COMING TOGETHER ON THE STAGE OF DIGITALIZATION

In June 2023, COPA-DATA invited customers and partners from across the world to visit Salzburg, either in person or virtually, to attend zenonIZE 23. The event provided a forum for discussing the latest challenges and opportunities arising in the worlds of industrial and energy automation. We also discussed methods for working together to achieve the goal of net zero.

The event opened its doors both literally and virtually on June 14 and 15, when around 200 visitors descended on Salzburg and more than 600 participants entered the app built to accompany the proceedings. These figures made zenonIZE 23 our largest customer event to date. The format allowed us to finally return to in-person discussions with customers and partners after several years of solely virtual interaction. The in-person event took place in Salzburg’s Schauspielhaus theater. Its two stages provided a platform for more than 30 presenters to deliver inspiring and captivating talks to the attendees.

Roadmap To Net Zero

With “The Stage of Digitalization” being the slogan for the event, the discussions and topics that were presented centered on strategic approaches for industrial digitalization and improved sustainability in production, plus customer use cases. In the ten years or so since Industry 4.0 emerged as a watchword, our environment and our assumptions have changed in many ways. Numerous companies are now pursuing sustainability projects. The examples from practice that were presented illustrated the contribution that the zenon software platform is already able to make on the road to net zero. A range of scenarios drawn from different industries outlined a roadmap to achieving more sustainability in production. They illustrated ways in which companies can bridge the gap between societal concerns and technology both now and in the future.

Seamless digitalization from laboratory to production

In his keynote speech, Andreas Bamberg from Merck KGaA demonstrated how zenon and Module Type Package (MTP) technology enable significant reductions in time to market. The guest speaker stated that modularity has been key to creating an edge over the competition. The introduction of digital technology has revolutionized the world of production, making it possible for every stakeholder in the industry to achieve a seamless transition from laboratory experiments to commercial production on a large scale. The advent of modular production systems, he added, has created a flexible envi- ronment and gives companies the scalability needed to increase or reduce production levels smoothly in line with demand.

Zenon 12

Yet another highlight was the unveiling of zenon 12 –the latest version of our software platform, launched shortly after the event. Participants were given an exclusive sneak preview of the key new features and enjoyed the chance to see the expanded options and functions for themselves. There were also in-depth presentations about the new zenon Historian 360 and the wide variety of possible applications in which our zenon IIoT Services can be used.

To Be Continued In 2025

We received valuable feedback from participants, who showed an overwhelmingly positive response – whether they had attended in person or through the live streams. Hearing this has reinforced our commitment to stage more zenonIZE events in the future, providing a platform for sharing expertise, discussing personal insights with fellow attendees, and engaging in valuable networking between our customers, partners, and many friends.

Stay tuned for zenonIZE 25!

WATCH THE VIDEOS FROM ZENONIZE 23 AND GET INSPIRED!