The factory already has products that communicate with machines and all processes are optimised and controlled via IT.
The factory employs production methods that will be the standard in many manufacturing facilities in a number of years, says the company. Products in the plant control their own assembly by directly communicating their specific requirements and their next production steps via a product code to the machines.
Production is largely automated, with machines and computers responsible for 75% of the value chain, and employees handle the rest. The product is touched by a human hand only at the beginning, when the basic component – a bare printed circuit board – is placed on the assembly line. Offering some encouragement to employees, the company insists that "humans remain indispensible – for developing products and production processes, for planning production, or for handling unexpected incidents". The factory produces around 15million Simatic products a year, or one every second on 230 working days of the year.
