Digitalisation: The way to the future

At HORSCH, we take unconventional paths. Our customers are with us every step of the way, even if there may be challenges at one point or another. This approach is also consistently applied to digitalisation. Our objective? "Break the system". Rethink contexts and think differently - pursue innovative approaches.

Like Industry 4.0, digitalisation is the buzzword of the decade. Many companies dedicate themselves to this topic. But what does it actually mean? What is it all for and, above all, what can be done specifically?
There is certainly no lack of input. Never before have so many new technologies been launched on the industrial market as quickly as in recent times. Topics like AI, virtual or augmented reality as well as 3-D applications,no longer are dreams of the future. These technologies are already accessible today without major investment sums.
So why do we still have to submit service complaints manually, search for components in an exploded view or call the manufacturer to find out whether for example a different packer can be fitted on a certain machine? Why doesn't the machine issue a message that a wear part has to be replaced in 200 operating hours? In general: why doesn't the efficiency of growing companies increase exponentially by major investments in digitisation?

Technology as a limiting factor of digitalisation?

The challenges we face today do not fail because of a lack of technology. We all use networked machines, powerful end devices, the latest apps and digital systems. And there is certainly no lack of data as today we are already generating more of it than ever before. So what is missing?

It's not just any data, but the right data. Collecting data is relatively easy. "But having reliable, valid data in the right place at the right time is the real challenge," says Christian Demel (Data Management & Processes). Installing data pipelines through the various units of a company, breaking down data silos and creating processes that ensure or improve data quality and information content are tasks that cannot be solved by technology alone. Although the "toolbox" of supporting tools is available, it remains the individual task of each company to select the appropriate tool and customise its use to find the specific way.

Without analogue processes that can also be illustrated with pen and paper, a simple digitalisation offensive will not bear fruit in the long run. Only a close look at the interrelations and the pursuit of holistic approaches will lead to synergies that can be used in the medium and long term, to increases in efficiency and to the creation of new opportunities. However, the chance of achieving these benefits in the short run and without challenges, without the much quoted change management and without investment, is extremely low. "For a digital world is not automatically a smarter world - no more than a beacon of a prototype," Christian Demel says. Therefore, digital solutions must have a lasting, positive impact.

Clear strategy – an example

The HORSCH PartFinder excellently illustrates this statement. The application which was already presented in the terraHORSCH special edition for the Agritechnica 2023 is a central, three-dimensional image of an individual customer machine. Available on all end devices as soon as the machine is completed. For selected models, a fully automated version is already available to our sales partners and is to make the identification of spare parts much easier. Why can we only offer this for selected machines for the time being? The technology seems to be available, isn‘t it?

The decisive factor is the data. While the display of 3-D models in a modern browser is a question of technology, knowing which 3D models are available in which configuration at which construction stage is a question of information. When creating or calculating the customised 3-D model, the development process data from the ERP system, the PLM system and the 3-D geometry information from the CAD systems is combined with each other. No manual enhancing or customisation takes place at any time as this is the only way to ensure successful automation. However, this also means that the product development lays the foundation for the manufacturing information as well as the spare parts documentation and that the simple integration of special items or the like is not a triviality. "At HORSCH, we think realistically and are fully aware of the fact that our R & D department will initially have to cope with additional work, but this can be saved in other areas in the medium term," Felix Hannke (Product Marketing Digital Products) explains.