SICK Solution World: Around the world of digital transformation in two days

GO BEYOND. Discovery #13 

SICK Solution World opened its doors for the first time in October 2021. Well-known exhibitors, pioneers and speakers, as well as anyone interested in digital transformation, met to discuss all aspects of the topic and exchange ideas. Whether in the stream or on site, the response to the contributions from the prestigious speakers and at the hackathon was just as positive as the interest in the exhibiting companies. Thanks to the virtual “Solution Valley,” it was even possible for guests on the other side of the world to take part. A short journey through the SICK Solution World.

It still feels a bit strange to be in big crowds again, but in the spacious SICK Arena in Freiburg and its adjacent halls, you really see how important personal contact is in addition to virtual meet-ups. All of this takes place with the necessary distancing, and yet with the intensity of face-to-face encounters. The level of excellence of the exhibitors and speakers is fitting for the occasion. The topic of digital transformation is really moving the entire industry. From small robotics manufacturers to tech giants, digital transformation is not just on everyone’s minds, but is in fact the dominating force.

A virtual world with real answers

The SICK Solution World is living proof of this idea. In addition to global players such as Bosch, Siemens, Trumpf and Microsoft, the exhibition hall also holds small but very innovative companies such as Fruitcore robotics. With its robot systems, the company has been helping smaller companies get into automation since 2017. Bosch, on the other hand, is focusing on something different at the trade fair. Under the name NEXEED, Bosch Connected Industry is bundling services and software for Industry 4.0. NEXEED optimizes manufacturing and logistics processes to improve transparency, agility, cost, quality and time factors. Festo, on the other hand, is attracting visitors to its booth with machine learning and artificial intelligence. Here, visitors can check out Festo Automation Experience (Festo AX), an easy-to-use product using AI for predictive applications. These are just a few examples of the level of detail visitors can experience in the world of digital transformation.

Live and in color

On the big stage, well-known industry experts take charge, and their topics are just as fascinating and diverse as those of the speakers. For example, Henrik Vikberg from AWS reports on how business value can be generated from production data. Or Magnus Edholm from Siemens explains how Digital Enterprise is being used to connect the real world to the virtual world. 

And that’s exactly what’s happening in the SICK Solution World: Digitalization has clearly reached the world of trade fairs as well. In addition to brilliant live streams from the big stage and contributions which can be called up at any time, it also offers the “Solution Valley.” Here, users can experience the entire trade fair “in the flesh” in a parallel virtual world. As an avatar, anyone can get the information they need directly from the virtual exhibitors in a lively atmosphere. It’s a really exciting way of communicating about products, services and business models, even in these contact-free times.

Hackathon – the new generation takes the stage

In another hall, students, software developers or interested parties meet at the Hackathon to play around and develop programming solutions for selected tasks. This works very well over a total of three days thanks to the so-called “hack enablers” from numerous well-known companies. The tasks to be solved cover almost the entire range of digitalization, from cloud services to software solutions, from sensors to controllers and from robotics to automated guided vehicle systems. It is fascinating to see how intensively the various teams work together here in competition between colleagues. SICK and its partner Microsoft award attractive prizes in two categories for this spirited research.

Successful premiere – pulling back the curtain for the future

Digital transformation is driving our world. And the SICK Solution World shows how important it is for everyone to exchange ideas. It’s not about competing, but working together. This is how ideas turn into solutions and digitalization creates successful business models.