Siemens is advancing its position in the realm of Artificial Intelligence-driven industries by focusing on innovation and strategic partnerships. At the Hannover Messe event, Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG, highlighted the company's capabilities in industrial AI, digital twins, and software-defined automation to aid their customers in achieving resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability. He stated, "Hannover Messe is taking place at exciting times. Industries face dramatic changes in technology and their markets, and Siemens is uniquely positioned to support their transformation."
During his address, Busch advocated for reduced bureaucracy and increased innovation, emphasizing the unique opportunity for Germany to transform its growth through industrial AI. "We have domain know-how – we understand our industries. And we have the data. Together with AI this is a winning combination," Busch added.
Siemens is presenting key innovations including the Industrial Foundation Model (IFM) and the virtual Programmable Logic Controller (vPLC) as implemented by Audi. The company, in collaboration with Microsoft, is developing the IFM on the Azure platform. This model specifically uses industry data to enhance the collaboration between humans and machines, aiming to increase productivity, efficiency, and quality. It also aims to address the skilled workforce gap and advance operational excellence.
Together with Audi, Siemens is pioneering virtual manufacturing technology by deploying vPLCs at Audi’s Böllinger Höfe facility. These virtual controllers are designed to offer advantages such as flexibility and speed in production, supported by AI. Siemens' technological prowess is further validated by obtaining a safety certificate for vPLCs from TÜV, Germany’s technical inspection association.
The partnership ecosystem forms a crucial element of Siemens' strategy. Through Siemens Xcelerator, Siemens aims to integrate partner technologies into industrial processes. A recent collaboration saw Siemens and Accenture announce the formation of the Accenture Siemens Business Group with 7,000 professionals to promote solutions combining Siemens and Accenture's respective technological strengths.
At Hannover Messe, Siemens is showcasing the Teamcenter Digital Reality Viewer, advancing its collaboration with NVIDIA to bring the Industrial Metaverse to life. The integration enhances visualization and simulation capabilities, allowing for the creation of photorealistic digital twins. Additionally, Siemens is leveraging NVIDIA AI to improve operational efficiency through real-time video analytics.
Siemens is also strengthening its relationship with Microsoft to improve industrial operations by integrating Siemens' real-time data collection tool, Industrial Edge, with Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform. This integration facilitates real-time data collection, cloud analysis, and the use of AI and digital twins to optimize maintenance and quality.
Furthermore, Siemens has formed a strategic collaboration with AWS to promote sustainable infrastructure, integrating Siemens' digital building platform Building X with AWS cloud services and AI capabilities. This alliance, showcased at Hannover Messe, illustrates increased efficiency, cost reduction, and process automation through energy savings via real-time consumption and emissions data insights.