itelligence takes part in the initiative “Open Industry 4.0 Alliance”
The objective of the “Open Industry 4.0 Alliance” is to create a network that links up most of the various machines in a smart factory. The alliance is a union of companies from the engineering and industrial automation sectors and SAP. In August 2019, itelligence AG, one of the world’s leading SAP consultancies, joined the group as one of the first partners at the application level.
The aim of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance is to build a standardized, open network for operating highly automated factories and processing plants, including logistics and services. The partners in the alliance are planning a framework on the basis of existing standards.
“We’re integrating production-level sensors with the world of business management systems,” says Norbert Rotter, Chairman of the Executive Board of SAP partner itelligence AG. “With the help of the solution portfolio of SAP, we’re modeling business processes like production control, inventory management or maintenance as well as collaboration between companies and external partners,“ Rotter adds.
The founding members of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance include the companies Beckhoff, Endress+Hauser, Hilscher, Ifm, Kuka, Multivac and SAP. Other partners are Balluff, Gebhardt, Pepperl+Fuchs, Schmidtsche Schack, Samson and Wika. In general, any company is welcome to join the alliance.
Creating a common language for data exchange
Any large company, or any medium-sized factory, processing facility or logistics center, will use a variety of products from a number of different manufacturers. “Proprietary standards in connectivity, data management and collaboration inhibit the scaling toward ‘Industry 4.0’,“ says Mark Albrecht, Global Head of Innovation Technologies at itelligence. “We want to change that by creating a common language for data exchange.”
Open standards all the way from production to service
The Open Industry 4.0 Alliance promises an open, standards-based and compatible range of solutions and support and intends to model the entire path extending from the product in the workshop to service. Companies using this framework can draw on a toolkit of modular, compatible and scalable components for solutions and services. These are based on the core competencies of the alliance members and provide the opportunity to make a vendor-neutral selection among suppliers in the discrete manufacturing and processing industries.
Four winning elements: The Open Industry 4.0 Alliance offers the four components Device Connectivity, Edge, Operator Cloud and Cloud Central as well as an associated range of services. The alliance is global in scope. The initiative was joined by itelligence in August of this year.
itelligence
itelligence AG transforms IT landscapes and business processes through the combination of innovative SAP software and technology with services and products developed in-house.
As an SAP Global Platinum Partner, itelligence supports SMEs and large enterprises in every phase of their digital transformation. itelligence’s range of services includes IT strategy and transformation consulting, software deployment and implementation, as well as application management and managed cloud services. The excellence of these services is built on the foundation of itelligence’s local presence, global capacity, and comprehensive industry expertise. itelligence partners with customers to create new and innovative business opportunities through the use of IT – for each facet of the customer’s business. Thousands of satisfied customers have placed their trust in itelligence, many of them since the company was founded 30 years ago. itelligence’s contribution to innovation and long-term business success has been confirmed by numerous SAP awards and leading market analysts. itelligence is part of the global NTT DATA group and employs over 8,500 people across 26 countries. In 2018, itelligence generated 926.6 million euros in total revenues.