This case talks regarding the motivation to develop Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise eyesight, which became the basis for its execution of Industrie 4.0. While the effort began with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the Digital Factory Division, to protect his center programmable logic controller business from the migration of value to software from hardware, the scope expanded drastically as the firm completed the acquisition of UGS. It was subsequently able to pronounce a road map that is complete from computer-assisted product inception and design through automation and simulation system design all the way to the factory floor.
The first execution at the Electronics Works Amberg became widely mentioned as the model for Industrie 4.0. The essential question of the case is the importance of vertical integration to the delivery of the vision, in the face of pressure for open standards that will expose large parts of the system to competition and cost pressure. Will Siemens make a reasonable rate of return?
PUBLICATION DATE: May 20, 2016 PRODUCT #: 616060-HCC-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONS
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