Schaeffler Wins German Innovation Award for Industrial Metaverse, Plans to Cover 50% of Factories by 2030

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Motion technology company Schaeffler has won the German Innovation Award in the "Large Enterprises" category for its industrial metaverse. This digital ecosystem connects physical production plants with virtual environments, integrating AI-based simulation models and software solutions to create an efficient, data-driven production environment. It provides the foundation for the large-scale deployment of autonomous production resources such as humanoid robots, accelerating the transformation of production systems toward digitalization and autonomy.

The German Innovation Award is presented annually by the business news magazine WirtschaftsWoche, in partnership with Accenture, the BMW Foundation, and O2 Telefónica, and is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The award honors companies that enhance Germany's and Europe's global competitiveness through innovative solutions.

Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, stated that the industrial metaverse is used both to create digital twins of factories and to build a learning ecosystem in the manufacturing sector, which helps secure the company's long-term competitiveness. Introducing artificial intelligence into industrial applications and deploying humanoid robots in manufacturing processes are laying the groundwork for the factory of the future.

The industrial metaverse combines realistic three-dimensional digital maps of production environments with true-to-life simulations of physical processes, while also integrating control software for autonomous systems such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs), humanoid robots, and programmable logic controllers. Leveraging physical AI, the system can evaluate sensor signals, identify correlations and patterns, and determine specific actions. Robots rehearse motion sequences in virtual space, allowing assembly processes to be optimized for efficiency before being applied to real-world production. As a result, processes previously considered too complex or insufficiently profitable can be automated for the first time.

Schaeffler's industrial metaverse is already in use at ten centers, with plans to roll it out to 50% of its factories worldwide by 2030.

Dr. Jochen Schröder, Chief Operating Officer of Schaeffler AG, stated that the industrial metaverse is not just a tool for optimizing processes, but a key prerequisite for the large-scale deployment of humanoid robots. Cyber-physical systems can already be trained quickly and efficiently in virtual space using physical AI, paving the way for a high level of flexible automation and greater efficiency in global mass production.