Great Success for the First Edition of Industrial Software Forum

Digitization, innovation, security are just some of the topics addressed during the exhibition-conference promoted by ANIE Automazione and organized in collaboration with Messe Frankfurt Italia, which took place on February 6 at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.

More than 800 visitors filled the spaces of the splendid Sala delle Cavallerizze where the first edition of the Industrial Software Forum dedicated to “The evolution of software technologies in the Industry 4.0” took place, a moment of comparison between the most important companies producing software solutions for industry, potential users and stakeholders interested in digital transformation.
The day opened with greetings from the promoters of the event, Donald Wich, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Italy, and Fabrizio Scovenna, President of ANIE Automazione, who reiterated the importance of software as an enabling layer for any process or technology that leads to the completion of digital transformation. This importance was also reiterated by Alessandro Mattinzoli, Councillor for Economic Development of the Lombardy Region, who also stressed the need to “create a system” to make innovation available to the public good using tools such as the Forum.
The comparison between the two protagonists of digital innovation was also important: the world of business processes (OT) represented by F. M. Marchetti, President of WG Industrial Software of ANIE Automazione, and the ICT world of business processes represented by Elio Catania, President of Confindustria Digitale. Both stressed that the digital transformation of companies is fundamental for the economy and growth of the country and that the path towards digitization is now an imperative for the industrial world. Events such as the Forum can contribute to giving companies, especially SMEs, the tools to deal with digital transformation in an appropriate and informed manner.
The plenary session ended with the presentation of a model for estimating ROI: a tool for assessing the profitability of an investment in industrial software made by the University of Pisa, the University of Florence and the Scuola Superiore Universitaria Sant’Anna of Pisa on the idea of WG Industrial Software. It is a pilot project whose results will be collected in a White Paper that will be released shortly.
The technological sessions that animated the day divided into three main themes: Smart Manufacturing, Industrial Cyber Security and Virtual Manufacturing and smart products.
In the first thematic area, the technological presentations focused on the technologies that allow you to create systems MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and MOM (Manufacturing Operations Management), but also on cloud systems, Edge technologies and Industrial IoT, without neglecting the contribution of artificial intelligence.
The second thematic area dedicated to Industrial Cyber Security was introduced by a speech by Clusit, the association representing IT security experts, and then gave space to industry players who illustrated the main technological means available to companies to protect plants and ensure the provision of services. The third thematic area was dedicated to Virtual Manufacturing and Smart Products, where the benefits offered by the new product development paradigms, from PLM to digital twins, but also how to make products smart, thus enabling new business models based on services related to the use of the product, were discussed.
Among the many papers presented, the Scientific Committee of the Forum decided to award the Industrial Software Award to the theme of plant and critical infrastructure safety proposed by Umberto Cattaneo of Schneider Electric. Special mentions were given to Beckhoff Automation, EFA Automation and ServiTecno.
The day ended with a round table, organized by Digital 360, entitled “From smart machines to smart products: what scenarios for infrastructures and solutions” with the aim of providing a concrete picture of the prospects related to the development of intelligent machines and products applied to the manufacturing world, with particular attention to the role of software solutions. The protagonists of the interesting debate were Calogero Maria Oddo, Professor of Biorobotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa; Mario Rapaccini, Professor of Economic and Management Engineering at the Department of Engineering of the University of Florence; Mauro Galano, WG Industrial Software of ANIE Automazione, and Luca Flecchia, Data Driven Innovation P4I.