A common misconception is: “Digitalisation and Smart Factory are IT projects.” In fact, the digital transformation of a company is a matter for the top management and part of a comprehensive change management process. This is where the congress “Digitalisation in Confectionery Production” comes in, which will take place from 9 to 10 October 2018 at the Zentralfachschule der Deutschen Süßwarenwirtschaft (ZDS) in Solingen/Germany. The congress is organised in cooperation with the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI) and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA).

Expert lectures and live demonstrations provide participants with assistance and concrete information on how to implement digitalisation in their production. At the beginning of the congress, it will be explained what exactly Industry 4.0 is and which advantages it brings. Increased networking of machines, processes and people increases efficiency, reduces costs and saves resources at the same time.

The second thematic block of the congress will deal with concrete questions concerning the implementation of Industry 4.0 in the company. For a start, a realistic evaluation of the participants own company is worthwhile. The question of financing and the search for contacts is particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises. Participants will receive concrete advice and learn how they can take advantage of funding opportunities.

The third thematic block is completely devoted to digitalisation in production. It explains a company’s path from automation and digitalisation to a “Smart Factory” in which machines collect, process and communicate data on the Industrial Internet of Things. The congress programme is rounded off by live demonstrations of the company Exozet of remote maintenance with Augmented Reality, as well as the workshop “Practical, Transparent Quality Management in the Digital Surrounding” with Dr Martin Müller of SensoPlus.