Without it, there will be no modern, efficient production in the future."

Nevertheless, there are obviously still many concerns: Nearly 80 percent of companies see their own industry as too hesitant when it comes to the implementation of Industrie 4.0.  The main obstacle is, according to survey, the investment cost. 72 percent of respondents say that these investment costs are the main obstacle for the use of industry 4.0 applications in their company. 56 percent of respondents also name the high complexity of the topic and as many see the lack of skilled labor as a problem.

While the survey only provides us with German numbers, it allows a view behind the scenes of major manufacturing sectors and their usage and understanding of Industrie 4.0.  To make data comparable we furthermore need a clear and generally accepted definition of Industrie 4.0, as the interpretations of the term already widely vary, even though the concept has only been introduced in 2011.

Keywords: Industry 4.0, digitization, predictive maintenance, social machines, smart products, global facilities, augmented operators