
The maintenance cloud
Huawei and General Electric (GE) presented a cloud-based solution for predictive industrial maintenance at Hannover Messe 2017.
Articles and background information on the topic

Huawei and General Electric (GE) presented a cloud-based solution for predictive industrial maintenance at Hannover Messe 2017.

In mid-June 2017, the Industry 4.0 platform presented its recommendations for action on how to implement and strengthen Germany's leading role in the field of Industry 4.0. The 10-point plan is available for download from Computer&AUTOMATION.

Their business idea for an electricity-producing cell phone cover has won five students from the Albert Schweitzer High School in Erlangen the 2017 German Business Founder Award for Students. The coated cell phone cover is designed to thermoelectrically convert heat into electricity.

Many companies do not tackle the topic of Industry 4.0 because they lack a strategy guide. Acatech wants to fill this gap with the 'Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index'.

Interpack 2017 / M2M communication
With the 'ChoConnect' M2M project, four machine manufacturers are working with Bosch Rexroth to demonstrate the practical application of OPC UA for networking systems at Interpack 2017. The long-term goal is to develop an official standard.

The requirements for automation modules are growing: a new ZVEI guideline calls for an OPC UA-based communication interface as well as numerous other features and functions that are already required.

Why is TSN needed in factory automation? Will TSN in conjunction with OPC UA replace fieldbuses? Are device prototypes already available? These and other questions formed the framework of the Industrial Ethernet TSN conference on September 27, 2016 in Stuttgart.

With Ferri SSD, Silicon Motion has introduced a solid state disk especially for embedded applications in the industrial and automotive sectors. Robert Fan from Silicon Motion explains the special features of the SSD in an interview.
Softing / Business figures 2016
Softing is satisfied with the recently published business figures for the past year. According to CEO Dr. Wolfgang Trier, the company achieved sales in 2016 that were almost on a par with the previous year.

NetModule AG has now joined the LoRa Alliance as an Adopter Member. The non-profit organization LoRa Alliance aims to standardize low power wide area networks and thus advance IoT and machine-to-machine communication.