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THE THYSSENKRUPP TECHNOLOGY MAGAZINE 02.2016

THE THYSSENKRUPP TECHNOLOGY MAG02techforum

www.thyssenkrupp.com/techforum-en

Our working environment is going to change radically. Experts from thyssenkrupp are thinking decades ahead and are preparing the Group for possible scenarios

Leap into the future

LAYER BY LAYER TO SUCCESS Additive manufacturing sparks enthusiasm among engineers

PROSPECTING IN DATA MINESBig data transforms development, production, and service

FEDERAL RESEARCH MINISTER WANKACO2 is the mother of invention

Find out more in the cover story on page 8.We report on this and other big data

applications on page 18.

We report on the new sandwich technologyfor batteries on page 34.We present the new ViSTIS system on page 44.

So far in the Foresight process, more than 100 employees from all areas of thyssenkrupp have taken a broad look at the future.

We show you what this means for shipping on page 30.

Find out what plansthyssenkrupp has for this

eld on page 24.

Fuel cells are 25% more e cient than diesel engines.

RESEARCHERS RECKON THAT THE MARKET FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING WILL GROW TO

Modern steel production involves around 800 parameters. A neural network has created a new combination of starting materials and processing steps, and thus a previously unknown premium steel.

The EMBATT research project aims to double the share of active battery materials in the system volume of energy storage devices to

US DOLLARS IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS.

20billion

Modern simulation technology makes it possible to reduce training time for marine crews by 50%. 80%

Dear readers,

Well-positioned businesses have a consistent innovation strategy, which in general uses roadmaps to describe the path to the future on the basis of knowledge secured in the present day. However, this strategy will only incorporate disruptive events in the rarest of cases, for such events are not predictable, although they do

occur regularly in the real world. Examples of such unplannable events are Germany’s decision to transition to renewable energies in the wake of the

ukushima disaster, or the global nancial crisis.To identify potential for disruptive change, we have to detach our-

selves from the here and now and think in scenarios that lie at least 15 to 20 years in the future. Only then can we free ourselves from the practical constraints of the present and come up with really new ideas. This method is known as “foresight.”

It is a form of futurology, which is a university research discipline. Foresight has developed reliable tools and is used by many companies. Car manufacturers, for example, ask us repeatedly, “What will the mobility of the future look like?” Foresight helps us answer such questions and think through plausible scenarios for the future together with our customers.

Foresight is not an oracle or a crystal ball but a systematic process that combines rational analysis and creativity. What it produces are possi-ble scenarios for the future – not a single future that will inevitably come to pass. For this reason, we always develop several alternative scenarios for strategically important topics so as to prepare ourselves for possible developments.

We have already dealt with the topics of “Future of work in manu-facturing,” “Last mile mobility,” “Water management,” and “Upgrading megacities.” In the latest issue of techforum, we present you with three possible scenarios for the future of production. We show you what employ-ment arrangements might look like, describe possible company structures and types of business conduct, and demonstrate the sort of self-image that employees may develop in the future.

Naturally not all of the scenarios describe a future that we would wish upon ourselves. However it is only by taking all of them into account that we will be able to pos-itively shape our own destiny.

In subsequent issues, you can nd out about the scenar-ios for the other topics of the future. We invite you to take this leap into the future with us, and we wish you an exciting read.

Dr. Reinhold Achatz, Chief Technology O cer, thyssenkrupp AGC

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06 Short cutsCarbon2Chem | Award from GM | Elevators for the Panama Canal | New online store | Solutions for the Riyadh Metro

Cover story08 The future of work

Three scenarios from the Foresight process

10 Working in the cloud Pro ects are handled by e ible teams of freelancers, leaving hardly any permanent employees

12 Extreme boredomVery few people still work in factories. Creativity and careers are irrelevant

14 People take center stagePlacing the focus on sustainability and long-term relationships. Machines support humans

16 “Diving into the worlds of the future”

thyssenkrupp wants to use scenario technol-ogy in all areas of the business

Projects18 Large-scale data mining

New steel compositions and less waste: thyssenkrupp is driving forward big data

24 Layer by layer to success Additive manufacturing o ers new opportunities for product design

30 Emission-free across the sea New fuel cells make ships quieter and cleaner

34 Power for electromobilityLong-range batteries are being developed as part of the EMBATT research project

08Foresight process: How might the working environment change? And how can thyssen krupp adapt to this?

24or o s ree o :

3D printing is opening up completely new opportunities for design engineers

04 ThyssenKrupp techforum 01.2016

Contents

40For the people: Research always has to respond to society’s needs

Panorama36 Hand in hand with the machine

thyssenkrupp turns robots into work colleagues

40 “CO2 is the mother of invention” Interview with Federal Minister for Education and Research Johanna Wanka

42 Valuable climate killerThe Carbon2Chem research project is turning CO2 into a raw material

44 Deceptively real The ViSTIS simulation system recreates ships and equipment

48 Creativity along the Atlantic coastResearch scientists in Gijón are working on the transport solutions of the future

50 Earning a byte in the 21st century Machines will soon be doing everything – even writing columns

44Virtual worlds: With the help of ViSTIS, people can familiarize themselves with their future workplace through play

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The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic an Paci c ceans an is thus one of the most

important routes for global shipping tra c he canal has been in existence for more than 100 years and is undergoing extensive expansion to allow the passage of larger container ships thyssen rupp has sup-plied 14 innovative elevators for this project; seven for each new loc system one is located on the Atlantic and the other on the Paci c side

wo elevators provide access to the new control towers that monitor the tra c in the canal Additional elevators are installed at various points along the loc he complexity of the project demands a great deal of detailed nowledge from the thyssen rupp team or exam-ple, the elevator components must be explosion-proof to guarantee maximum availabil-ity even under the harshest of climatic conditions his is the

rst structure with such high safety standards in Panama

Enlarging the Panama Canal is costing around 4.9 billion dollars

Funding of more than 60 million euros for Carbon2Chem

The ederal inistry of ducation and esearch is pro-viding the Carbon Chem project initiated by thyssen rupp with funding of more than 0 million euros he aim is to convert process gases from the steel production process

including the C 2 they contain into base chemicals see the info-graphic on page 42 ases from the steel production process are currently burned o to produce electricity and heat for the manufacturing process Carbon2Chem, on the other hand, places the gases at the start of a chemical production chain his is possi-ble because steel mill gases contain, among other things, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, which can be used to manufacture numer-ous chemical products n addition to thyssen rupp, 1 partners from the areas of basic and applied research and various sectors of industry are participating in Carbon2Chem Construction of a technical center will start on the premises of thyssen rupp teel

urope in uisburg this fall to test the Carbon2Chem processes on a pilot scale once the rst phase of the project is complete

“With Carbon2Chem we are demonstrating how climate protection and a competitive steel pro-duction process can be combined successfully thanks to research and innovation in Germany. We are thereby securing jobs in the steel industry within our country.” Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister for Education and Research

Elevators for the

Panama Canal

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thyssenkrupp techforum 01.2016

Following the introduction of “materials4me” in the UK and Spain, the online store for small cus-tomers and end users is now available in Germany. Metal and plastic products in standard dimen-sions and customized cut lengths are now available online. With the launch of the store, thyssenkrupp Materials Services is continuing to implement its multi-channel digital strategy on schedule and is accelerating coverage of the European market. The materials4me European product range currently encompasses more than 10,000 products. The online store can be accessed at www.materials4me.de

a on n o Awarded for best quality, new products, cost e ciency, and customer care

10,000 products in online store

Honored as best international supplierGeneral Motors has pre-sented thyssenkrupp with its “Supplier of the Year Award” for best interna-tional supplier in 2015. The award went to the Springs & Stabilizers busi-ness unit based in Hagen. Performance was rated in the categories of product quality, launch of new prod-ucts, cost e ciency, and supply chain. thyssenkrupp has been supplying General Motors with vehicle com-ponents such as springs and stabilizers for around 50 years. n the last scal year alone, the company produced around three million springs and over a million stabilizers for General Motors vehicles.

thyssenkrupp is supplying a total of 641 elevators and escalators for Lines 1 and 2 of the Riyadh metro project in Saudi Arabia. The two lines are the rst milestone of an underground system with a total of six lines, 85 sta-tions, and a total length of 176 kilometers. The extension of the public transport system in Riyadh is one of the largest global projects of its kind. The aim is to reduce the number of private vehicles as the city and its popu-lation is set to grow dramatically in the next decade.

641 elevators and escalators for the Riyadh Metro 85

n o n Saudi Arabia backs sustainability

stations will make up the new metro in Riyadh. Lines 1 and 2 are the rst project milestones

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The future of work

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Cover story

What will working look like in the i tant t re hi i a i lt

e tion or whi h there i no lear t an wer owe er it i

possible to say how it might look n the ollowing pages we present

three future work scenarios that thyssenkrupp has e elope as part of its oresight pro ess hey outline so e

ery i erent futures hey es ribe worlds that could ust as easily o ur

hat does not ean that they will just as easily o ur t is also not the ase that we would prefer ertain s enarios

he ost i portant fa tor is that we understand what ould be in order to a ti ely shape our future

Text: Ulrich Eberl Illustration: Skizzomat / Marie Emmermann


This is how we could work in the future, with companies mainly only concerned with administration, while teams of specialist freelancers complete the project work

Working in the cloud: the cloud-based society

Talking head and hologram displa Independent inventor Simon Miles’ tools

We have been following the winding roads of the High Black Forest for what feels like an eternity. We are look-ing for the legendary

white house of Simon Miles, the guru of young entrepreneurs. Miles is an icon of the 21st century: in the 2020s he was one of the rst to market himself consistently as an independent inventor, developer, and designer of new products and worked on a project basis with a wide variety of

rms. Today, 1 years on, this is nothing unusual any more – but Miles is still one of the best, and we want to nd out why.

