Automation has made a huge impact on the manufacturing industry by allowing the process without the need for direct human intervention at the production unit. With digital technologies and autonomous production, there is a possibility that “light-out environments” or dark factories will be a reality.

To address this topic, the EU Tech Chamber (EUTECH) Sustainable Manufacturing Alliance organised a webinar on November 08, 2022. The topic under discussion was, “Automation or Dark Factories: Problem or Solution?”

The webinar started off with an introductory note by Ms. Sierra von Tucher, Board Member of the EUTECH, followed by a short company overview by Ms. Celisa Day who is the coordinator of SDG Alliance. Following that, a formal introduction of the three panelists was done by our moderator, Ms. Judith Yong, who is also the coordinator of Sustainable Manufacturing Alliance.

The three honorable panelists were Mr. Wolfgang Kniejski, Senior Business Creation Manager at EIT Manufacturing, then, we had Mr. Plamen Kiradjiev, Head of Solution Architects at German Edge Cloud. The third panelist was Mr. Dirk Schrader, CEO, and co-founder at Goodly Innovations GmbH.

While addressing the webinar, the speakers discussed the possible upgradation from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 which will eventually shift the manufacturing process from machine-centered to human-centered. They discussed the concept of automation factories from labor-intensive workforces to knowledge-intensive work.

Moreover, the panelists also discussed the relation between digitalization and factory automation. They also discussed some pros and cons of dark factories. Some advantages of dark manufacturing are efficiency, 24/7 operations, and energy consumption. On the other hand, some disadvantages are high capital, maintenance, and job displacement.

We want to thank our experienced speakers for their informed insights on this. Moreover, special thanks to Ms. Judith Yong for moderating the webinar and distributing Tree-Certificates to the panelists.

Above all, sincere thanks to all our attendees – your comments, compliments, and questions. Stay tuned for our next Sustainable Manufacturing Alliance webinar on December 13, 2022, at 9:00 am (CET), about “Web3 and Block Chain Technologies: Opportunities for Manufacturing”.

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