INTERVIEW: TÜV Süd trusts in the initiated concept
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Bärwald from the TÜV Süd about the importance of the Industry Business Network 4.0, the reasons for the commitment of his company and the goals of the association.
Mr. Bärwald, you are a founding member of the IBN 4.0 e.V. – what motivated you to support the medium-sized manufacturer initiative from the beginning?
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Bärwald: We are convinced that it needs an intersectoral initiative that specifically supports innovative medium-sized manufacturers, service providers and users in the areas of digitization of manufacturing and Industry 4.0. We see this initiative in Industry Business Network 4.0 e.V. and therefore TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH has been a founding member of the association since autumn 2016, focusing on the topics of safety and security.
What interests does the TÜV pursue in the project in a short and long term perspective?
Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Bärwald, Head of Smart Technologies der TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH
Bärwald: As an important foundation, the association designs the IF4.0 standard, which defines data and parameters relevant to individual categories of equipment, devices and components, from which the necessary information for the smart factory can be generated. The IndustryFusion 4.0 technology developed on this basis allows small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular, to benefit from the added value of networked production. In particular, IndustryFusion 4.0 addresses the following aspects: Manufacturer-independent integration of various systems,
non-monopolistic solution with interoperable interfaces, use of existing standards as the basis for networking, manageable implementation costs for SMEs, compliance with regulations and standards in mechanical and plant engineering, guarantee of safety, Security and data sovereignty for manufacturers and operators. In our opinion, the benefits of networking and the resulting added value will have a lasting impact on industrial production. In this way, as TÜV SÜD, we would like to actively support our customers and partners.
Finally, what do you think the association will do over the next five years?
Bärwald: TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH actively supports the implementation of IndustryFusion 4.0 by a consortium of competent software and hardware manufacturers and supports the concept of reference systems initiated by Industry Business Network 4.0 e.V. in order to demonstrate the concrete implementation of Industrie 4.0 for medium-sized businesses , If, in a second step, it is possible to develop series products on the basis of the reference implementations and then bring them into the middle class in significant numbers, we have achieved our goals.