The satnav system has taken our autonomous e-taxi the wrong way several times: Miles probably enjoyed planting a fake location in the o cial databases.

At the entrance to his far-from-concealed house, we are greeted by a ghost – or rather, a translucent, talking head with a disconcerting smiley face, oating in the air. This demonstration of Miles’ sense of humor alone has made the whole journey worthwhile, but what makes it even more so is his study. Before us we nd an almost dazzlingly white room with a curved win-dow facade, which is switched to transpar-ent and o ers a fantastic panoramic view of the hills of the Black Forest and the lake far below.

The walls consist of curved compu-ter displays, although at the moment their screens are all white. In the middle of the room stands a large octagonal touch table, also white, at which Miles has

evidently just been working and which shows the design details of robots. In the middle of the multifunctional table, a transparent cube with an edge length of about 120 cm is being lowered slowly: one of those holographic displays in which you can make laser-controlled 3D objects

oat freely in the air.Simon Miles comes round the table,

greets us, and invites us to take a seat on a sofa, which is also white. The interview can begin.

techforum: Mr. Miles, do you really do everything by yourself?Miles: When a client entrusts me with a new project, together we assemble a suitable team for the purpose: designers, human-machine specialists, production planners, logistics experts – whatever is needed. Then we sit together here as if we were in a conference room. Everyone sees and hears everyone else. In reality, of course, the colleagues are spread all over the world. Before us, on the holographic

SCENARIO ONE

“Using digital twins, we can simulate everything: functionality, manufacture, and repair.” Simon Miles, freelance icon

display, we can see the virtual product or its production environment. Here we can simulate everything on its digital twin: how it works or is made, or the best way to repair or dismantle the product.techforum: And what are you working on at present?Miles: Customized communication robots for the home, helpers for the many old and lonely people, entertaining little compan-ions that remind them of appointments or to take their medication, set up 3D inter-

net links with children and grandchildren, read out the news, or even play games with them. techforum: What’s your secret? How come you are always faster than your rivals?Miles: Decades of experience, global net-works with the best partners, and AI sys-tems optimized to my needs, that really think along with me and make strategi-cally valuable suggestions. Sometimes I no longer notice whether I am commu-

nicating over the internet with a human colleague or with a machine with arti cial intelligence. And I’m still just as moti-vated as I was on my rst day

Simon Miles looks at the clock and taps his feet. We get the message: this brief audience is over. The master needs to get back to work.

More freelancers than workersOn the journey back, we talk about how the world of work has changed in recent decades and created gures such as this independent inventor. It probably began at the end of the 20th century, when the number of workers in production, raw materials extraction, and agriculture declined dramatically, while the pro-portion of basic services and knowledge workers grew signi cantly. Today, in the 2030s, for each permanent member of sta at a rm there are often ve to ten freelancers or employees of specialized service companies.

Companies too have undergone radical change. Today, they are organ-ized virtually and are highly exible as a result. They now deal essentially only with “administration” and with providing a plat-form for their many freelancers. Everything else is handled by people like Simon Miles – independent service providers paid only on the basis of their results. That calls for even greater creativity and skillful self-market-ing, an area in which our famous inter-viewee is unsurpassed. People seem not only to accept this but actually to appre-ciate it: they have a heavy workload, but they can organize their work themselves and are highly regarded socially.

Creations are just as individual as their inventors. Customers want cus-tomized products that can also be made cost-e ectively thanks to fully autono-mous, intelligent production technology. The cloud and global IT standards ensure that the increased complexity remains manageable – here too, the idea of the plat-form has prevailed. Only in this way can a genius like Simon Miles take o on his

ights of creativity and amaze consumers again and again.


monitoring and emergency purposes.

Man and machine:dreariness@work?

nder contro Specialists monitor the production line, supported by sensors and cameras

SCENARIO TWO

We encounter few peo-ple on the manufac-tur n oor for p lot production of the electric convertible. Practically all the pro-

cesses are automated, says the employee guiding us through the production facil-ity. “Our colleagues perform a supervisory function, monitoring the machines – usu-ally remotely through logins, not here on the production line,” he says. This is a typical picture in the plants of the corpo-rate groups in the 2030s: thanks to almost fully automated production, employees have largely disappeared from factory buildings and can concentrate on other tasks. The halls are occupied mainly by highly automated machines that con-stantly make new products there to sup-ply our consumer society with low-priced, mass-produced goods.

“ am a re ghter,” our guide stres-ses. “We intervene when something gets stuck. Then we have to be quick, other-wise the whole production process comes to a halt. However, the machines usually tell us in advance where the problem is. They have very good self-diagnostic capa-bilities. Also, we have already run through what needs to be done on training courses – digitally, of course, with avatars, virtual reality, and our ‘What if?’ software in the cyber room.”

He leads us to a side room, with virtual- reality displays on all sides – clearly the cyber room, where the production proc-esses are simulated beforehand and the real production is then overseen. A few employees are observing what is happen-ing on the displays. They are responsible for making sure that all the processes take place with ma imum e ciency and that market supply is guaranteed. Since the

system has been optimized, individual autonomy and creativity aren’t usually in demand. People enjoy fascinating experi-ences outside working hours.

It is no wonder that someone inter-jects rather grumpily: “At least you re-

ghters don’t get bored, whereas the rest of us just sit around here with hardly anything to do, despite a six-shift opera-tion around the clock.” We ask him what his job is. “Requirements Engineering Manager. I have to describe the require-ments for a system or process, organize tenders, and nd the best partners, but that’s all highly standardized anyway, and there are a lot of tools and bots – standalone software modules – for this purpose that do most of the work. It’s really di cult to pay full attention the entire shift, but modern methods such as gami cation help.”

“We are paid strictly according to performance, e ciency, and e ectiveness, with constant Key Performance Indicator assessments.” “You should be glad you have a job at all,” growls another. “Just look at how many jobseekers there are around the world. When was the last time a job for people without speci c quali ca-tions was advertised here? If it weren’t for the lingering skepticism about intelligent machines, we certainly wouldn’t be here any longer, either. And you don’t have to work if you don’t want to.”

“That’s true,” says the requirements man-ager. “Nevertheless, most of us are just small cogs in a big machine. The market

always has the upper hand. It determines what we have to do, as well as when and where. But we do still earn good money and can a ord more than what the basic income would give us.” For about ten years now, the state has given each citizen a min-imum allowance that is enough to live on and to pursue a few hobbies and creative or social activities. This is paid for by taxes on the value created by companies, which rely mainly on machines rather than people.

“What about careers and continuing professional development?” I ask, before looking at the astonished expressions on the younger workers’ faces. “Careers – they hardly exist here. That concept is outdated. Down here, there are only a few specialists like him,” he says, pointing to the re ghter. “The rest of us don’t need much training, just a bit of on-the-job stu . Beyond that, we get everything from the cloud or wikis, or we ask the bots.”

We wonder whether this is perhaps also a reason why, although there are many new products with changed designs and features, there are now hardly any of the radical innovations that were still seen as guarantors of success a few decades ago. Too little power, too little creativity, too lit-tle... “Does this mean you also have only little freedom in what you do?” I ask.

The employee who got so agitated earlier laughs. “Freedom?” he says. “The very opposite. As we watch over the machines, we are constantly watched over too – with cameras and body scanners at the start and end of our shift, and with electronic keys and continual authentica-tion when we log on anywhere...”

And this is indeed necessary if pure e ciency is the primary goal. Optimal processes have to operate as error-free as possible. The human is thus becoming part of the factory.

Optimal processes have to operate as error-free as possible.


“In general,human beings take precedence over the robots here.” Frida Soestmann, Managing Director

In this scenario, companies focus heavily on sustainability. This can also be seen in the considerable commitment to employees, who work hand in hand with robots in the production facilities

Regional roots:human-controlled Industry 3.5

In our region you do not have to look hard to nd companies where suc-cess and continuity go hand in hand. Smartion and its founding family are a good example of this. The Soestmann family have remained

true to their values for three generations. Moritz Soestmann began after the Second World War with the production of particu-larly long-lasting household appliances, then his son Kurt entered the electrical goods business, and his children, in turn, switched the focus to decentralized energy systems in the early 2020s.

