Last calendar year it was the intention that a small delegation from Innovatiecluster Drachten (ICD) would visit Siemens Amberg. This location is 'the' Industry 4.0 location of Siemens.

All Industry 4.0 solutions that Siemens has in its portfolio in the field of factory automation are actually implemented in this factory.

It would therefore have been an interesting study trip for the connoisseurs of the ICD, were it not for the fact that the Corona pandemic developed at a rapid pace in the past calendar year, making a physical visit impossible.

World first for the ICD

ICD and Siemens have kept in touch to organize a virtual study trip after all. Siemens, which already had plans to bring guests from all over the world to the Siemens Impulse building, to lead a demo center, instead of to the factory, has meanwhile moved the reception of the guests to the digital twin of this demo center due to Covid-19. An exact digital copy of this building.

ICD was the first guest to receive the Siemens Impulse building (virtual) and thus had the world first!

Hybrid visit

Employees gathered at approximately 12 ICD locations to experience this virtual tour from a safe distance. In this way, more than 35 people were able to participate in this study trip. Compared to the initially small delegation, this was an additional advantage.

Tour in 3 parts

The start of the tour started through the IMPULSE environment where Siemens has various aspects around robotics, digital twins, factory IT systems, augmented realityetc. could connect with the second part of the visit: the digital trip through the Amberg factory. 

The third part of the tour consisted of further elaborating on the benefits of Model Based System Engineering and Low Code Dashboarding for factory data. This section in particular was aimed at the gourmets, with hands-on examples and benefits.

The next ICD study trip will go to Spacecentre Noordwijk, which will again take place in digital form.