The evening event of the FASTEC Forum took place on November 11, 2024 at the Hotel Vivendi in Paderborn. Participants exchanged ideas in a relaxed atmosphere, met familiar faces and made new contacts.
FASTEC Presents Hybrid Cloud Edge Architecture and Self-Developed Hardware
In his presentation at the forum, Leon Pott, Head of Product Development, talked about the new FASTEC solutions and presented future developments in a roadmap: While the cloud-native application pvaPRO currently represents a dashboard add-on for the existing MES FASTEC 4 PRO, it will develop into a fully-fledged MES over the next few years. We will always provide a migration path from FASTEC 4 PRO to pvaPRO for our existing customers.
smartOEE offers a quick and cost-effective entry into the world of MES and replaces the previous productivity measurement tool easyOEE. The FASTedge product family provides the hardware for our new solutions, giving customers everything they need from a single source. Thanks to the hybrid architecture model, production data is secured even in the event of an internet outage. The advantages include quick and easy installation and a flexible rental option.
We are convinced that we cannot rely solely on the cloud for production and MES. We always need a part that is on-premises. With our new products, we provide fail-safe reliability. We want your production to continue running and data to be collected even if the internet goes down.
Leon Pott, Head of Product Development at FASTEC
Olympic Champion Prof. Dr. Michael Groß Inspires with Keynote on Change Management
Prof. Dr. Michael Groß’s keynote address was about change management for digitalization in companies. He shared practical examples of pitfalls and success factors. He defined the four fields of action in change management as informing, integrating, involving and implementing. He also pointed out errors that companies should avoid at all costs in change management, such as ignoring resistance or making false promises. Prof. Dr. Michael Groß also spoke about important tasks in change processes, such as celebrating quick successes and communicating personally with employees.
The multiple Olympic champion is, among other things, an honorary professor at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, an entrepreneur, speaker and trainer. He successfully trains people in the areas of digital leadership, digital transformation, change management, motivation, self-management and remote leadership.
Best Practice Presentations with Exciting Insights into MES Use
In her presentation, Tanja Lichtenegger, Head of Operational Technology Solutions, reported on the introduction of FASTEC 4 PRO as an MES solution in the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. The pilot project at the Aretsried site was so successful that it is now being rolled out to other production sites.
What helped us a lot was that we sat down together in workshops at the beginning, defined the requirements for the MES and established contact between FASTEC and the specialist departments.
Tanja Lichtenegger, Head of Operational Technology Solutions at Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller
Nico Schütte, head of automation technology at Ludwig Weinrich GmbH & Co. KG, talked about the process of recording and processing fault information in the company. Every day, employees deal with faults in production and in doing so recognize the challenges they face. The aim is to sensitize them to faults and to encourage them to work out solutions independently.
The more transparent the error messages, the better the information.
Nico Schütte, Head of Automation Technology at Ludwig Weinrich GmbH & Co. KG
Panel Discussion: Human and Maschine - Partners or Opponents?
The participants exchanged ideas in the panel discussion on the factory of the future: The focus was on how the interaction between humans and machines is already working today and how it can continue to function in the future. It became clear that while the use of machines and technology in production is increasing, the importance of personal communication with employees is also growing significantly. When introducing new technology, companies should also involve those affected in decision-making. Storytelling and creating images in the minds of employees can help motivate them for the change process.