First came solar and biomass plants, wind turbines, heat pumps, batteries, gas-storage tanks, and heat accumula-tors, as well as software solutions with arti cial intelligence. Then, in the 20 0s, the company’s portfolio was supple-mented with redox- ow and power-to-gas energy-storage systems. With this, the Soestmann family rm, which changed its name to Smartion in 20 0, nally became a market leader in the eld of decentral-ized energy systems. This is not an iso-lated case, for many companies today are focusing on sustainability and systemati-cally developing their brands around this theme. In fact they don’t really have any other choice, because what their custom-ers want is not a constant succession of items that are in fashion but solid prod-ucts that last a long time and which they are happy to stick with, preferably made by a manufacturer from the region.

Loyalty is also a top priority for employees, and this too is something that we can observe at Smartion. Many of the people working here have been with the company for 40 or 45 years. Not much has changed in that time: the site is still the one where the company was established, and many of its production facilities are also here. However, Smartion has erected a new HQ building, a star-shaped, low-rise structure with extensions that curve upward like a ower. o you like it asks managing director Frida Soestmann.

ianthus superbus, the fringed pink. It was only possible to build such a structure by using a lot of wood and carbon ber-re-inforced concrete. It is really something very special: beautiful yet sustainable, with an excellent CO2 performance and a long lifespan.

Smartion has a lot to o er its employ-ees. The company pays great attention to occupational safety and health, the Soestmanns support their workers’ fam-ilies and local communities, and they do not make anyone redundant, even at

times when there are not many orders. Another model that is highly regarded in the region is the Smartion School of Life, a type of high school where the children of employees are familiarized from their very rst day with both the concepts of sustainability and the company itself. They are also taught to practice individ-ual responsibility from an early age; the hierarchies at Smartion are at, and every employee simultaneously has leadership tasks.

Training courses for team spirit There are also special training courses to enhance professional development, skills, and team spirit, to which partner rms, suppliers, and customers are often also invited. Ideally, these are regional part-ners, Frida Soestmann explains. That strengthens trust, understanding, and cooperation. We also share our knowledge and expertise with people we trust.

There are still a lot of people at work in the production hall, at stationary mon-itors and mobile devices to oversee the machines and ensure their quality, for double-checking inputs and commands, or in control centers for process manage-ment. At a number of production islands, humans and machines work hand in hand, so to speak. Robotic arms pass elec-tronic components to humans and help in assembling and putting things together, while sensors ensure that they do not

SCENARIO THREE

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Administration building in the shape of a o er Sustainable, low-carbon, and with a long service life

injure anyone and, in the event of a col-lision, switch immediately to a safe mode in which no force is applied. The robots are responsible for the physically di cult and tiring tasks, while the humans carry out the more delicate and cognitively demanding precision work.

Good training is essential obots and computers with arti cial

intelligence can provide a lot of support, and at facilities where we have to handle dangerous chemical substances, for exam-ple, we already rely on automated pro-

cesses and semiautonomous machines, but, in general, human beings take prec-edence here,” says Frida Soestmann as we walk through the plant. “Face-to-face communication beats any com-puter dialog system. We humans oversee everything and take the nal decisions.”

Smartion always needs skilled sta for this. “Good training is very important,” the head of the company stresses. “In

order to attract the best workers, we are helped above all by our good image as an employer – here in this region and beyond. For me personally, however, team spirit and loyalty are even more important in an employee than specialist knowledge.”

She herself is the best example of this. Our tour of the facilities is slow going because she stops at almost every work-station to ask the employees how they and their families are. This perhaps explains why, in the third generation, Smartion is still one of the most successful companies in the region.


The foresight process invites you to leave your comfort zone and take a look beyond the horizon. Innovation Manager Andreas Meschede explains in an interview how thyssenkrupp uses the results across all areas of the businessText: Christian Buck

techforum: The three scenarios read a most i e science ction stories h ha e ou chosen this formatAndreas Meschede: These stories are more than ust science ction. ll the content portrayed is, in principle, tech-nologically possible and consistent. We paid attention to this in the structured preparation of the underlying scenarios. Moreover, such a story is just one way of presenting our results, albeit a way that is especially suited to encouraging the reader to dive into these worlds of the future.techforum: hat resu ts ha e emer ed so far from thisMeschede: We are using the scenarios for ideas workshops, for example. These

“Diving into the worlds of the future”


More than 100 employees took part in the foresight process

Methodical a oach Scenario technology combines creativity and mathematics

bring together representatives of our business areas from a wide variety of functions, such as technology, marketing, and human resources. The focus is on one question: what does thyssenkrupp need to do di erently today in order to be success-ful in the scenario world of the future? So far, this has given rise to about 80 ideas, of which we have already looked at twelve in more detail. ut this is only a rst step. We want to use these scenarios on a broad front and in all our divisions – and also, for example, for discussions with custom-ers and suppliers. The key thing is that by using this method we continually leave our comfort zones and think creatively for the future.techforum: he r t i theme i the fore i ht roce a the uture of

or i i ma ufacturi hat other theme ha e ou loo ed atMeschede: We have dealt with “Last mile mobility,” “Water management,” and “Upgrading megacities,” but that is only the beginning. The foresight process is con-tinually developing, and we will de nitely be adding more themes in the future.techforum: o did the r t li t come a outMeschede: At the very start of the fore-sight process we identi ed elds where we expect appreciable changes in the future, such as energy and raw materials. In a workshop, our strategy chiefs and the heads of development of our business areas were then able to allocate money from a virtual development budget to individual themes. In addition, the partic-ipants had a certain amount at their dis-posal that they could invest, like venture capitalists, in a completely new area. At the end, we chose the four themes that had been allocated the most money, and

“Water management” came out top. This is an area where thyssenkrupp is not cur-rently active, and as such it is a good illus-tration of our desire to use the foresight process to look beyond our customary horizons.techforum: o did the ce ario for the future of roductio come a outMeschede: There is a very clear method-ology behind the scenario technique. First we use workshops to determine the central in uencing factors for a particular theme – in this case, the future of production. This could mean fewer than ten or fteen individual factors, including, for example, technology, training, or data manage-

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ment. In the next step we examine three to ve di erent directions in which each of these in uencing factors could develop, independently of all the others. In this way, we obtain several dozen projections, depending on the number of factors.techforum: hat do ou do ith the e ro ectio Meschede: We put them back together in the form of a matrix, in which each projection appears once vertically and horizontally. Then we assess these pro-jections in pairs to see how well they match. For example, if two of them can-not coexist in the same world, we indicate this on the matrix with the number one.

therwise, we enter a gure between two and ve. The higher the gure, the better the match. Finally, we use mathematics to extract various consistent “bundles of projections” from the many possibilities. These should not overlap and should be as widely spread as possible – something that we can also calculate mathemati-cally. It is this methodical approach that distinguishes our scenarios from any sci-ence ction stories. techforum: ould ou ot im l ha e u ed e i ti tudie Meschede: Of course, we could just go online and look for studies. There would certainly be many overlaps with our themes at thyssenkrupp. But we made a conscious decision not to do this. Instead, more than 00 colleagues have taken part in the foresight process and contributed information. This boosts acceptance and encourages people in the Group to think about the future. After all, our focus is not on any old scenarios, but on how we at thyssenkrupp look at the future. techforum: ha ou er much for the i ter ie

“We want to use these scenarios on a broad front and in all our divisions – and also, for example, for discussions with customers and suppliers.”


Increased computing power and cheap storage are the foundations of big-data applications

18

Projects

Prospecting in data minesCompanies are still using only a fraction of their incoming data. However, this is now changing: with big data, they can develop new products, optimize processes, and improve services. thyssenkrupp is driving the use of this new technologyText: Constantin Gillies


tion of starting materials and processing steps. This exercise used a “neural net-work,” which imitates the functions of human nerve cells, and it demonstrated genuine creativity. “The chemical com-position that it came up with was not on our developers’ radar,” Paul says happily. The new premium steel has the same strength as comparable materials, but better elongation properties. It is due to be launched as early as 2017 and will be used, among other things, in automo-bile manufacturing.

The method applied by the steel researchers is an example of the use of big data. The simple principle is that a com-puter is let loose in the growing mountains of data to look for patterns or correlations that a human would never discover. This can provide not only new ideas for the

How do you make the per-fect steel? People have been pondering this question for centuries, as the possibilities are almost endless. Should the crude steel be enriched

with manganese, or is it better to use molybdenum? After that, to what extent should it be heated and rolled? There are 800 parameters in modern steel produc-tion, and each one has an in uence on the end product. “The interdependencies are too complex for a human to grasp them all,” explains Georg Paul, Senior Expert at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. Could a com-puter perhaps make sense of them?

The Group recently started a trial inspired by this idea. A computer was fed real data from steel production and given the task of seeking a promising combina-

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production of steel but also make all areas of a compan more e cient tatistical programs can select warehouse locations to ensure that the journey to the cus-tomer is always the shortest possible, or the computer can establish, out of billions of options, the one combination of prices that promises the biggest pro ts lready, 80 percent of companies are using such tools and letting their decisions be guided by data, according to a survey by the IT industry association itkom

Better use of datathyssenkrupp is driving the concept of big data, and not only in steel or a long time, we used only a fraction of our data

this has to change, says r riedrich ser e is part of a pioneering team that

has the task of exploring the opportuni-

“The interdepend-encies are too complex for a human to grasp them all.” Georg Paul, Senior Expert at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe

On the trail of rejectsManufacturing steering gears for automobiles is a complicated business: they are made from 200 parts, which are put together in a lengthy production process. Occasionally, gears emerge that are not up to standard. To make sure they are not delivered to customers, the manufacturer thyssenkrupp Presta tests every individual end product thoroughly. But this is not done until the end of the manufac-turing process, when a lot of money has already been spent on both parts and production.

