Autor: Jan-Peer Rudolph

In line with current digital transformations, the number of software applications in use by companies is continuously increasing. This particularly affects industrial enterprises, which face challenges due to their often complex business processes. A holistic and sustainable integration of these business processes requires a strong link between the different information systems used. In this context, application integration, also known as enterprise application integration (EAI), is becoming more important. Modern approaches such as the use of microservices offer a particularly flexible and efficient solution for seamlessly connecting different applications and thus promoting the agility and scalability of a company’s IT landscape.

Current advances result in increasingly complex production programs. Through combination of additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0, new elements can be formed and - as a whole - enable to economically manufacture the above mentioned programs. The Bionic Smart Factory 4.0 provides a framework, structuring them in terms of relation and interaction. Their development and implementation is being promoted through their evaluation against the determinants of complex production programs.