The process industry needs plants to remain stable and operate without interruption for decades, while also maintaining maximum energy efficiency. Product quality must not fluctuate at all throughout the entire plant’s service life. These companies can benefit from simulating, testing, and optimizing processes and plants before operation in the real world. Gathering and evaluating data on the fly makes it possible to constantly monitor and refine processes. Feedback from the production process and the end customers can be incorporated for further improvement. End-to-end data integration also permits predictive maintenance, which helps avoid unnecessary maintenance work and plant downtime.

In the manufacturing industry, companies have to respond flexibly and efficiently to the individual requests of their customers. The essential factor is getting the desired products to the market as quickly and simply as possible and at the lowest possible price. Digitalization must be considered holistically, because focusing on automation alone is no longer sufficient. The comprehensive, shared database needs to extend from product design to production planning, engineering, production, and services, and also incorporates the suppliers and customers. The experience acquired along the entire value chain then flows back into the design and development processes. This cycle enables both manufacturing companies and mechanical engineers to benefit from all the advantages offered by digitalization.