Introduction to INCAP

"What does Industry 4.0 mean for my production systems and what do I have to do to make my company fit for the future?" This is a question we frequently hear from manufacturers in Germany or anywhere else in the world. There is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer. It seems safe to expect, however, that increasing levels of digitalization in manufacturing environments and big data analytics will shape today’s manufacturing processes, subjecting these processes to radical changes which will make them leaner, sharper and more efficient. Based on this request, the three Aachen-based Fraunhofer Institutes and other experts from industry and research have established the “International Center for Networked, Adaptive Production" (ICNAP) to find out which new approaches in information technology can lead the way towards Industry 4.0 and which requirements must be met. We are convinced that only by joining forces between manufacturing industry, digitalization enablers and research, the potentials of Industry 4.0 can truly be exploited. Hence, ICNAP has been set up as a platform and community for collaborative R&D, to realize the visions behind “Networked, Adaptive Production".