At the 7th Innovation Forum on October 19, 2017 in Kornwestheim near Stuttgart, the main topics of project planning in the context of factory and logistics planning were discussed for the first time. About 140 planners, IT managers and decision-makers were introduced to new possibilities for 3D planning and “digitalization of collaboration” in lectures, workshops and software presentations.
The 7th Innovation Forum of IPO.Plan GmbH was organized for the first time in cooperation with Actano GmbH under the umbrella of Actano Holding. While IPO.Plan offers leading software solutions for factory and logistics planning, Actano develops next-generation project planning solutions on an end-to-end platform. A first joint product has already been presented in March 2017. This R 4D software combines project management with 3D visualization and is particularly suitable for three application areas: These are product development, especially in the automotive industry, the planning and implementation of complex production plants and the handling of construction projects. “In these markets, the close connection between Actano and IPO.Plan results in significant competitive advantages for customers”, explained Dr. Peter Derendinger, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Actano Holding AG in his welcoming speech. “The integration of project planning and visualization of the respective CAD models appears to us to be a logical step towards digitalization”, added Matthias Kellermann, CEO of IPO.Plan.
Project Management in Times of Work 4.0 and Digitalization
In his keynote speech, Holger Lörz, CEO of Actano GmbH, covered the arc from the noticeable changes in the world of work and the effects on project management to new forms of software support, which should facilitate “Collaboration 4.0”: “The project reality must be available at all times in a focused manner”, he demanded. “This can only be achieved on an open platform that also provides new collaboration functions for agile collaboration”. With this form of augmented reality, project contents could be visualized better. The respective project status would be automatically updated after feedback.
Project Management with CAD Data
Michael Wagner, Executive Director of Development at IPO.Plan, demonstrated how the visualization of project management using CAD data looks like in practice with the R 4D software. While individual project tasks are discussed or updated, a separate screen window displays the components or building areas in 3D that are at issue. In this way, problems can be quickly analyzed and a solution can be quickly found.
“Digital twin” increases productivity by 24 percent
Rebecca Schempp from Max Holder GmbH presented how to successfully optimize the production of small vehicle series with IPO.Log. A relocation of the Metzingen-based company with around 245 employees opened up the opportunity to plan the production of around 650 municipal vehicles per year on a “greenfield site”. The entire assembly process was mapped with IPO.Log in order to eliminate weak points already in the planning stage. This also resulted in the planning of material supply. The “digital twin” set up with IPO.Log can be used for further digitization projects in production and logistics.
Joint Performance – Synergies for All
In the afternoon, three workshops were offered in parallel in two blocks. This allowed each participant to decide for themself whether they wanted to deal in detail with factory and logistics planning or project management in the future. How an agile project management of the future will benefit from RPLAN workstreams based on Slack was also part of the program, as was the use of CCPM approaches in collaborative planning.
Visitors were impressed not only by the topicality and breadth of the topics, which ranged from artificial intelligence to resource planning and supplier management. The Innovation Forum provided new inspiration, particularly through the combination of project management and assembly planning. As a visitor, one could impressively experience how the combination of the two topics can broaden horizons and unleash synergy effects.