At the Hanover Fair, the Standardization Council Industrie 4.0 (SCI 4.0), together with DIN and VDE/DKE, will present the Third Edition of the Standardization Roadmap for Industrie 4.0. Written by experts from industry, research, academia and politics, the Roadmap describes the current state of development in Industrie 4.0, lists the needs for standards in this area, and provides ideas for successful implementation. The document also addresses the role of humans in automated environments, the harmonization of smart manufacturing components, reference and data models in Industrie 4.0, as well as communication technologies, service robotics and legal issues.

"Germany has to assert itself on the international market by coming up with the best solutions and concepts for Industrie 4.0. This makes a holistic approach and interdisciplinary cooperation in industry and by standardizers absolutely necessary – particularly so that these solutions can be successfully implemented and established on a global scale“, says Prof. Dr. Dieter Wegener, Speaker of SCI 4.0.

Role of humans in Industrie 4.0
A key element of the Standardization Roadmap is the role that humans play in “smart factories”. Whether as actors in the production process, operators of machines, or as maintenance operatives, production planners or programmers – human beings will continue to occupy key roles within the production process. When designing a work system that is ergonomic, efficient, flexible and sustainable, it is important that humans be taken into consideration throughout the design process. The Standardization Roadmap thus gives detailed recommendations for action for the human-centred design of tasks, jobs and the overall work environment in Industrie 4.0.

The Standardization Roadmap for Industrie 4.0 is free for downloading in German and English at www.din.de/go/normungsroadmap and at www.vde.com/shop.