This term is on everyone’s lips and, as with many trendy expressions, is unfortunately often ‘abused’. So, what does it really mean for the textile Industry?

Often you can read: «We have your solution for Industry 4.0.» But when you look a little deeper, it’s either “old wine put into new bottles” or meaningless promises.

That might sound too negative – and it’s true that there are many good, innovative examples from different industries. Notable examples include eCommerce shops for spare parts combined with stock management of consumables: capital tie-up is reduced, and machine efficiencies stabilized, since there is no waiting for the important spare part. Also useful are systems for remote maintenance of machines, with early detection preventing production errors from occurring. A third example is the development of ‘digital twins’ to simplify communications between teams during a project innovation phase – enabling development stages at different locations, without gaps in knowledge and status.

What is decisive for me is that the user always feels a clear added value when using these digital tools. Only then is a digital service successful. Then, even ‘old wine’ that has been further developed can be put into new packaging.

Biermann Services concentrates on implementing digital services and supporting textile machine manufacturers in the digitalization of their services. In a classic company, practically every activity involves services where digitalization makes sense, so that daily work becomes easier and less error prone.

As an example, from the R&D process of a company, the forecasting model ‘Input to Output Quality’ aims to shorten the timescales for product development or the marketing, via digital channels from the sales area, to reach more potential customers faster.

I would like to highlight one digital service from the manufacturing area: reporting abnormalities in production and simultaneously providing information about the effects of this alert on the product. This makes it easier to assess accurately the seriousness of the alarm and decide how quickly the abnormality needs to be fixed.

The most successful companies are those which understand the importance of training their employees. New learning methods make sustainable and efficient learning possible, e.g. through eLearning concepts – another element of digital services.

I hope that the examples here will stimulate ideas for future digital services. These could be services that a machine manufacturer would like to offer to customers, or that a manufacturing company requires from its machinery suppliers. Studies show that digital services today are a key differentiator for machine builders. Personally, I would go further and ask provocatively: aren’t they already a ’must have’ like the air conditioning in a car?