Fresh enthusiasm was generated for automation, and so also for the digitization of industrial processes – a development that attracted young people to companies in the industrial sector.

A new way of thinking in industry

HANNOVER MESSE was and is the perfect showcase for Industrie 4.0. Not only is it still all about networked machines, sensor technology, data and information, and new business models, but also about a new way of thinking in industry: companies need be present on their own platforms or else develop and run them themselves, automation companies must collaborate with customers, must also think in an open-source way, develop products together, involve young companies, new sectors such as the gaming industry, learn from one another, collaborate in new constellations (coopetition), earn money with other business cases (subscription), and cooperate even more closely on research. That is not always easy, so Industrie 4.0 is a cultural issue as well.