Industry Summary Articles

PTC and McKinsey & Company today announced the opening of the Digital Capability Center (DCC) in Aachen, Germany. The DCC is a cooperation between the world’s leading management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, global technology provider, PTC, the Institute of Textile Technology (ITA), RWTH Aachen University, and other leading technology companies. Many of the DCC learning factory operations will be based on solution technology from PTC. The DCC Aachen is the first of its kind in the world – McKinsey will be launching other DCCs in Singapore, Chicago, Beijing, and Venice.

The DCC, with its motto Explore – Try – Apply, is a learning factory focused on Industrie 4.0 manufacturing. Visitors are invited to explore this realistic factory setting to learn firsthand about solutions that can enable companies to drive digital transformation and how to deploy such solutions along the entire value chain – from an initial customer inquiry through to development, production, delivery, and service. In hands-on workshops, participants will discover a systematic and targeted approach to unlock value from Industrie 4.0. Sessions will also address management challenges around employee empowerment and acceptance of the changes brought about by organizational transformation. Participants can explore ways to tackle challenges they face in their own businesses and gain insight into key digital solutions and technologies such as real-time diagnostic tools and big data analytics, predictive maintenance, digital performance management, 3D printing, and robots.

"Many companies are already thinking about Industrie 4.0, but get stuck when it comes to implementation. The DCC helps companies realize the concrete value-add of digitized production," said Christoph Schmitz, senior partner, McKinsey. “Industrie 4.0 represents both a major challenge and an opportunity for the economy. McKinsey founded the global DCC network in response to the question of what Industrie 4.0 means for companies in practice and how digital transformation can be realized successfully.”

DCC Aachen showcases the production of a smart wristband that can be individually customized by the workshop participants. The production line itself maps a typical brownfield scenario comprising a mix of older and modern machines, each with different controls and interfaces. The insights gained can be easily applied to a variety of practical applications in a wide range of industries. The DCC is designed to help workshop attendees learn how to use the latest digital technologies and increase productivity by applying them. To that end, PTC has contributed its powerful technology and considerable expertise in the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality.

"PTC applications and technologies enable customers to accelerate their organizations’ digital transformation and speed time to value," said Kathleen Milford, executive vice president of segments, PTC. "The DCC provides the perfect setting for companies to begin their own digital transformation."

To view the original press release, please click here.

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