Today saw the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) launch the new funding initiative “SME 4.0 – Digital production and work processes”. The aim is to establish up to five centres of excellence throughout the country and to fund them with up to EUR 28 million over the next three years to support SMEs and tradespeople in the digital transition and the implementation of Industrie 4.0. The centres’ task is to inform and advise small and medium-sized enterprises, to raise awareness about digitisation, to provide support for qualification issues and through practical demonstration and testing facilities.

The state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Energy, Matthias Machnig, said: “Small and medium-sized enterprises and the trades face enormous challenges in our increasingly interconnected and digital world. In order to remain competitive, they must follow the path to digital transformation and recognise and grasp the opportunities presented by Industrie 4.0. Unlike large companies, they often do not have the necessary skills and resources to do this. With the new centres of excellence, we are providing our SMEs and trades with an important advisor and companion on this journey. The funding initiative is part of the “Innovative digitisation of German Industry” package of measures announced at the latest National IT Summit and will contribute to the implementation of the federal government’s Digital Agenda.”

Digitisation places demands on all dimensions of the economy: In technology, organisation, qualification and business models. It presents companies with major challenges as they have to respond quickly to changes in the market and at the same time meet the growing demand for greater individualisation. This requires digitised and networked production technologies and new business models that exploit the potential of Industrie 4.0 optimally and ensure the necessary security. It also requires expertise in adapting the new technologies to work processes. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular need support in this respect, as there are large deficits in the communication of experience and professional support for digitisation. That is the finding of the study “Potential for the implementation of Industrie 4.0 in the SME sector”, which was carried out by agiplan and presented recently on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The centres of excellence will support the companies in addressing the technical, economic, organisational and social challenges. Interested parties can submit project proposals to the centres until 14 August 2015.

The project complements the funding priority “SME Digital - ICT applications for the economy” with which the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy provides support to companies for the efficient use of modern ICT. In addition to the new centres of excellence, the funding priority “SME Digital” also includes the funding initiatives “eCompetence network for businesses” which has 38 eBusiness pilots, “eStandards: standardise business processes, ensure success” which is currently funding 17 projects, and “Simply intuitive – usability for the SME sector” which is currently funding 14 projects.

Further information: www.mittelstand-digital.de or for mobile devices: www.mittelstand-digital-mobil.de.
The funding announcement was published in the Federal Gazette on 23 June 2015 and ​can be downloaded here (PDF: 69.5 MB) courtesy of Bundesanzeiger Verlag.
[only in German]

Press release published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)