ARC European Industry Forum 2023

The next European Forum will be held in Sitges (Barcelona), Spain on May 15^th-17^th, 2023 and focus on ‘Managing Industry Evolution in Times of Global Disruption’. Participants are invited to attend exclusive presentations and workshops on strategies and case studies from the digital front lines.

Florian Güldner, General Manager of ARC Europe, remarks: “In these times of great uncertainty and disruption, it has become difficult to manage technological and business progression. To learn how to speed up your digitalisation and sustainability initiatives, join us at ARC’s annual European Industry Forum in Spain. Learn more about use cases, strategies and technologies and discover what your peers and industry leaders are doing today and what steps they are taking to prepare for the future.”

ARC industry analysts and other experts from the end user and supplier communities will analyse and discuss trends and drivers for hot industry topics, including:

Additive manufacturing

The increasing versatility of additive manufacturing has also led to a strongly rising interest with industrial and end users. The inherent low-waste aspect of the technology enables companies to comply with environmental regulations, while achieving higher sustainability and a lower environmental footprint for their business. Yet, there are still many ‘teething problems’ to be addressed.

AI & machine learning

To make an accurate assessment of the future potential of AI in automation, multiple perspectives need to be considered. End users, technology providers and machine builders will discuss the current state of AI technology and its growing role in automation; including AI in control systems; possibilities, resources needed and limitations of AI; leveraging Edge and Cloud platforms; and an outlook on future possibilities.

Cool robotics innovations

Traditional industrial robots have been part of manufacturing processes for decades and still play an important role in many manufacturing areas. Yet today, new industrial robots are taking on tasks that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Collaborative robots (cobots), drones and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) offer completely new functionalities and capabilities.

Cybersecurity for digitalisation & sustainability

Industrial cybersecurity has never been more important than it is today. New business processes and technologies offer attackers increasing opportunities to steal information or disrupt operations. In addition, the industry is threatened by ransomware and sophisticated attacks. This situation jeopardises the safety of employees, the uninterrupted operation of systems and facilities, and these consequences can result in high costs.

Digital twins

A digital twin is defined as the virtual replica of a real-world product, system, communities, or even cities that are continuously updated with data from its physical counterpart, as well as its environment. It bridges virtual cyberspace with physical entities and is, as such, considered to be the pillar of digital transformation and the innovation backbone of the future. A digital twin is created and used throughout the whole life cycle of the entity it replicates.

Future automation architectures

The amount of software used in industrial applications has grown rapidly in recent years, but real-time control of machinery remains the domain of proprietary controllers. This is changing as users adopt modern IT architectures. Plants of the future will consolidate machine control tasks together with other plant software on highly available plant servers and in the cloud, providing valuable process information in real-time, while deploying and managing their assets with IT professionalism.

MES end user success stories

In a workshop and lectures, both short-term progress and long-range strategies regarding the changes happening in the MOM/MES domain will be addressed. Users of emerging practices will share approaches and lessons learned. Domain experts share insights into evolving standardisation and reference architectures. The participants will reflect on striking the balance between requirements short-term efficiency benefits, and long-term benefits.

Sustainability as a business strategy

There is rapidly growing demand worldwide for efficient tools and products to cut energy consumption and reduce emissions to build a more sustainable future. Some of the best strategies forward are avoiding waste of energy, increasing energy efficiency, moving towards renewable energy sources, recycling, and a circular economy. Decarbonisation targets push manufacturing and energy companies to limit their carbon emissions and to invest in sustainable, energy efficient solutions and green energy sources.

More information: https://www.arcweb.com/events/arc-industry-forum-europe