“At present, we’re just look-ing in the rear-view mirror,” says Andreas Münster, Team Leader Advanced Manufacturing Engineering. This is set to change with big data: in the future the com-pany wants to use data analysis to discover and weed out problematic components at an early stage in the production process. In order to facilitate this, thyssenkrupp has gathered large volumes of data from past production. For each steering gear, there are around seven megabytes of information, which, with 10,000 items produced per day, comes to a mountain of data equivalent to the content of some 160 DVD movies.

In a second step, a statistical pro-gram will look for factors leading to unusable end products, such as a particular combination of parts, which would then not be allowed to enter the production process. “The greatest challenge is still processing the data,” Münster explains. Putting the data into a common format still requires a lot of hard work. However, it is planned to have the early detection system for rejects up and running by next year.

Mechanical creativit Researchers are using big data to develop new steel grades


maintenance will soon be a fact of life (see margin column on page 23).

Big data can even be used to dis-cover completel new business elds. thyssenkrupp is using probably the big-gest data pool in the world – the internet – for this purpose; the billions of posts on social networks and elsewhere are like a gigantic, digital crystal ball. If you look at them with the right tools, you can learn a lot – for example, about how the company is perceived by the public. thyssenkrupp has tested this in collab-oration with IBM, sifting through more than a million online documents relating to the Group and its products. This eval-uation demonstrated, for example, how positively the presentation of MULTI, the rst rope-free elevator system, was

Statistical programs look for steering gears that are not up to standard

ties o ered by big data and has already initiated pilot projects in all business areas. thyssenkrupp is pursuing two goals here: this data mining is intended to open up additional business and, at the same time, improve production processes so that the amount of labor and energy they consume is sustaina-bly reduced. One way thyssenkrupp’s customers could bene t from big data is in the form of lower maintenance costs. Another strength of this method is that it o ers a glimpse into the future: algorithms can discover sudden irreg-ularities in machine data and then automatically alert a service techni-cian. This way, problems can be recti ed before they become acute. In elevator technology, for example, this predictive

“We want to use systematic internet analysis to understand sentiment and identify market opportunities.” Dr. Friedrich Löser, Head of the thyssenkrupp TechCenter Control Technology

received by the public. It is also planned to employ this approach to track trends in internet chatter long before they reach consumers. “We want to use systematic internet analysis to understand senti-ment and identify market opportunities,” explains the big-data evangelist Löser, because using data analysis to nd out what customers want before they place their orders naturally puts you at an advantage. For example, it means that stocks of a product can be adjusted to the anticipated level of demand.

Specialists needed urgentlyowever, it is not possible to nd hidden

treasure in the mountains of data entirely without e ort. “ he great challenge is to get at data in short access times,” explains

Andreas Münster, who is working on the topic of big data in thyssenkrupp’s auto-motive division (see margin column on page 21).

Specialists are another bottleneck. hey are needed urgently to enable big

data to make any sense at all; even the best analysis cannot provide a ready-made solution to a problem, but at most only pointers. “We need people who can analyze the results and make them com-prehensible,” stresses Löser. His team includes mathematicians, physicists, and electrical engineers. “Big data doesn’t simply lay golden eggs – it involves hard work,” Löser sums up. Nevertheless, he is convinced of the opportunities. “In the long term, big data will be used every-where,” he says.

Elevator predicts its own arrival“Elevator out of service”:

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The centerpiece is a device called MAX,

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“In 95 percent of cases, this diagnosis is correct,”

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24 thyssenkrupp techforum 02.2016

Layer by layer to successA new technology has sparked enthusiasm among experts:

gives engineers unimagined freedom in product design – and is a prime example of Industry 4.0Text: Monika Weiner Photos: Claudia Kempf

This grid structure is capable of bearing many times its own weight

Dr. Markus Oles, head of Inno-vation Strategy and Projects at thyssenkrupp, is convinced that “additive manufacturing is a future technology we have to make use of. We have

the experience, the research partners, the logistics, and access to the relevant cus-tomers.” In order to pool the company’s expertise and open up new markets, a start-up is being established, modeled on the TechCenter in Dresden where thyssenkrupp has pooled its specialist car-bon knowledge. Freed from old, traditional ways of thinking, the experts in this new TechCenter will be taking a new approach to design and production. The aim is to create customized components with com-pletely new geometries and functions – more stable, yet lighter and capable of being produced within a few hours. An ideal technology for Industry 4.0.

There are good reasons for Markus Oles’ enthusiasm for additive manu-facturing, as the new technology o ers almost unlimited opportunities. Whereas engineers have previously been restricted by the production process when designing the geometry of a component, 3D design engineers will now be able to realize their ideas without limitation. The entire devel-opment process from the initial draft to the nished product is digital – a prime example of an Industry 4.0 value chain. At the same time, additive manufactur-ing also opens up new opportunities for

product design. Solid handles or heavy tools become light and delicate, with bionic structures replacing castings and sheet metal. Heavy support materials are a thing of the past.

Faster, lighter, better performanceThe new technology has already proven itself at thyssenkrupp, with the compa-ny’s engineers having developed and pro-duced new, innovative components across the various business areas in collaboration with several Fraunhofer Institutes. “We currently have a number of ideas wait-ing to be granted a patent that take full advantage of additive manufacturing,” says Dr. Alireza Tavakoli, head of the addi-

The components are made from a stainless steel powder that contains minute balls with a diameter of between 30 and 50 micrometers

tive manufacturing technology evaluation project. From design freedom and individ-ualization to lightweight construction and functional integration e citing elds of application have already een identi ed and implemented.

For example, a complex probe for taking gas samples from a kiln has been developed and produced. Thanks to inte-grated cooling channels, it is so heat resist-ant that it can be used in the burner pipe of cement works. “This probe can only be produced with the aid of additive man-ufacturing technology,” reports Benny Berndzen, design engineer at Industrial Solutions Resource Technologies Cement. “Not only could we integrate new func-tionalities such as the cooling channels, it was also possible to produce the compo-nent more quickly than with conventional processes.”

thyssenkrupp has also successfully used the new method to design brackets for pipes in submarines, reports Stefan Lengowski from the Marine Systems busi-ness area. “In our collaborative project, we showed that components required only in small quantities can be manufactured quickly and cost e ectively with additive manufacturing.” The engineers also made a positive discovery during the develop-ment process. The brackets were originally intended to be produced using metal pow-der. However, during the design phase it became apparent that plastic components from the 3D printer also met the require-

“We currently have a number of ideas waiting to be granted a patent.” Dr. Alireza Tavakoli, Additive Manufacturing Technology Evaluation Project Manager

ments which signi cantly reduced the cost of the nal brackets.

To nd out exactly when additive manufacturing pays o , the team has developed its own software. Among other things, the “part identi er” asks about the size of the workpiece, the quantity required, the technological requirements it has to ful ll, its properties and func-tion, and what material it is to be made from. Using this information, the software determines whether it is worth switching to the new production method, making it an ideal tool for providing customers with quick, competent advice.

From hype to application “We’re still just at the beginning,” says Tavakoli. “The industry is only gradually starting to identify the new opportunities presented by additive manufacturing.” He adds that the development is following the Gartner cycle typical of future technol-ogies. After the initial enthusiasm, there was a phase of disillusionment. The tech-nology simply wasn’t mature enough for industrial application. It was only in 2013, after the developers had emerged from this low and the production processes had been developed further, that the expec-tations of industry started to rise again – albeit slowly.

This development has been driven by the technological advancement of 3D printers, which are becoming ever faster and more productive. Depending


Unique and cost e ective This pipe tting can be produced

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manufacturing reduces the number of process steps and the e ort required to assemble the pipe bracket

“More and more companies are now beginning to sound out the new design and production opportunities.”

- Director of the Materials Services business area

30

Emission-free across the sea

World premiere in Ham-burg: at the end of August 2008, tourists were able to cruise emission-free on the ri er Alster for the rst

time. This was made possible by the “FCS Alsterwasser, the rst fuel cell-powered passenger ship in the world. Since then, many companies have also thought about using this clean technology to power ships – including thyssenkrupp, which currently only uses the eco-friendly and quiet means of propulsion for submarines. The combination of fuel cells and electric motors not only generates practically no sound, it is also considerably less prone to failure than a combustion engine.

Fuel cells involve no combustion and, unlike conventional power units, have hardly any moving parts. Instead, hydrogen and oxygen are transformed via a mem-brane into water and electricity to drive an electric motor. The high-temperature fuel cells developed by thyssenkrupp

are also capable of using methane to gen-erate electricity by oxidizing carbon to form carbon dioxide. This not only assists with propulsion, it also helps cool the fuel cells, because cracking the methane requires energy.

