The event was co-organized by acatech (National Academy of Science and Engineering), the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and leading German independent platform MÜNCHNER KREIS. Over 60 experts and academic participants attended, including Karl-Heinz Streibich, President of acatech; Prof. Prof. Ji Zhou, former President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; and Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann, former President of acatech. Chinese presenters included Prof. Baicheng Liu, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Prof. Peigen Li, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Prof. Dongming Guo, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Prof. Hao Wang, Vice Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University; Xiaohu Wang, General Manager of Haier COSMOPlat Mass Customization Platform; Nan Hu from the Chinese Academy of Engineering; and Dr. Pei Huang, CEO e-works.

The workshop was moderated by Prof. Dr. Michael Dowling, University of Regensburg and MÜNCHNER KREIS. Representatives from German academic institutions and industry such as Siemens, SAP, Fraunhofer Institute, Technische Universität Darmstadt, and Adamos gave presentations.

The Third Sino-German Workshop

The topic of the event was "Platform Strategies for Digital Manufacturing". Following welcoming addresses from Karl-Heinz Streibich and Prof. Prof. Ji Zhou, the keynote speech “Introduction: Platform Economics and Network Effects: An Overview” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Michael Dowling. In the morning session, the speakers reflected on platform strategies in different regions. Nils Herzberg, Global Head of Internet of Things at SAP AG spoke about “Platforms: An International Perspective”. Prof. Dr. Dieter Wegener, Siemens AG—Corporate Technology shared his views on “Platform for Industrie 4.0 in Germany”. Mr. Daniel Poodratchi, from IoT startup Adamos GmbH, talked about “Platforms for Medium-Sized Companies in Germany”. Mr. Xiaohu Wang, General Manager of Haier COSMOPlat Mass Customization Platform spoke about “Platforms in China”. Prof. Dr. Hao Wang reported on “Platform Development in Shanghai Region”.

Karl-Heinz Streibich (left) and Prof. Prof. Ji Zhou (right)

Prof. Dr. Michael Dowling

In the afternoon session, Prof. Dr. Reiner Anderl, acatech and TU Darmstadt, spoke about the progress of Industrie 4.0 in Germany. He also shared practices carried out by his research teams. In his speech titled “Modeling and Simulation—Key Technology for Digital Transformation”, Prof. Baicheng Liu introduced the strategy of promoting intelligent manufacturing in China and shared cases of simulation and optimization technology applied in the casting process. Prof. Dr. Claudia Eckert, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security, spoke about “Security of Networks and Platforms” and reported on the progress of the Industrial Data Space program.

Prof. Dr. Reiner Anderl (left) in discussion with Prof. Peigen Li, Prof. Baicheng Liu, and Prof. Dongming Guo

Prof. Baicheng Liu

After the presentation session, Prof. Dr. Michael Dowling invited Prof. Dr. Dieter Wegener, Prof. Dr. Claudia Eckert, Prof. Baicheng Liu, and Mr. Xiaohu Wang to form a panel to answer questions from the audience.

Panel Discussion (from left to right: Prof. Dr. Dieter Wegeer, Mr. Xiaohu Wang, Prof. Dr. Claudia Eckert, Prof. Baicheng Liu)

Pro. Dr. Henning Kagermann, Prof. Prof. Ji Zhou, Karl-Heinz Streibich, Dr. Pei Huang and Prof. Hao Wang

The event was a great success. It highlighted the trends in the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and in the development and applications of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing in Germany and China. The next event will be held in China.