SmartProduction Day 2022 – the name says it all

The program is diverse, the visitors come in large numbers. The SmartProduction Day 2022 at the Fendt Forum attracted world market-leading companies, start-ups and interested parties from the surrounding area to exchange experiences. This year, the conference was held under the motto "Future technologies in the manufacturing industry". It was all about innovation, digitalization and the future of production. There was also a strong focus on the topics of sustainability and predictive maintenance.

"We are here today to listen to practice- oriented presentations and discussion panels, to share mutual experiences, to report on innovations and success stories, and to show new ways forward," says Ingrid Bußjäger- Martin, Managing Director for Finance and IT Fendt.

One speaker reported on approaches to developing an innovation strategy, another on how machine data can optimize processes in manufacturing. The main topic of sustainability was addressed within a presentation on the benefits of smart buildings as well as sustainable and environmentally friendly building technology. Another presentation was dedicated to the path to climate-neutral production and presented the targets for Scope 1, 2, and 3.

Ekkehart Gläser, Managing Director Production Fendt, gave a presentation on the Smart Factory at Fendt together with Andreas Frank, Senior Manager Manufacturing Innovation Industry 4.0.

"For me, innovation means being fit for the future. That is a must in production. In addition, flexibility is essential - reacting quickly to changes and finding smart solutions. But even with innovation and digitization, the employees with their creative ideas will remain the most important forces and take center stage," says Ekkehart Gläser, Managing Director Production Fendt.

This year, numerous experts discussed cloud- based services. The advantage: they enable future-oriented collaboration and are maintained by trained external providers.

Data security and data availability are central to this. This topic is also one for Fendt. "This year's SmartProduction Day shows that we are on the right track with our digitization strategy. We are constantly developing our future-oriented approaches to effective collaboration at Fendt, but also throughout the entire production network," adds Andreas Frank, Senior Manager Manufacturing Innovation Industry 4.0 Fendt.

The Fendt production site in Marktoberdorf is one of the most modern in the agricultural machinery industry. With the Fendt Xaver, Fendt autonomous field robot, and the fully battery- electric Fendt e100 Vario tractor, Ekkehart Gläser presented two FutureFarm projects that illustrate the company's high priority for future-oriented and innovative agriculture. Every day, great challenges await to handle resources even more efficiently, sustainably and mindfully. For this reason, intensive research is already being carried out on the hydrogen pilot project H2Agrar.

Political Voices at SmartProduction Day

"The Allgäu people are said to be stubborn - but we are the exact opposite. We are open and innovative. With SmartProduction Day, we are showing that the Allgäu is just the right place for digital and innovative technologies, says Maria Rita Zinnecker, District Administrator of the Ostallgäu district.

"SmartProduction Day has an important political significance for the Allgäu region. The goal is to create jobs with a promising future. I don't want the young generation to move away from the Allgäu for work reasons. I want them to stay or rather to come to this beautiful region. In this respect, politics can provide support in three ways: firstly, with higher education policy and the research sector at Kempten University of Applied Sciences, secondly, with an eligible application for funding and thirdly, with the support of initiatives such as Bayern Innovativ," says Franz Joseph Pschierer, former Bavarian Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology.

About the SmartProduction Technology Conference

In February 2020, the first conference on the topic of the future in production took place in Marktoberdorf. The initiative for SmartProduction in Marktoberdorf shows that the Allgäu region, which is characterized by manufacturing companies, with its market leaders and the many small and large companies in a wide range of industries, is the right place to face the challenges of the future. The goals of the conference are to inspire each other in the area of the future production sector, as well as networking in the regional manufacturing industry.

Managing directors, scientists, engineers and tea experts were invited and came to the conference.