Diesel instead of hydrogenMost fuel cell-powered vehicles or ships store the energy used for propulsion in hydrogen tanks. However, thyssenkrupp decided on a di erent approach. “ e use conventional road transport quality die-sel,” explains Keno Leites of thyssenkrupp

“No nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, or polycyclic aromatic compounds: only carbon dioxide will be leaving ships’ funnels in the future.” Keno Leites, manager of the “SchiBZ” project

otot e Site manager Marlene Fischer and project manager Keno Leites in front of the diesel reformer of the fuel cell

Diesel engines in ships could soon be facing environmentally friendly competition. Diesel fuel cells are clean, quiet, and reliable. A prototype is due to set sail this yearText: Gunnar Römer


U

Clean electricity Electrical energy is generated from diesel and water in just a few steps

Marine System GmbH, manager of the “SchiBZ” project. Together with their project partner, the Oel-Waerme-Institut in Aachen, Leites and his team have suc-ceeded in transforming diesel into meth-ane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide, with heat and a nickel alloy catalyst playing the main role. The fuel evaporates and the catalyst cracks the long hydrocarbon chains into hydrogen and methane.

Thanks to this transformation, die-sel – normally not regarded as particu-larly environmentally friendly – provides clean energy for the fuel cells without

generating even a milligram of particu-lates. “Hardly anyone in professional cir-cles thought we could achieve this,” says Leites. “Since there is no active combus-tion, absolutely no nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, or potentially carcinogenic polycy-clic aromatic compounds are emitted. It is only carbon dioxide that will be leaving ships’ funnels in the future.”

The project partners speci cally chose diesel as the fuel. Firstly, it is safe – in contrast to natural gas, which was also considered, but is highly explosive. Secondly, diesel is available in large vol-

Fuel cell

Mixer

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Diesel

Water

Power electronics

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Air

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Compact source of energy

Heat exchanger

Central reactor container


“We could provide each area with an autonomous energy source.” Keno Leites, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems

nearer to the point of use, near the galley, for instance. “We could provide each area with an autonomous energy source,” says Leites. “Depending on the size of the ves-sel, it’s possible to individually plan how many fuel cells can be installed without taking up too much space.” A further ad-vantage of decentralized supply is that in the event of a fault or a re, there is no need to evacuate the entire ship as would be the case if a problem occurred in a cen-tralized engine system. According to the

calculations of the thyssenkrupp experts, on a vessel around meters long it would be possible to integrate several fuel cells with a total capacity of two to three megawatts, and on large cruise ships even up to ve.

Field trial on a cargo shiphe rst larger ship is due to be tted

with the thyssenkrupp technology before the end of this year. Due to the simpler space conditions, it will rst be used on the roughly 100-meter long “MS Forester” cargo ship. “The ship calls at ports from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, so it will always be in range should faults oc-cur,” says Leites, justifying the choice. “Although initially fuel cells are more likely to be installed in passenger ships, we have selected a cargo ship as the test object because of the easier installation options.” If the technology proves itself in practice, initial pilot projects with custo-

mers are planned from 2019. In the mean-

time, Leites’ team is working on further improvements, such as energy e ciency. Around 50 percent of the diesel is used to gen-erate electricity. The rest is currently still lost as unused heat. But this is going to change, with the experts pro ting from the extremely clean conversion of diesel in the fuel cell. “The entire process does not produce any particulates,” says Leites. “This prevents contamination of the exhaust gas heat exchanger installed downstream from the fuel cells

and keeps it functional for longer.” It heats water in a circuit that can be used to support heating or air-conditioning sys-tems, for example.

Were the experts to succeed in once again signi cantly increasing energy e -ciency though the speci c use of released heat, this would be a big step closer to powering larger ships. owever, rst of all it is necessary to integrate the fuel cells in the shipping industry. “A big challenge in this regard will be to accommodate the fuel cells in a sensible, space-saving man-ner on board,” summarizes Leites. “But

rst, we just have to get the new technolo-gy on the water.”

Fuel cells for generating electricity

Switchgear for controlling the overall system

Connection to the ventilation system and re extinguishing equipment

Lithium-ion batteries used as energy u er

Power electronics for the fuel cells

At present, electric vehicles generally manage between 100 and 200 kilometers before they need to be plugged in again. This is perfectly su cient for

many day-to-day situations, yet their com-paratively low range is one of the reasons why e-vehicles still have a very small mar-ket share. Another is the costs. Batteries are expensive and drive up the purchase price so far that for the price of a small electric car, it is often possible to buy a midsize vehicle with a combustion engine.

Both of these problems are being tar-geted by an ambitious research project. The aim of EMBATT is to develop innova-tive batteries that are capable of o ering very high storage capacity at a low price. The three partners – thyssenkrupp System Engineering (tkSE), Berlin-based engi-neering specialist IAV, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS) in Dresden and Hermsdorf – want to roughly double the current energy density of around 250 watt-hours per liter and limit manufacturing costs to a maximum of 200 euros per kilowatt hour. The project is being funded by the federal state of Saxony and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

To achieve their battery capacity and cost targets, the companies have set-tled on a completely new vehicle battery

design. They currently have a coiled struc-ture (“jellyroll”) inserted into a cylindrical cell housing. A complex system of con-tacts is used to connect the positive and negative poles. This cylindrical design and the inclusion of numerous passive parts takes up a lot of space – only around 40 percent of the system volume is currently taken up by the active battery material. EMBATT wants to double this share to 80 percent.

Layered bipolar electrodesThe idea is for the many small cylindri-cal battery cells and complex connection technology to be replaced in the future by a large-area sandwich structure to supply energy to the vehicle. To achieve this, the developers stack numerous at, large-area

battery cells on top of one another. Each comprises an anode (e.g. of graphite or lithium titanate) and a cathode (e.g. of a ceramic with lithium content) attached to an aluminum lm and separated by a porous plastic lm. “Each of these cells provides an electrical voltage of between two and four volts,” explains Dr. Michael Roscher, head of the tkSE technical center in Pleissa. “So if we stack 150 of these cells on top of one another, we achieve the 600 volts required to drive electric vehicles.”

The EMBATT process allows the cells to be stacked in a straightforward and space-saving way: all that is needed is to attach the opposite electrode to the reverse side of the aluminum lm, i.e. if there is an anode at the bottom, there is a cathode at the top. The aluminum pro-

High storage capacity at low cost: this is the aim of the EMBATT research project. thyssenkrupp contributes its production expertiseText: Christian Buck

E er s pp er: The new battery is to be integrated seamlessly into the chassis of electric vehicles

Sandwich battery for a greater range


vides the electrical connection between the cells so that there is no longer any need for voluminous and complex connec-tion technology. This makes it possible to achieve the desired share of 80 percent of active material within the battery system while reducing costs.

New manufacturing processA simple idea – but one that is yet to be implemented on an industrial scale. This is where the tkSE production specialists come in. Together with the other EMBATT partners, they are working on new man-ufacturing processes for the innovative battery. First, the anode and cathode are applied to the two sides of the roughly one-tenth of a millimeter thin aluminum foil. “We can either spray on the material

or spread it with a scraper,” says Roscher. A laser then cuts the continuous strip containing the electrodes into individual pieces roughly the size of the vehicle sub-structure. Another laser then removes the cathode and anode material around the edges of the individual layers so that a sealant can be applied there. This ensures that the liquid electrolyte does not leak out of the battery at a later point.

In the next step, a machine picks up the individual layers and stacks them precisely on top of one another – without bending them or losing any anode or cath-ode materials. This creates a monolithic block into which the electrolyte is fed via microscopic tubes in the sealant. Once this work step is complete, a machine seals the tiny openings. Finally, the battery is

Layered powerThe structure of the large surface area bipolar electrodes sets EMBATT apart from conventional types of battery

The anode can be made of graphite or lithium titanate

The e a a o separates the anode and cathode. The e e o e is located in the small pores of the separator, the anode, and the cathode

Depending on the number of layers, the arresters are capable of tapping voltages of several hundred volts

The at ode can be made of a ceramic containing lithium

The sea n s ste prevents the liquid electrolyte from leaking

encased and connected to the electronics and the power leads. It is then ready to use.

In the technical center in Pleissa, the project partners plan to set up a pilot production line and manufacture the rst EMBATT battery by early 2017. “This new approach is a complete departure, and the

at design o ers many advantages,” sum-marizes Roscher. “But we have to prove that EMBATT not only works in the labo-ratory, but also in industrial mass produc-tion.” At all events, the basic idea has been well received. Several vehicle manufactur-ers have already shown an interest. Should it prove possible to nd an industrial part-ner, and if no unexpected problems arise, the rst car with an EMBATT battery could take to the roads in 2019 – at best with a range of 1,000 kilometers on one charge.Ph

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thyssenkrupp techforum 01.2016 35thyssenkrupp techforum 02.2016

Collaboration between humans and robots is gathering momentum – albeit only with lightweight robots. thyssenkrupp has developed a method that also turns heavy-duty industrial robots into reliable colleagues

Team playersought

Text: Bärbel Brockmann Photos: Britta Pohl


Panorama

Production expert: Dr. Eckhard Wellbrock is driving forward human-robot collaboration at thyssenkrupp


Behind bars: The machines at this screw-driving station currently work within a protective cage. Human-robot collaboration could allow employees to intervene in the process without disrupting it

There are hundreds of them on the assembly lines, put-ting together vehicle bodies, engines, and other com-plex components tirelessly, quickly, and with great pre-

cision: industrial robots have become an essential part of automobile production. Up until now they have operated behind high, protective grilles, because if a per-son were to cross their path, they could be severely injured. “Although robots are extremely reliable workers on the assembly line, their complex movement patterns and rapid acceleration with high forces make them dangerous,” says Dr. Eckhard Wellbrock of thyssenkrupp System Engineering. “And at the moment, they only do what they are programmed to do. They do not respond to the unex-pected.” So at the moment, people work-ing in the vicinity of robots only act as assistants and remain at a safe distance from the machines.

