FUTURE NETWORKED MANUFACTURING – A BREAKTHROUGH CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

The 4th Industrial Revolution is causing significant changes to society and industry alike. All players have to adapt quickly, as technology-cycles get shorter, as entire markets rapidly change, and as new competitors with disruptive business models surface. Such challenges cannot be faced by an isolated player. The issue requires an agile collaboration network of partners from various sectors and interdisciplinary research to create a new ecosystem, thus securing as well as creating jobs. This allows to drastically limit the (financial) risks involved in R&D, it ups the speed of research, and it enhances the quality of the outcome. ARENA2036 is such a platform. It enables partners form industry and research to conjointly develop breakthrough technologies. This paper fathoms ARENA2036 as a way of shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It addresses the basis of cooperative research platforms, the preconditions of joint R&D, and the benefits of this interdisciplinary environment.