Connecting physical and digital: Review of 2nd Practice Forum 2017

E4TC’s highly successful 2nd Practice Forum “Realize Digital Transformation” took place on September 27 and 28, 2017. Over 100 participants joined to dive deep into the reality of digital transformation across the enterprise. e.GO Mobile served as one example leveraging these possibilities in its design, production and customer processes.

The first part of this immersive event was an exclusive test drive opportunity with the connected e.GO Life prototypes in the brilliant setting of RWTH Aachen University’s Aldenhoven Testing Center tracks.  In the pit lane, test runs were observable in real-time through a Digital Twin App comparing simulated and real values from digital and physical protoypes. This is an important enabler for iterative and shortened product development.

RWTH Aachen Campus’s Demonstration Factory and eLAB for electro mobility component manufacturing feature shop floor digitalization examples including connected machinery and their digital shadow, 3D shop floor design and execution management, integrated order and warehouse management, asset and tool tracking, machine installation and service guidance, as well as process condition monitoring and augmented reality support. This served as a background for inspiring discussions about agility in enterprises between product and production engineering and execution.

e.GO’s customer showroom on the Campus presented the new possibilities on an entirely Digital Customer Journey.  Prospects collect information and start to interact with e.GO, which makes them enter the digital marketing and sales processes, all situated between web frontend, online sales configurator and customer relationship management.  Other practical examples from E4TC partners showed vividly, how B2B business model changes relate to new digital go-to-market approaches.