28.01.2013
Know-how for Industry Automation Made in Saxony

- Saxony provides automation competence for Europe's industries

- Founded by four Dresden medium-sized businesses: "Innovation Forum for Automation" brings together international industry leaders in Dresden

- Focus of discussion: automation trends in the semiconductor and solar sectors

- Dresden Fab Automation Cluster welcomes guests from the industry's leading companies and organizations such as Hewlett Packard, industry analyst Future Horizons, Infineon, IMEC and the semiconductor enterprise MEMC Electronic Materials

- Automation specialists: "We support traditional European manufacturers in moving towards a competitive future."

Dresden, January 24, 2013. Software makes basic industry equipment intelligent. The more complex the manufactured products are, the higher the requirements for factories because competition is intense. This is true not only in high technology branches such as semiconductor and solar industries but others as well. European manufacturers need to measure themselves against international competitors. In addition to technology know-how, cost and process efficiency are the main factors. The key to continued competitiveness is intelligent software and hardware - in short: the automation of production processes.

The international participants of the 10th Innovation Forum for Automation will discuss current industry trends, requirements and developments in the automation of semiconductor and solar production plants. The host of this year's event, organized by the Dresden Fab Automation Cluster, is the semiconductor producer GLOBALFOUNDRIES. The Dresden Fab Automation Cluster is an initiative of the four Dresden automation specialists HAP GmbH, Roth & Rau - Ortner GmbH, AIS Automation Dresden GmbH and SYSTEMA GmbH.

The future of the European production is automation: Industry 4G

"Europe is a strong force in high technology - we have the technical know-how, especially in the semiconductor and solar industries. Production, however, is notably moving away from Europe bit by bit. To counteract this trend, more and more European producers are rethinking their strategy: they automate their production lines", explains Dr. Steffen Pollack of the Automation Cluster Dresden Fab Automation Cluster, and Managing Director of HAP GmbH. "Companies, however, are facing significant challenges: very often traditional factories continue to run on old machines and control systems. This is where automation specialists come into play. We equip traditional production lines with individual, intelligent software and hardware to help the traditional European industry transition into a competitive future - especially in niche markets", explains Heinz Martin Esser, CEO of Roth & Rau-Ortner GmbH.

Process optimization in ongoing operations

The specific challenge when upgrading the equipment is the implementation of automation solutions.

"Global competition forces producers to work with equipment that is technologically up to date. But very few companies can afford to completely exchange their production lines or to interrupt production to individually adjust system parts. This is why as automation specialists we integrate our solutions for process optimization during ongoing operations. This is comparable to doing open-heart surgery on a runner while he is running a marathon", explains SYSTEMA Chief Executive Officer Manfred Austen on the challenges that his team is facing in this particular branch.

Intelligent software for growing data streams

"When increasing automation the amount of data to process also rapidly increases. In order to work efficiently, the robotic and artificial intelligence that are integrated into process structures constantly require a variety of data. They communicate with databases, other machines and control systems - these data streams require intelligent and safe software. Dresden companies are also successful in this field", adds Eckard Schöbel, Managing Director at AIS Automation Dresden GmbH.

This year's event host GLOBALFOUNDRIES is excited about the concentration of automation competence in their location. Olaf Herzog, Director of Fab Management states: "For many years now we have been a reliable partner of all of the Dresden Fab Automation Cluster's member companies. We profit from their technology know-how directly at our location. The Fab 1 is the largest and most modern semiconductor factory in Europe featuring a fully automated production process. This is why we are the host of the 10th Innovation Forum for Automation and we are happy to welcome all our international guests."


Article (pdf 0 kByte)

distributed by