IntervIews

cfi/Ber. DKG 95 (2018) No. 1-2 E 1

cfi: What does the interlinking of ultramod-ern information and communication tech-nology achieve for internal communication, product development as well as in produc-tion and logistics processes in-house?RR: The change is in full swing. In its 150-year history, DORST Technologies has re-peatedly mastered new epochs, and is now again in a phase that affects every area of business. The complete reorganization of assembly and production is already evident today, the changes in organization are on-going; a transition that can be described as hybrid and maintains business as usual while new products and services are cre-ated.cfi: How do intelligent digitally networked systems assist communication with the cus-tomers?RR: The focus today lies on efficient services like remote diagnosis or remote mainte-nance. Technological support is increasing in importance and DORST customers rely on this technology transfer.

These areas are being actively extended, our products increasingly support the pre-diction of potential faults and help rectify errors. The basis for this “intelligence” are data; handling this data and data security are topics that we discuss intensively with our customers.cfi: What customer segments does DORST Technologies want to address primarily with “smart” products?RR: The productivity of our customers is always at the centre. Only the sustainable success of our customers secures our posi-tion as a technology enterprise. DORST ’s customers includes the leading companies in every market segment. Our Group cus-tomers in the automotive suppliers’ indus-try are frontrunners in digitalization, but in ceramic sanitaryware and technical ceram-ics/carbides, too, there are pioneers with enormous drive.cfi: What approaches is DORST Technolo-gies choosing to steward the lifecycle of the products with progressive digitalization?

RR: Products from DORST are usually in op-eration for decades. We feel an obligation to uphold this reputation and offer mainte-nance, replacement parts and overhauling for our “classic” models, too. We won’t abandon our customer’s existing machines and will also be optimally inte-grating these products into our networking concepts. cfi: What’s changing in automation solu-tions, machine operating functions, mainte-nance concepts?RR: With increasing automation of pro-cesses and flexibilization of the products, any equipment around our products have to be universally usable as well as easy to use. Digital user interfaces facilitate opera-tion by reducing the complexity for the user and visual support for maintenance. Goal are autonomous manufacturing systems with enormous technological and economic advantages.cfi: What advantages result with the use of new generations of machines in respect of production planning and management? RR: The goal is the highest productivity with wide flexibility. Short set-up times and sta-ble production processes can’t be achieved

Germany

Industry 4.0: DORST Technologies Implementing Digitalization Structures to Improve Competitiveness

The terms Industry 4.0 – synonym for the 4th industrial revolution and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are gaining in importance. According to a study published by McKinsey in June 2017, German companies are much more optimistic compared to the previous year that they can work more cost-effectively with Industry 4.0. In Ger-many, 62 % are more optimistic than in 2016, in the USA 67 % and in China even 86 % of the companies surveyed. On average, the companies are expecting improved productivity within three years. How can the use of state-of-the-art digitalization structures help re-duce material and energy consumption and respond more flexibly to customer requirements? In the run-up to ceramitec 2018, Robin Roth (RR), Managing Director at DORST Technologies, explained to us how his company is benefitting from these new approaches and what changes have to be made in the value-added chain.

Fig. 1 Robin Roth, Managing Director at DORST Technologies

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IntervIews

RR: Very significantly! The better we ob-serve our products in use, the more we learn about how our customers work with our products, the more we can offer optimal solutions to work successfully.cfi: How are you going to present the topic at ceramitec 2018?RR: Together with our customers, we are faced with huge challenges and changes, and together with our customers, we shall master these. We have done our homework and are well prepared for digital changes; our custom-ers should see that DORST is the reliable partner for the digital future. Here, the fo-cus should be on specialized solutions and partnership-based development in the ta-bleware and sanitaryware industry as one of DORST ’s strengths.cfi: What other key topics are you present-ing in Munich in April 2018?RR: We shall be showing our customers a new process for the production of hollow-cast ceramic sanitaryware, a further devel-opment of the Super-WizzHeart system. The new ISOCUP technology has now been realized on industrial scale with a special two-station cup press. Centring on these products, but also with regard to our axial presses, there are many developments – all things you can really look forward to see-ing!cfi: Thank you for talking to us. KS

cfi: What does DORST Netshape Technol-ogy mean?RR: Under this term, we gather various technologies to manufacture the products produced according to our processes near to their final shape. It is our constant aim to reduce reworking and to make finished products from powders (or for pressure casting from slip).cfi: Can the Industry 4.0 approach help fur-ther improve the cost structures – also with regard to competitiveness?

solely with digitalization. DORST is con-stantly developing new manufacturing pro-cesses that meet the demand for maximized flexibility. ISOCUP in tableware manufactur-ing is such an example. The fully automatic process enables a product changeover in just a few minutes while in traditional pro-duction this often takes a full shift.cfi: Can the reliability be further improved?RR: We are already at a high level, but we are never satisfied and always see a possi-bility to get better. 6-Sigma is the standard.

Fig. 2 DORST cup press PHT200 (Figs.: DORST)