Evolution of SMEs towards Industrie 4.0 through a scenario based learning factory training

Abstract The concept of Industrie 4.0 has initiated an evolutionary process in the manufacturing industry. Especially small and medium sized companies lack the capacities and knowledge to accomplish this process autonomously. The learning factory concept offers the possibility to second companies within this process. This paper will present a concept of how enterprises can be trained within the realm of a learning factory based on scenarios of different Industrie 4.0 evolutionary steps regarding the three dimensions of the sociotechnical approach. These scenarios focus on demonstrating and assessing the dependencies of assorted characteristics of Industrie 4.0 category groups. An important supporting tool during this process of assessment is a holistic Industrie 4.0 maturity model, which will assist the enterprises in recognizing the dependencies during different evolutionary steps. The concept was developed based on the results of the research project Adaption , which are outlined beforehand.