Digitalization of industrial value chains ? a review and evaluation of existing use cases of Industry 4.0 in Germany

Background: The paper presents recent results of the ongoing collaborative research project “MyCPS” (Human-centered development and application of Cyber-Physical Systems). Methods: Within the scope of the project, 14 partners, amongst seven industrial partners, develop methods and tools to set-up applications of intelligent digitalization and automation of industrial processes. Results: Within the paper they are over 385 use cases evaluated according to comparative criteria. Furthermore, use cases were classified due to their development stage of industry 4.0 goals and promises. The three levels ‘information’, ‘interaction’ and ‘intelligence’ are used to differentiate applications according to their degree of maturity in industry 4.0 terms. Conclusion: In MyCPS, special emphasis is the role of the workforce and the interactions of the technology-led use cases with employees. Thereby, the analysis helps enterprises and researchers to self-assess key-aspects of the development of industry 4.0 use cases. A part of this study was presented as oral presentation at the "24th International Conference on Production Research (ICPR 2017)" in Poznan, Poland from July 30 to August 3, 20017.