Strategic Collaborations, Comprehensive Research, and Applications for Connected Operations Will Help Global Manufacturers Unlock the Value of Industrie 4.0

NEEDHAM, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 30, 2017 — PTC (NASDAQ: PTC) today announced several new initiatives that advance its Industrie 4.0 strategy and will enable manufacturers to unlock value from the physical-digital convergence and transform their operational systems. These include a collaboration with McKinsey & Company; strategic Industrie 4.0 work with acatech, the German national academy of science and engineering; and the upcoming release of connected operations applications built on the ThingWorx^® IoT platform.

PTC works with hundreds of global manufacturers worldwide to support and advance their Industrie 4.0 strategies. The new PTC Industrie 4.0 initiatives include:

• PTC partners with McKinsey & Company, the world’s leading management consulting firm, to create a global network of Industrie 4.0 Digital Capability Centers (DCCs). Using solution technology from PTC, the DCCs are designed to support companies at every stage of their digital transformation journey. The DCCs will include a realistic production environment, digital showcases with demonstrations of Industrie 4.0 technology, as well as experiential capability-building workshops to promote skills training and awareness of Industrie 4.0. The first DCC will open to visitors in Aachen (Germany) on March 30, followed by other DCC openings in Singapore, Beijing, Chicago, and Venice (Italy). In addition to McKinsey & Company, other PTC partners in Industrie 4.0 initiatives include manufacturing leaders GE, National Instruments, and OSIsoft. In addition, PTC and Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) are collaborating to develop new IoT solutions for industrial use cases.
• PTC, as a member of the  acatech consortium, the German national academy of science and engineering, contributed to the development of the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index that will enable companies to assess their current Industrie 4.0 capabilities and map out a structured digital roadmap that includes steps and capabilities needed to realize its value potential. The Index also will provide a unique multidimensional assessment that covers production and logistics, research and development, service, and sales and marketing. The Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index will be available for download on ptc.com in April.
• PTC will deliver new connected operations applications that support Industrie 4.0. The new applications, built on the ThingWorx platform, are designed to unify and contextualize digital data from enterprise IT systems with operational and physical data from machines and sensors to enable manufacturers to realize Industrie 4.0 potential more quickly.

Often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, Industrie 4.0 is the transformation of manufacturing through the adoption of smart, connected products and smart, connected operations. Industrie 4.0 makes use of major innovations in digital technology, such as edge and big data analytics, advanced networking, communications and security, robotics, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, mobile, rapid application development, and the Internet of Things. When combined, these technologies bring together the physical and digital worlds, enabling manufacturers to gain deep, real-time insight into their operations – and subsequently to increase efficiencies and flexibility, lower costs, and improve product quality.

Known collectively as Industrie 4.0, the concept is now worldwide in scope. It is also the blueprint for Made in China 2025 and heavily influences Smart Manufacturing initiatives in the United States. While it is most often associated with manufacturing, adjacent market segments, including utilities, smart cities, oil and gas, and healthcare, have begun to embrace Industrie 4.0 principles and technologies.

“PTC continues to focus on initiatives that can enable manufacturers to realize the potential of Industrie 4.0 and smart manufacturing,” said Kathleen Mitford, executive vice president, segments, PTC. “Our upcoming release of connected operations applications combined with the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index and our strategic collaborations with industry leaders such as McKinsey & Company will enable our customers to realize value from their Industrie 4.0 initiatives.”

The PTC IoT Transformation Advisory Practice also offers workshops and value acceleration services to further support companies with their Industrie 4.0 strategy.

“LNS Research has long advocated that Industrie 4.0 requires the deployment of next-gen manufacturing apps that are lightweight, flexible, modular, and run on top of IIoT Platforms. Since the launch of ThingWorx, PTC has established itself as a leading provider that shares this vision with a successful track record of helping manufacturers around the world,” said Mathew Littlefield, founder and president, LNS Research. “These new initiatives – the collaboration with McKinsey, the research with acatech, and the upcoming release of connected operations offerings, will further enhance the company’s position, as well as accelerate Industrie 4.0 adoption.”