Australia’s ambassador for Germany, Lynette Wood together with Australian consul general Richard Leather, recently visited automation specialist Pilz at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany in March to discuss opportunities for industrial scale projects and solutions for ‘Downunder’.
Managing director of Pilz Australia Scott Moffat, said the ambassador was personally interested in “exchanging ideas with Pilz about the factory of the future” and saw German companies and their technology as leaders in this area.
Discussions centred around solutions for medium-sized enterprises for the “factory of the future” as well as the importance of the role of industry 4.0 in the success of these businesses.
While Australia’s economy is dominated by the service sector with 60 to 65 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) arising from that sector, the government is looking for other alternatives.
Sectors such as information and communication technology, defence and bio, nano and medical technology are playing an increasingly important role in Australia.
The conversation at Pilz is the beginning of a closer collaboration, with further workshops planned in which both sides will share their experiences.
“The conversations were very open and friendly. We are very pleased that the Australian ambassador saw Pilz, it is an important partner in the future development of the Australian manufacturing sector,” Susanne Kunschert, managing partner Pilz said.
During the meeting at Pilz Ms Wood and Mr Leather were updated on current Pilz projects and products by Ms Kunschert and Klaus Stark, head of innovation management.
They were also briefed on the subject of safety and security in Industry 4.0. According to Ms Kunschert, the dignitaries were particularly impressed by Pilz’s industrial 4.0-capable automation system PSS 4000, with which distributed systems can be automated safely and easily.
Ms Kunschert emphasized that in discussions about technologies man must not be forgotten. “Industry 4.0 is basically a change process in which the human being must be the focus. It is precisely for this reason that it is so important to have a value’s based foundation in the company,” she said.