The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Technical decision · 2018–2020
TRUMPF's Ditzingen Smart Factory networked 30 machines and doubled as a sales showroom
The machine-tool family firm connected every cutter, press, robot and warehouse to one control center, cutting work up to 30%.
TRUMPF
the move
In October 2020, TRUMPF opened a Smart Factory at its Ditzingen headquarters that makes sheet-metal parts for its own machine tools. Thirty machines were networked across three halls covering 5,000 square meters, together with a large storage system and automated guided vehicles, all steered from a control center showing real-time production data.
TRUMPF said the connected setup avoids scrap, shortens machining time and enables efficiency gains of up to 30%. Managers can monitor the whole line from anywhere via its TruTops Fab software, and assistant systems guide workers through the day — an approach aimed squarely at the small lots and fast reaction times of modern sheet-metal shops.
The factory was also a showroom: European sheet-metal processors — especially small and mid-sized Mittelstand firms — were invited to watch real production and start networking step by step, for example with an AI-based sorting assistant. It was TRUMPF's third fully networked plant after Chicago and Taicang, with partners Jungheinrich, STOPA and ARKU supplying components.
why it works
- Demonstrating efficiency on your own floor outsells claims.
- A Mittelstand-sized demo makes digitalization feel reachable.
- The plant is also a testbed that improves the product software.
- Three networked factories prove the model works at global scale.
what transfers
When you sell machines, build your own factory as the proof: a real, networked line is a more persuasive sales room than any brochure.
what came after
The Ditzingen Smart Factory became TRUMPF's standard reference for connected sheet-metal production, and the company kept building out its smart-factory business; by 2024–2026 the factory and its successors were still the centerpiece of TRUMPF's Industrie 4.0 story and customer tours.
references
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