Bridging the Smartness of Startups and SMEs

Exponential growth, whether in nature or in the technology environment happens very very slow in the beginning, only to evolve quickly once beyond a 'tipping point'.

Here in Saxony, where Dresden and Leipzig are strong in the field of exponential technologies, emerging out of the legacy of the once dominant VEB Robotron (headquartered right downtown Dresden) during the GDR-times, things begin to shift quickly. 

A year ago the DLR (the German space agency) announced it DLR Software Institute based in Dresden, in the near future taking advantage of the installed supercomputer power at the Technical University Dresden. 

Further info about the new #DLRdresden institute (@DLR_en) today at @TSystems_MMS pic.twitter.com/OBT5QRxMtf

— HTxA (@HTxA) 26. Oktober 2017

What seemed impossible to emerge just a few years ago, despite the region's reputation of being Europe's "hot spot" for semiconductors, microelectronics, and digital technologies in general, as its name "Silicon Saxony" clearly indicates, and stands for, is now "breaking through the surface". One year ago, the WFS (Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen, or Saxon Economic Development Agency) held its yearly press conference on its achievements at a smallish company active in the aerospace domain, headquartered 30 min outside Dresden. Only there the audience, including ourselves, learned how prominent and present the actors, despite their size (literally dwarfs compared to the big and known players worldwide). Here is the story about this.

Many of these activities in the business-related context are emerging right now, and digitization (transforming analog data into digital data) and digitalization (making use of the digital data for the benefit of the company) playing more and more a crucial role to keep up the pace of the global (as well as local) competition, and setting a firm foot on profitable niches.

A few months ago, a new project to accelerate the joint work between digital startup providing digital solutions and industrial SME in order to build on both strengths, got started and funded by the SMWA (Saxon State Ministry for Economics, Labor, and Traffic). Its name is "Digital Smart Events"

Beginning of September a first workshop on the topic of "smart maintenance" is taking place at the IoT Testbed of the University for Applied Sciences HTW Dresden. What's so special about that? Not only that leading managers of SMEs get a chance see Industry 4.0 in action and can get a sense of what can be used in their own's organization context. The three local companies which partnered together (two of which are or were lately startups with innovative applications) work hand-in-hand bringing to life what often is foggy and hidden in flashy headlines.

Firm No. 1 captures the data streams from the machines
Firm No. 2 connects the data with other applications such as
Firma No. 3 bringing the machine to visualization on a tablet with all relevant maintenance data

.... and in the end, a digital service for maintenance experts is created that can be used to dramatically reduce the time to maintain the complex machinery at vastly laid-out or even remote plants and production facilities.

Sounds too good, to be true?

Here you find more (in German, as the workshop itself will be held in German - GoogleTranslate or other tools should give a clear sense of what it is about)

→ "Smart Maintenance durchgängig integriert" ("Smart Maintenance fully integrated")


In case you'd like to know more about the three companies providing the workshop, here you find more:

1. ELCO Automation GmbH (especially the division Monkey-Works)
2. SQL Projekt AG (with its tool Transconnect®)
3. 3D IT GmbH (with its innovative "Govie"-engine)

#DigitalSmartEvents