But it isn’t going to stay this way. For some years, global research has been addressing the possibility of creating a real collaborative relationship between humans and robots, because in addition to the tasks that the fenced-in giants are capable of performing autonomously, there are many areas in which a form of collaboration would bring advantages. However, developers have so far focused mainly on lightweight robots. They are small and exible, but with maximum operating loads of 14 kilograms and a short reach they are unsuitable for indus-trial production. They are also very slow.

Collaboration between humans and standard, heavy-duty industrial robots at common workstations with no protective barriers would be of far greater interest as

it would allow completely new processes in the assembly of engines or vehicle bodies, for example. The developers at thyssenkrupp System Engineering are con dent that this is possible, and are therefore par-ticipating in the “Integrated Protection and Safety Concepts in Cyber-Physical Environments” (InSA) project funded by the erman inistry for Economic A airs. The project is intended to develop practical solutions on the path to Industry 4.0. InSA was launched in 2014 and the results will be presented to the Ministry in October.

The InSA project partners have now developed a demonstration model that shows how real human-robot collabora-

“Such applications would take the wind out of the sails of all those who argue that automation automatically means the loss of jobs.” Dr. Eckhard Wellbrock, thyssenkrupp System Engineering

tion can be used to install a part to seal the crankshaft on an engine block. There is a clear division of work; the robot presents the human with the engine in an ergo-nomic position, who then performs the complex joining process. This utilizes the respective strengths of the collaborators to optimum e ect, with the machine carr -ing out the heav , monotonous work, and the human the delicate, intuitive process.

Together with scientists at the niversit of remen and its partner com-

panies, th ssenkrupp has anal zed the processes of this demonstration model, discussed the safet issues, and tested the solutions using sensors and laser scan-ners. th ssenkrupp stem ngineering has since gone a step further and devel-oped its own initial practical application, which was recentl put into operation in the production shop of the compa-n s ightweight olutions division in Heilbronn. “This has allowed us to inte-grate a lot of the knowledge acquired from n into a rst customer project, sa s

ellbrock, who manages the n project for th ssenkrupp and also supported the

rst application in Heilbronn.gain, it involves a joining process

plastic bushings have to be inserted into a rear axle beam at a speci c point on an assembl line. efore being inserted, the plastic bushings are heated to expand them slightl . s soon as the are tted and the have returned to their origi-nal temperature, the shrink to give an extremel secure t. The bushings tend to di er slightl , which is insigni cant for the end result but a major challenge for the robot. “Inserting the bushings would be a ver di cult task for a robot, but it is no problem at all for a dexterous human,

explains Dr. Wellbrock. “It is possible to automate this process entirel , but onl with considerabl greater technical and

nancial outla . That s wh we decided to use human-robot collaboration at this point. This eliminates the need for an expensive gripping s stem for the robot.

th ssenkrupp s experts initiall focused on process design to create the basic principles for collaboration between human and machine. mong other things, this takes into account customer requirements with respect to footprint, c cle time, and cost e ectiveness. afet was a ke element. aser scanners mon-itor the distance to the human and adapt the speed of the robot accordingl . o mat-ter how fast human and machine move toward one another, there must alwa s be a safe distance between them. The robot ma onl approach up to centimeters awa from the person s hand. “The robotic colleague in Heilbronn weighs 1.2 metric tons, sa s Wellbrock. “ eing able to stop this weight at an time as required posed a considerable challenge.

The reference s stem in Heilbronn proved to be such a success that th ssen-krupp stem ngineering has now set its sights on a larger market. “The whole thing is now gathering momentum. We are in contact with all of our automotive industr customers to discuss the possible applications, sa s Dr. Wellbrock. In addi-tion to the cost bene ts compared with a full automated solution, an assisted industrial robot can also make worksta-tions more ergonomic, such as in the case of vehicle bod construction when metal sheets are spot welded together, the seams need to be sealed to prevent mois-ture from penetrating between the weld spots. “It s currentl often the case that a worker has to crawl under the vehicle bod to do this, sa s Wellbrock. “ ut a robot could lift the vehicle bod and rotate it b degrees so that the per-son can perform their task while stand-ing. uch applications would also take the wind out of the sails of all those who argue that automation automaticall means the loss of jobs.

The robot holds the heavy crankcase while the human prepares the radial seal for the crank shaft

80 %cost reductionthrough human-robot collaboration: the machine does not require an expensive gripping system


How climate protection is driving the modernization of the economy: Federal Research Minister Johanna Wanka talks about Germany as a location for innovation, new research strategies, and citizen scienceInterview: Bernd Overmaat

techforum: Minister Wanka, is Germany the driver of innovation for the world, or do we only appear to be doing so well because other countries are cutting their innovation budgets?Prof. Johanna Wanka: According to cur-rent UNESCO statistics, around 1.5 trillion US dollars are spent on research and devel-opment around the globe by government and industry. The USA, China, and Japan are responsible for more than half of this expenditure – Germany comes fourth. As stated in the 2016 Federal Report on Research and Innovation, the just under

CO2 is the mother of invention


Driving innovation: Germany ranks fourth worldwide for investment in research and development

three percent of gross domestic product th t e in est in inno tion is signi -cantly higher than the OECD average. In recent years Germany has invested more in research and development than ever before. From 2005 to 2016, annual federal expenditure for research and development alone rose from nine to just under 16 bil-lion euros, an increase of 75 percent. But private investment in innovation has also risen, with Germany spending more than any other EU country. This is illustrated by the latest gures published by the European Commission in July this year.

any European countries are in a di cult economic situation. But where research budgets are being cut, the probability of maintaining the competitiveness of com-panies and these economies through inno-vation also diminishes. So yes, Germany is one of the most important innovators in the world.techforum: Less money for inventions is one problem. Are the stricter climate protection targets for industry another?Wanka: We’ve known since long before the World Climate Conference in Paris last year that we have to reduce global CO2 emissions. Among other things, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proposes using new technolo-gies to remove CO2 from the air. This also includes closing carbon cycles where pos-sible. For the rst time, all countries have now agreed on binding targets, which is good because climate protection issues can only be resolved on a global scale. I see stricter environmental standards as an opportunity. They are driving the mod-ernization of industry. One good example of this is the “Carbon2Chem” project, in which thyssenkrupp and 16 other part-ners from industry and research want to extract raw materials from steel mill gases.techforum: What do you expect from Carbon2Chem?Wanka: We support the Carbon2Chem research alliance because it considers the direct application options when conduct-ing basic research into energy. The project combines three major aims: climate pro-tection, maintaining the competitiveness of the German steel industry, and the quest for sustainable raw materials for the

energy and chemical industries. Various development paths are being researched, and the most promising of these will be pursued further. This shows that climate protection is providing impetus for the comprehensive modernization of vari-ous sectors of industry. The project is set to run for ten years. We are placing the emphasis on long-term research projects and considering all technological options.

techforum: What in uence does the European Commission have on this impetus?Wanka: The next trading period for CO2 allowances in the EU will begin in ve years’ time. The European Commission is planning to roughly halve the num-ber of certi cates available in 20 0 com-pared with 2005. This is aimed at saving a further 556 million metric tons of CO2. Energy-intensive companies will therefore have to act now in order to remain com-petitive. We are helping them with this, because research can ag up speci c solu-tions and always has its sights set rmly on the considerable public interest in bet-ter climate protection.techforum: What are you doing to ensure the research results reach people quickly?Wanka: We have to ensure that research addresses the needs of our society. Let me give you an example. With the “Copernicus projects” we’ve launched the biggest research initiative for the transformation to renewable energies. They are aimed at answering four central questions: how can the energy networks adapt to an irregular supply of electricity and store excess electricity? What tech-nologies does industry need? And how do electricity, gas, and heat need to be combined to ensure that households and industry are always supplied with energy? We have to get citizens more involved than before in the restructuring of the energy system. Technological implementation is important, but acceptance among the pub-

Johanna Wankahas been Federal Minister for Education and Research and part of Angela Merkel’s government since 2013. For nine years, from 2000 to 2009, she was Minister of Science, Research, and Culture in the state of Brandenburg, and from 2010 to 2013 she held the same position in the state of Lower Saxony.

