25.08.2010
“Intelligent production systems of the future” to be presented in Stuttgart

Factory planning and production research will be the key points of interest at a forthcoming international conference of high-calibre experts in Stuttgart. »Stuttgart Competence Forum – Intelligent Production Systems of the Future« is the title of the conference hosted by the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for Industrial Production and Factory Operation (IFF) on 4 November 2010.

At the one-day conference, which will be held in English, scholars from seven different countries will be speaking about the role which production research may potentially play in the development of competitive and sustainable production processes. “Intelligent" production systems must be capable of converting energy and raw materials into products as efficiently as possible. The conference will illuminate the influence this may have on growth, jobs and a country’s economic power.

“We are extending an open invitation to people who are interested in this topic from many different fields – not just those working in a scientific setting, but also those working in the worlds of policy and business – to attend the conference to discuss these challenges,” explains the head of the IFF, Engelbert Westkämper. One of the speakers at the meeting will be Brazil’s Professor João Oliveira who will report on “manufacturing challenges in a developing economy”. The Canadian professor ElMaraghy is due to talk about “evolution-inspired sustainability and variety management in manufacturing systems”. Professor Rikardo Bueno from Spain will lecture on “the factories of the future” and will in particular discuss the European “intelligent manufacturing” public private partnership (PPP) initiative. Professor Heinrich Flegel from Daimler AG in Stuttgart will talk on the subject of “product and process innovations for sustainable mobility”. All the speakers are part of the European Initiative ManuFuture for the development of production strategies.