Secure data ecosystems Factory-X: Gamechanger for industrial SMEs?

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Especially small and medium-sized companies sometimes still struggle with digital transformation. How can Factory-X specifically support these companies on their journey?

Rica Holzmann is a member of the management board at Soffico GmbH.

The desired transformation towards learning and agile organizations and productions poses major challenges for many SMEs and medium-sized companies. The traditional organizational and technological boundaries must be overcome and considered in a holistic integrated manner in the future. In particular, the heterogeneous, historically grown production landscapes in many small and medium-sized enterprises represent a challenge.

The challenges of historically grown production landscapes in SMEs

A major obstacle has proven to be the so-called spaghetti interfacing. This phenomenon describes an unstructured, tangled network of interfaces and connections between various systems and facilities, which has developed over time through incremental extensions and integrations. In many cases, small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly affected by this phenomenon, as they often rely on traditional, proven business models and technologies. Over the course of their long history, these companies have developed a multitude of systems and processes that are often incompatible with each other and lead to an additional patchwork of interfaces and connections.

The complex network not only complicates the efficiency and flexibility of production, but also poses significant risks for data inconsistencies and security gaps. The task is to rationalize and modernize these historically grown structures in order to remain competitive. To meet this challenge, therefore, a targeted strategy for the integration and standardization of interfaces is needed. Only in this way can smooth communication and collaboration between the various production components and across ecosystems be ensured.

Manufacturing-X and Factory-X as pioneers for the connected Industry 4.0

Based on the requirements of the industry, the cross-sector initiative Manufacturing-X was launched, which implements the conceptual framework of the Industry 4.0 data space. A functional data space requires easy access to and seamless networking of data, as well as a willingness to release data multilaterally. Manufacturing-X develops trustworthy data ecosystems that are based on open standards. The goal is to demonstrate concrete applications and implement them on a large scale.

The industrial lighthouse project Factory-X addresses these challenges by creating a cross-sector, open data network that covers the entire life cycle of products and production resources. By adhering to standards and scalability for businesses of any size, Factory-X enables new, data-based business models and application solutions. The planned data-driven solutions and software services are based on existing technologies and experiences and are specifically developed for factory operators, factory equipment manufacturers and their suppliers.

How can SMEs benefit from such a data space?

Digital data exchange enables seamless communication between devices, systems, and people. For SMEs, this is an opportunity to increase efficiency, minimize errors, and develop new business models. The networking of initial devices and the overcoming of limited possibilities of information exchange are the first steps on this path. Connectivity and engineering open up possibilities for remote access, the increase in the number of connected devices, and the transmission of time-series sensor data, which are essential for precise monitoring and predictive analysis.

Despite the obvious benefits, SMEs face significant challenges in digital transformation. These include issues with data quality, storage of large amounts of data, and integration of heterogeneous IoT data. Security concerns are also at the forefront, as traditional IT systems are often overwhelmed. In addition, there is an increased financial risk, as financing innovation projects is more difficult for SMEs. Government-funded initiatives such as Manufacturing-X can particularly enable SMEs to innovate and grow.

From the perspective of Soffico GmbH, also an SME in the IT sector, the implementation of basic services for seamless horizontal and vertical integration of use cases with each other, as well as integration into existing system landscapes, is of particular importance for the industrial medium-sized sector. This is crucial in order to protect investments and quickly realize the benefits of improved production efficiency and transparency. Standardized connectors, as part of a universal data platform for data aggregation, transformation and distribution across all levels and company boundaries, form the basis for the easy processing of the complex communication of systems, machines and facilities. One of the biggest challenges is that the operational data and context information often need to be derived from a plethora of different sources, which often do not align with each other. Furthermore, both performance and fail-safety need to be considered right from the architecture design phase, as devices and machines usually generate very large amounts of data. The innovative idea behind a uniform data infrastructure consists of combining the key requirements for data orchestration: interoperability, scalability, standardization, and the processing of large, partially unstructured data volumes.

As an SME in the context of Factory-X.

With its project participation, Soffico aims to develop and realize connectivity and data transformation without programming effort across the entire value chain in the context of Manufacturing-as-a-Service and modular production as well as basic services, together with the project partners from mechanical engineering. The focus is on the needs of medium-sized companies. The goal is to provide standardized IT/OT integration solutions based on the requirements of SMEs, leading manufacturing companies, and standardized scientific methods. These solutions form the starting point for overlap-free connectivity and interoperability of the business applications developed in the sub-projects. The solutions are basically cross-sector and are generally aimed at manufacturing companies.

By enabling modular production, the efficiency and agility of manufacturing processes are to be maximized in order to quickly respond to market changes and customer requirements and to increase resilience. In addition, the provision of a low-coding platform is expected to promote Manufacturing-as-a-Service initiatives, based on which companies can effectively use their capacities and offer their products and services via platforms.

The transformation to agile organizations poses challenges for SMEs. Factory-X offers solutions for data integration and standardization, facilitates SMEs' access to data-based business models and promotes efficient production. Nevertheless, challenges such as data quality and heterogeneity remain. Soffico, an SME involved in the project, aims for seamless integration and modular production with its participation. Maximum efficiency and agility enable quick adaptation to market changes and resilience. A low-coding platform is intended to facilitate the provision of services and make capacity usage more effective.