Sino-German Sub-Working Group Industrie 4.0

Industrie 4.0 in German-Chinese relations is no longer a dream of the future. But where exactly are we moving to? How can the implementation of concrete goals for international standardization be advanced? And what role do new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, 5G or Edge Computing play in this? These tasks and questions were addressed by the German-Chinese Commission on Standardization (DCKN) at the fifth meeting of the Industrie 4.0 sub-working group in Hangzhou in early December 2017.

Good results strengthen the partnership

The results of the German-Chinese sub-working groups Industrie 4.0 show the progress in the bilateral partnership.

With the reports on the harmonization of the reference architecture models RAMI and IMSA, the IT Security Standards Whitepaper and the Roadmap Predictive Maintenance, the SCI 4.0 together with the BMWi presents documents that are central for the cooperation in international standardization. No less important for the joint activities is the beginning of a mapping of relevant Industrie 4.0 norms and standards of both countries in order to be able to map a complete mapping of the respective standards landscape. In addition, the cooperation in 2018 will address key elements of international standardization such as the structure of the administrative shell, artificial intelligence and maturity models.

The Standardisation Roadmap of Predictive Maintenance for Sino-German Industrie 4.0
Security Standards White Paper for Sino-German Industrie 4.0
Alignment Report RAMI/IMSA

German-Chinese Commission on Standardization (DCKN)

From 19 to 23 May 2019, the German-Chinese Commission for Cooperation in Standardization met in Xiamen, PR China. The People's Republic of China is by far the most important trading partner for Germany in Asia. The dialogue with China therefore requires a special commitment.

In 2011, the German-Chinese Commission for Standardization emerged from the working group Standardization of the German-Chinese Joint Economic Committee founded in 1979.

Its objectives are to further facilitate bilateral trade by removing technical barriers to trade, to promote bilateral economic and technical cooperation, to cooperate more closely on standardization issues and to coordinate activities in international standards organizations.

The annual meeting of the Joint Standards Commission thus offers a very good opportunity to further intensify the partnership-based cooperation between Germany and China on standardization policy issues.

Publication: Sino-German White Paper on Functional Safety for Industrie 4.0 and Intelligent Manufacturing

The White Paper sheds light on the Sino-German perspective on functional safety issues in the context of Industrie 4.0/Intelligent Manufacturing. It explains the basic concept of traditional technical safety, which was previously based on mechanical and electronic technology.

Publication: SME Test Bed Program Proposal

The Network Communications and Edge Computing Technical Expert Group of the Industrie 4.0 sub-working group published the SME Test Bed Program Proposal report in October 2020. The document illustrates a proposal to enable SMEs to participate directly in Industrie 4.0 initiatives. The proposal focuses on the use of test environments between manufacturing SMEs from China and Germany to stimulate the transition from old production solutions to solutions for Industrie 4.0 and thereby strengthen the standardization process and the dialogue between all participating standardization bodies. This also includes direct feedback on existing or new standards and specifications.

Publication: Guidance "Use Cases and Applications"

The revised version of the Guidance paper on use cases and applications is published in time for the 10th plenary session. There is a growing international consensus that new standardization activities are useful if the underlying driving use cases are clearly formulated and understood. In this respect, an internationally uniform understanding of use cases in the context of Industrie 4.0 is a central starting point in standardization work. Use cases are an instrument to build a bridge from the driving challenges facing the manufacturing industry to the corresponding possible technical solutions. Use cases also offer the possibility to derive new requirements for standardization. This suggestion has been actively taken up and implemented both nationally, for example in selected use cases of Labs Network Industrie 4.0, and internationally, especially in the context of the cooperation with the USA, China and Japan.

Publication: Examples for Business Scenarios in Manufacturing Industry

Premiere für die gemeinsamen Beschreibungen verschiedener Geschäftsszenarien und wie sich diese auf die Digitalisierung in der Fertigungsindustrie auf verschiedene Weise Auswirkungen auf die Gestaltung von Geschäftsmodellen haben können. Das Ziel der Kooperationslinie "Use Cases und Anwendungen" ist die Analyse von Geschäftsstrategien und Kundenbedürfnisse in der Fertigungsindustrie die sich in konkreten Kundenprojekten manifestieren. Die Erkenntnisse werden in sogenannten "Use Cases" zusammengestellt, die auf zu bekannten bewährten Verfahren, z.B. dem Industrial Internet-Referenzarchitektur (IIRA. Diese erleichtern ein gemeinsames Verständnis von Märkten, Trends, Triebkräfte, Konzepte und Lösungen und dienen dann als Grundlage zur Formulierung von Anforderungen an die Normung Aspekte.