On October 5, 2017, the Minister for Economics, Labor and Housing of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, visited IPO.Plan GmbH in Leonberg.
Leonberg, 24.10.2017 – The company relies on virtual reality for the planning of production and logistics and is at the forefront of digitalization in engineering services and software development, particularly in the automotive industry. The Minister wandered through a virtual production line wearing 3D glasses and gained insights into the capacity for innovation and shortage of specialists in the region.
“As engineers with many years of practical experience, we know the logistics and production processes in the factory. With IPO.Log, we have developed an innovative software that is technically close to practical requirements and based on the latest IT technologies,” explains Matthias Kellermann, industrial engineer and executive director of IPO.Plan GmbH. The company is currently planning the production hall for a well-known car manufacturer in the immediate vicinity: “The customer tells us how many cars are to be built and what cycle speeds are aimed for”. The engineers of IPO.Plan then plan the production facilities. “I think it’s great to see how medium-sized companies produce great things,” emphasized Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut. “We have to become faster, more efficient and more transparent. Only in this way will we be able to compensate for the shift in value creation to other regions.” The 500 million project is scheduled for completion in two years. But already today you can walk through the planned hall on your computer with the company’s 3D software. “This enables us to virtually map and improve the assembly process even before the hall is actually built,” says Michael Wagner, also an executive director at IPO.Plan. “I find it unprecedented how they are moving forward and positioning themselves in the digital world”, the Minister concludes. “I particularly like the way you are committed to the integration of foreign citizens.” In the future, she wants to ensure that companies such as IPO.Plan receive more support in the growth phase.