Sachsenküchen – an Industry 4.0 Exemplar
Industry 4.0 is a vision that evolved from an initiative to make the German manufacturing industry more competitive. Australia needs to be at the forefront of this development but is in danger of slipping behind. Resistance to change could be the Australian furniture industry’s greatest obstacle.
Industry 4.0 creates enormous opportunity for Australia. As one of the developed economies most vulnerable to competition from low wage nations, we have a greater incentive to adopt new, smart technologies. And it’s not just large companies that will benefit from Industry 4.0; it is expected that smart, small and medium-sized enterprises will be more innovative and faster to adopt the change needed to fully appreciate the benefits of manufacturing in the new age.
So, what does an Industry 4.0 company look like? Supplier visited one such company in Obercarsdorf near Dresden in Germany. Sachsenküchen translates as ‘Saxony Kitchens’ and at almost 112 years old is now one of the oldest kitchen furniture manufacturers in Germany. With sales of over 70 million Australian dollars, the company achieved the best result in the company’s history in 2019. The export ratio was 51.7%, which corresponds to an increase in export sales of 7.0%. How did they achieve this excellent result? With Industry 4.0 manufacturing, and professional support from the World’s leading furniture industry consultants, Lignum Consulting.
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By Elite Publishing Co Pty Ltd