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lic is just as decisive. That’s why not only 100 companies, including thyssenkrupp, are working together on the Copernicus projects, but also environmental associ-ations, civil initiatives, and other inter-est groups. In this way we are making research relevant. That’s how innovations are brought to the market.techforum: But don’t things get increas-ingly di cult the more partners are involved in the projects? Wanka: Of course, but in the end the results will be better. Who are we con-ducting the research for and what do we want to achieve with it? If we keep these questions in mind, we will focus on the everyday needs of the people who will ultimately be using the results of our research. A plastic foam for mattresses, manufactured from carbon dioxide by Covestro in Leverkusen, is a good exam-ple of how an idea has developed within a company and been turned into a product that can ultimately be used in every home. The successful S E Sun re in Dresden has shown that it is already possible to use CO2 and renewable electricity to produce sustainable fuels. The social relevance of our research projects is key. In addition to excellent and creative research, com-panies that are prepared to invest, good employees, and a dynamic scienti c and education system, having a society that is open to innovation is crucial for our inventiveness. techforum: A society that is open to inno-vation is manifested in citizen science, which you are involved in. What do you expect to gain from this? Wanka: I think it is good and important for ideas from the public to be passed on directly to the scienti c experts. For exam-ple, interested laypersons can provide val-uable data for evaluating weather data and animal populations. They also nd very speci c solutions for everyday issues and work with the scientists to raise them to a higher level of research. Citizen science is an approach from which all sides pro t. But it has to be well organized, which is why we’re planning the special sponsor-ship of projects that involve volunteers and address issues relevant to society. If the scienti c community opens itself up to society, that has an impact on the research scientists and how they communicate their results, making them briefer, easier to understand, and more accessible to a wider public.


Carbon dioxide as a raw materialChemicals from steel mill gases: that’s the goal of the Carbon2Chem® research project. Here, even carbon dioxide is turned into a raw material. In the future, the plan is to utilize large parts of the German steel industry’s annual emissionsText: Christian Buck Infographic: Niko Wilkesmann

In the coke plant, the blast furnace, and the melt shop, steel mill gases are created consisting mainly of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Combined with additional hydrogen, they can be used to produce fuels, plastics, or fertilizers.

Clean steel production

Carbon2Chem® links the slow processes of steel and chemicals production with extremely volatile renewable energies. Through the use of predictive planning, the process control system must ensure that all elements work well together and CO2 emissions are minimized.

Intelligent process control


Solar and wind power can be used to produce hydrogen in an environmentally friendly way. Figures in percent.

The steel mill gas contains important raw materials for the chemical industry

Ammonia is a raw material for fertilizer production, and methanol can be used among other things to make fuels. Today, both are obtained mainly from natural gas – but thanks to Carbon2Chem®, in the future chemical plants will be able to use steel mill gases and hydrogen created using “green” electricity.

Wind and sun supply the electricity to create hydrogen by electrolysis. Together with the steel mill gases, this hydrogen is the starting material for many chemical products. However, the steel mill gases can alternatively be burned to generate power for steel production.

Flexible energy generation

Sustainable chemical products

2014 2015 2013 2005 2000 1995 2012 2011 2010 1990

SHARE OF RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

3327

17106

252420

53

COMPOSITION OF STEEL MILL GAS

43% nitrogen

(N2)

8% hydrogen (H2)

methane (CH4)2% methane (CH4)

25% carbon monoxide

(CO)

22% carbon dioxide

(CO2)

ELECTROLYSIS

H2OC

atho

de

Ano

de

OxygenHydrogen

O2H2

METHANOL SYNTHESIS

Start-up heater

Methanol

Synthesis gas

Dis

tilla

tion

co

lum

ns

Rea

ctor


Almost like real lifeThe ViSTIS simulation facility enables crew members to practice on-board processes in safety, and service personnel can familiarize themselves with new equipment in advance. The underlying technology comes from the world of computer games

44

Four hundred meters below sea level, a submarine’s electronics systems break down. A rapid response is required. The opera-tions center gives the crew clear instructions: “Bring the boat

under control! Create diving conditions for manual operation!” The crew have to coop-erate very closely to avert the worst and to stabilize the damaged submarine quickly. One technician climbs through a hatch into the lower deck, turns a crank handle, and thus manually prevents a tank from ood-ing. Another makes quickly for a control cabinet where the malfunction is thought to have occurred. e nds the fault and soon afterward is able to report that it has been repaired successfully.

The crew breathe a sigh of relief. A voice is heard from the control center. “The exercise is over!” A collective release of tension spreads through the newly devel-oped “ViSTIS” (Virtual Ship Training and Information System) simulation facility at the shipyard in Kiel, where thyssenkrupp Marine Systems has staged this decep-tively realistic accident. Trainers, aspir-ing crew members, and experienced teams work and practice there in spaces that recreate those on a real submarine. At their PC terminals, they learn how to control the virtual ship appearing on their monitors, like in an exciting 3D computer game.

Virtual diving: The simulation facility in Kiel realistically recreates all processes on board ship

Text: François Baumgartner


“We want to use state-of-the-art technology to give trainees the impression that they are operating on board a real ship.” Stephan Brass, ViSTIS project manager

This explains why no one had to leave their seat in order to rectify the fault. The trainees were able to send avatars of themselves to the crank handle and the control cabinet on their screens. The one important thing is that they will need also to be able to perform those actions under stress. Since 2008, thyssenkrupp has been continuously developing this technology, which is reminiscent of a ight simulator. The control center does not merely resem-ble a real operations center: there is also a hydraulic system that allows the space to be tilted forward or backward, depending on whether the virtual submarine is div-ing or surfacing at the time.

Young trainees love ViSTIS This deceptively realistic simulation is based on technologies that originate in the world of computer games. The virtual submarine is based on the CryENGINE created by the Frankfurt company Crytek. So it is no wonder that young trainees in particular have great fun familiarizing themselves with their future workplace in this way. ViSTIS enables all routine tasks as well as extreme emergency and combat situations to be simulated without risk or danger and practiced repeatedly. “ViSTIS

ra t e n sa et On the virtual submarine, crew members can train until every action has been fully absorbed

is a virtual training solution that is of interest to all sectors where there is a need to learn and practice complex processes,” says Stephan Brass, ViSTIS project man-ager at thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. In addition to merchant shipping, these include large industrial facilities, o shore systems, and re neries.

The latest development even makes it possible to integrate ViSTIS with other simulation systems, such as an exter-nal “helicopter simulator.” This means pilots can approach a ship s ight deck in their virtual helicopter while the crew on the virtual ship coordinate the landing. Experts call this new feature, “networked simulation.” What is especially pleasing is that no ships have to leave port and no helicopters need to take o to perform this exercise. This not only saves costs but also reduces the risk of accidents.

“We want to use state-of-the-art technology to give trainees the impres-sion that they are operating on board a real ship,” Brass explains. “So we are very pleased that the Group has just recognized our training system with its Innovation Award.” However, it is not only ships crews that can bene t from this. Employees at industrial facilities or on drilling rigs can also be instructed and trained with the help of these deceptively realistic simulations, he adds.

Training periods halvedSuch large, complex facilities often cost billions, so an investment of 500,000 to

ve million dollars in a simulation system like ViSTIS is money well spent, as it ena-

bles operators to familiarize their crews with all the processes and operations even before the actual facility is built and com-missioned. Later, too, simulators avoid the need for training-related restrictions and interruptions to ongoing operations when an exercise is scheduled. They mean that technical breakdowns and extreme emer-gencies can be simulated realistically and employees can practice tackling them in safety.

Brass also foresees great market opportunities for the ViSTIS system in relation to future updates and modi ca-tions. Training periods on board can be reduced by at least 50 percent by the use of this simulation technology, and this means the availability of crew members on ships can be increased signi cantly. “There is growing interest worldwide in attractive and e ective simulation sys-tems,” Brass says, “because they facilitate high- uality, risk-free, and cost-e ective training for skilled workers who have to oversee and operate complex military and civilian facilities. These assessments are con rmed by the partial solutions that we have already delivered.” He is convinced that ViSTIS will enable even greater time savings in the future.

Trend toward more simulationsTraining using simulation systems such as i T o ers many a antages t oes not

a ect the o eration o the original har are such as shi s or in ustrial acilities an it

also ma es it ossi le to ractice emergency scenarios that coul not e re licate in real li e t raises training ca acity an training uality ro ts as ell than s to the acti e

in ol ement o each course artici ant There is also an increase in e i ility arts o the training can e com lete through is-tance learning hich is enses ith tra el e enses ll o this lea s to etter results an re uce costs o it s no on er that customers aroun the glo e are increasingly choosing to use such simulations

Sitting at iST S screens eo le

can mo e through the acilities as a atars an amiliari e themsel es ith the com le technology

47thyssen ru tech orum

Text: Mirko Heinemann

Creativity and innovation

Adecade of acceleration – that would

be a good way to sum up develop-

ments at the thyssenkrupp Elevator

Innovation Center in Gijón. Its

output is remarkable: on average,

the team applies for a patent every

two months. A total of 56 inventions have come

together in this way since the center was estab-

lished in 2007. The team has won numerous prizes,

including the thyssenkrupp Innovation Award ve

years ago and most recently, in May 2016, a dis-

tinction as the top employer in the city of Gijón.

