Prof. Dr. Detlef Zühlke has been actively involved as Chairman of the Board since the association was founded in 2005. He is now handing over this office to his successor, Prof. Martin Ruskowski, who took over the duties as holder of the newly named Chair of Machine Tools and Controls (WSKL) at the TU Kaiserslautern and head of the 'Innovative Factory Systems' research area at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence(DFKI) almost two years ago. Ruskowski studied electrical engineering at Leibniz University in Hanover, where he completed his doctorate in mechanical engineering. After holding several management positions in industry, he was responsible for the global 'Research and Development' division at the Kuka Industries Group until his move to Kaiserslautern.

As an expression of gratitude for his many years of service, Prof. Zühlke was made an honorary member of the association's board and presented with a certificate. "Although I will no longer be acting as Chairman of the Board of the association, I would like to dedicate myself to a new vision of a European network of smart factories. In this way, I will remain involved in the industry," says Zühlke.

Dr. Thomas Bürger, Head of Automation Systems Development at Bosch Rexroth, Andreas Huhmann, Strategy Consultant Connectivity & Networks at Harting, and Klaus Stark, Head of Innovation Management at Pilz, were re-elected as members of the Board for the next term of office.

The SmartFactory-KL association currently has 52 members, of which 41 are full members and 11 are supporting members. The members also include 46 commercial enterprises ranging from regional SMEs to global DAX-listed corporations. Thanks to the involvement of companies from Europe, the USA, Japan, China and Korea, SmartFactory-KL is now very well positioned internationally. Six members are scientific institutes and research facilities from Germany and abroad.