First Economic Forum at Erfurter Kreuz
The first economic forum at Thuringia's largest industrial trade area "Erfurter Kreuz" took place on 29.03.2017 and attracted around 240 trade visitors from politics and business on the topic "Industry 4.0, Logistics 4.0, Illusion 4.0? Users and Critics in Dialogue" on the premises of SolarWorld Industries Thüringen GmbH in Arnstadt to discuss the topic of digitization of the Thuringian economy. In addition to IPOL GmbH, the event was organized by the three associations "automotive Thuringia e.V.", "Initiative Erfurter Kreuz e.V.", "Logistik Netzwerk Thüringen" and LINDIG Fördertechnik GmbH. The commitment of IPOL went far beyond the mere organization.
Many participants already took advantage of the opportunity in the morning and gained on-site insights into modern manufacturing and logistics processes in six companies at the Erfurter Kreuz industrial location. Some of them were able to develop a lean production and logistics process themselves during the IPOL workshop "Lean Logistics - experienced live". In three rounds of games, accompanied by theoretical impulses and suggestions for optimization, the participants worked out a lean production and logistics process using the production of an interior door panel as an example. From round to round, significant progress and significant savings potentials became apparent, until finally the goal of keeping the customer cycle was achieved.
 |
 |
In the afternoon, several interesting series of lectures on topics such as networking between the old and new economy started. This was initially introduced by a panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Lars Vollmer and representatives of the business community. This was followed in two blocks by presentations on the current state of development in the field of logistics in Thuringia and on digital business models. IPOL gave a keynote speech on "Low Cost Intelligenz Digitalization (LCID) - Realization of a transparent lean production with sensor networks and RFID" and informed about own developments and experiences. For example, a retrofitting approach for cost-effective data collection at heterogeneous production facilities and a cloud-based solution for efficient forklift control were presented. The concepts and demonstrators met with great interest, especially among SMEs.
 |
 |
Dipl.-Ing. Marko Hamel, Visual Selling GbR Erfurt
The program was accompanied by a variety of trade exhibitors and interesting live demonstrations. At the IPOL Information Desk, visitors were able to ask questions about the topics Industry 4.0 and Logistics 4.0 as well as to see own developments, for example the time study app IPOL Time.
The series of lectures was concluded by the author of an economics book, Prof. Dr. Lars Vollmer, with his presentation on "Digital Transformation - The Change in the Service Economy". Using Nokia as an example, he vividly demonstrated how rapidly old technologies can be replaced by new ones and pleaded for a complete rethink of management and work. The evening ended with an informal get-together and a lively exchange of ideas about the impressions gained during the day and about the new technologies. First ideas for collaborations and further events were born.
 |
 |
Overall, the event was a complete success. Both the visitors and the organizers of the Economic Forum were very satisfied. The majority of the participants were open to new technologies and agreed that a rethink is needed not only with regard to business models, but also in process organization and work itself. Digital processes enable significantly higher speeds and flexibility and thus represent a great potential for the Thuringian economy.
Following the event, MDR broadcasted an report in the Thüringen Journal, in which IPOL Managing Director Dr. Thomas Rücker also spoke in an interview.