“Our employees can devote ten percent of their

time to free re ection. e also o er a lot of space

for trying out new ideas. Our o ces are open-

plan, and our hierarchies are at, says General

Manager Javier Sesma, venturing an explana-

tion for the high level of creativity. His colleague

Alberto Pello points to the low average age of 35

A special wind seems to be blowing through Gijón in northern Spain. Here, some 50 employees are inventing the future of urban mobility at an astonishing pace

and the great diversity among his 47 employ-ees, 40 percent of whom are women. Nine out of ten are engineers, but from widely di ering disciplines. Internships are commonplace, and international exchanges are encouraged.

It’s all very reminiscent of Silicon Valley, and that is a comparison often made in the media when talking about Asturias in northern Spain and its metropolis of Gijón. Like Palo Alto, Gijón too concentrates a lot of innovation in a very small space. The Innovation Center is based in the north wing of the Universidad Laboral, one of the largest historic building complexes in Spain. In addition to their o ces, Sesma and his team have 2,000 square meters of space at their disposal for the “ eal Prototype Lab, where they test their prototypes. This innovation location, known as “The nowledge Strip, is less than a mile from the University of Oviedo and the Technology Park. The complex is also home to the Polytechnic School of Engineering, various faculties of the University of Oviedo, an

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Transportation

system with

Transrapi ri e:

Javier Sesma (l.)

and Dr. Heinrich

Hiesinger test

the ACCEL

Atlantic breeze or creati e min s:

The port of Gijón

art college, a drama school, and a conservatory. “Science, industry, and creativity come together here. This mix ensures a creative ambience, in which we feel very much at home,” Sesma explains.

His colleagues are developing transport solu-tions for the future: innovative escalators, moving walkways, elevators, and passenger boarding bridges. In a “virtual lab,” they test prototypes of new developments by computer before they are built. Depending on their complexity, prototypes are created to scale using a 3D printer. Then the design goes to the laboratory, where it is manu-factured, assembled, and tested in an accelerated process. In this way, innovative products reach the market quickly but still fully developed. “As a rule, ideas previously needed six or seven years to be made market-ready. Our goal is to achieve this in one year, or two at most, depending on the complexity of the project,” says Pello.

Around 60 projects have been developed in ij n, including not only the rst passenger board-

ing bridges for the Airbus A380, but also the iwalk, a horizontal moving walkway that can be installed without the need for civil works and has already been sold to customers on four continents. A moving walkway with variable acceleration, which uses the linear motor technology of the Transrapid

magnetic levitation train, is currently awaiting its

rst customers. The revolutionary, rope-free elevator

MULTI, which likewise uses Transrapid technology,

enables several cabs to run in one shaft – not only

vertically but also horizontally. There is a func-

tioning 1:3 scale model in the laboratory in Gijón.The latest innovation is Smart Docking Assist,

a fully automated passenger boarding bridge, which makes the ground handling of aircraft much

more e cient. or Sesma, process automation is

the eld for the future on which his team is cur-

rently concentrating. If “Industry 4.0” is ushering

in an era of automated and connected manufac-

turing, then you could say that the specialists in Gijón are working on “Urban Mobility 4.0.”

A special wind seems to be blowing on the

Atlantic coast in Asturias. Where else could you have

such a clear view, sitting in a sailing boat watching the sun as it sinks into the sea far away in the west? Somewhere over there lies America – an idea that arouses dreams of discovery. Maybe this, too, provides the motivation to think di erently – and to think outside the box.

4949

A view toward

t e ew wor d

Sunset in Gijón

Presentation in the virtual la Visitors can look into the future using data glasses

Unconventional wor in ractices The team is young and the structures open

The new software that was supposed to write my column from now on had a small bug. I telephoned Support. “The C is missing everywhere in the text,” I said. “Oh,” the man in Support replied. “No, C,” I repeated. “For example, it says

tra rather than trac . ” The fault was xed, and the program learned. It evaluated my publicly available communications, all my tweets, and every one of my Facebook posts, and it began to copy my style. So as to achieve tailored results, the software imported all the texts that I had ever published – and it was frighten-ing how little space my life’s work took up on the hard drive. A photo of a cat uses more bytes than a column.

Author Assistant Software (AAS) had come a long way by the time my column-writing program was developed. It started with a program called ELIZA, written in 1965 by the computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum, with which you could, apparently, hold a conversation. “I feel odd,” wrote the person at one end. “How long have you been feeling odd?” the machine retorted, turning part of the input into a set phrase denoting a response and thus copying the business model of psychotherapists.

In the years that followed, programmers invested a lot of work in software with human qualities, such as PARRY, a paranoid patient whose degree of para-noia could be regulated, or Racter, which could chat about quantum theory or Italian salad, as required. Then came the beginning of the end for journalism: on March 17, 2014, the Los Angeles Times published a report on an earthquake put together by a program called Quakebot. It gathered data from online sources and incorporated them into the text on the build-ing-block principle. Within three minutes, the arti-cle was nished. The next things to be automated were sports reports and business news.

Then it was the turn of columns. “Now, everyone is waiting for something like the self-eating automaton,” wrote the software that was supposed to compile my text. This is

just the sort of play on words for which I am known! However, I was a little unsure whether I should be pleased or alarmed by this. Did the software suddenly know what irony was? Or was this punch line the result of an abstract calculation based on my collected works? Were humorous articles just as easy to manufacture as industrial precision parts?

This could indeed be the case, for AAS assumed a new quality at the end of the 2010s. A slider could now be used to set the tone of sports reports on a scale between “sober” and “thrilling.” In addition, so as to be able to sell the articles as often as possible, particu-lar key terms in the reports were simply replaced with synonyms.

Editors were replaced, too. For a while, I still dealt with a colleague made of esh and blood over my columns, but then he vanished without a trace, and instead I was now communicating with an editor-in-chief computer, whose senseless queries reminded me very much of ELIZA.

This made me think. What does work mean in the 21st century? What can I do that a machine cannot? Is society being divided into a digital aristocracy and the ever greater number of those losing out to auto-mation? “We do not want to divide,” the column soft-ware promptly wrote. “We want to unite, uday, uweek, umonth, uyear, and udecade.”

That wasn’t bad. In fact it was very good! Why had this play on words occurred not to me, but to an algo-rithm? My mouth turned dry. The rate for my columns on the real-time fee ticker on the screen had been on a downward curve for some time. I telephoned Support. “Tell me,” I asked. “Is this a kind of gentle transition to dismissal?” “No,” the voice said, “we still need your olumns, but a human’s funtions are now on ned to reating haos in the system.” “The C is missing every-where in your answers,” I said, and hung up.

Algorithms replacing authors: columns in the future will come from a writing program

Earning a byte in the 21st century

Peter Glaser is an author and journalist. He writes for publications including the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Technology Review. He won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2002.

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Published by: thyssenkrupp AG, Corporate Function Communications, thyssenkrupp Allee 1, 45143 Essen, Germany

Responsible Editor: Bernd Overmaat (legally responsible for content), [email protected]

Copyright: © thyssenkrupp AG 2016

Reprints only with the publisher’s permission. thyssenkrupp techforum is distributed using an address le stored through an automated data processing system.

Information about thyssenkrupp can also be found on the internet at www.thyssenkrupp.com

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ISSN: 1612-2763

The revolution beginsIn an account embedded in a science ction stor lrich Eberl reports on the smart machines of the future and his ourne s to meet the orld s leading researchers in this eld The reader learns about

neurochips and search engines endo ed ith human understanding meets social robots and ma es the ac uaintance of the lovel android amantha boo for those ho ish to learn about the upcoming revolution in the elds of robotics and arti cial

intelligence

Smarte Maschinenlrich Eberl

Carl Hanser Verlag

ni ue opportunities and threats

s ounder and E ecutive Chairman of the World Economic orum laus ch ab has rst hand e perience ith the

discussions in the boardrooms of global corporations and among the pioneering thin ers of our age In his boo he introduces the ma or megatrends and describes their impact on such diverse areas as business the nature of or and international securit In the appendi he presents far reaching changes and discusses both their consequences and the probabilit that the ill occur

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

laus ch abWorld Economic orum

e turning point in historIt as the proverbial “engine of progress”: in the second half of the 18th centur ames Watt s steam engine ushered in perhaps the most momentous transformation in human histor to this da o according to Eri

r n olfsson and ndre c fee e stand at

another threshold: the “ econd achine ge ”

ith its self driving automobiles autonomous robots and ever more po erful arti cial intelligence could be a ne turning point

The Second Machine AgeEri r n olfsson

ndre c feePlassen Verlag

Imprint

ro th ithout obs

obots are ta ing on more and more activities that are still reserved for humans not onl in logistics or

fast food chains but also in places here highl s illed

or is required In the future the author believes that radiologists for e ample could become super uous because machines ill ta e over their ob What impact ill this have on business and societ Who in the future

ill actuall still be able to bu the goods and services that are made b machines

The Rise Of The Robotsartin ordne orld Publications

th ssen rupp techforum 1 51

“Human-robot collab oration enables us to reinvent many products and processes, as it allows us to adapt to new requirements relating to ergonomics and production e ibility

Production engineer Dr. Eckhard Wellbrock began working on collaboration between humans and robots in 2013. Research and development has advanced so much since then that thyssenkrupp is supplying initial solutions to its automotive industry customers. The topic is also of considerable interest to other production industries. Page 36

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