Siemens has begun launching its massive investment strategy for the industrial metaverse, it was revealed last week.
Valued at roughly €2 billion USD, the huge investment plan will allocate €1 billion to build facilities and growth in Germany to back the nation’s innovation capacity.
The story continues! After announcing its €2 billion investment strategy a few weeks ago, Siemens is taking the next step and investing a further €500 million in Germany’s innovative strength 👇
— Siemens (@Siemens) July 13, 2023
Siemens will expectedly open its Erlangen-based Technology Campus to collaborate globally on research and development (R&D) via €500 million to boost manufacturing capabilities.
According to a press release, the technology and infrastructure firm wants the facility to become “the nucleus of global technology activities for the industrial metaverse.”
Erlangen: The German Capital of Siemens Innovation?
Developed in west Erlangen, the new campus will aim to develop sustainable high-tech manufacturing. By doing so, the firm plans to shape an ecosystem of enterprise and science-based partners.
Siemens will also expand on existing facilities at the German site. Prior to its construction, engineers will plan and simulate the site virtually.
Digital twins of the innovation centre will allow professionals to optimise the Erlangen plant for the industrial metaverse. Currently, it manufactures electronics components and machine tool controls for machine builders.
Additionally, Siemens Real Estate hopes to reduce the carbon footprint of the 200,000-square-metre factory and reach net-zero emissions targets. Siemens expansion plans will include leveraging its sustainable technologies and boosting green energy supplies, storage, and infrastructure by working with the Erlangen city government.
We are shaping the digital transformation of the working world for and with our people at the new Technology Campus in Erlangen. pic.twitter.com/733nAV2tTZ
— Siemens (@Siemens) July 13, 2023
Siemens also aims to expedite growth, innovation, and resilience with its extended reality (XR) and Web3 technologies. With the €2 billion investment, Siemens and its partners will develop innovation labs, education centres, manufacturing, and other verticals for Industry 4.0.
Located in the Nurenberg Metropolitan region, Erlangen serves to back Siemens’ commitment to accelerating the location’s growth as a hub. The Erlangen facility will demonstrate Siemens’ push for digital transformation and industrial automation across Germany’s high-tech sectors.
The company’s industrial metaverse plans will also incorporate numerous emerging technologies such as digital twins, artificial intelligence (AI), and others. These innovative assets will support Siemens’ targets for a sustainable, adaptive manufacturing sector.
Enterprise, Government Statements on Erlangen Facility
The news comes after the Munich and Berlin-based enterprise announced the strategy. The big reveal took place in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, signalling the push for Germany’s digital transformation.
Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, said that the investment would send a “strong signal” for Germany to become a location for “innovation and production.”
He continued: “The leading-edge manufacturing facility being built in Erlangen is a good example of how our economy is moving toward a climate-neutral future – as a strong industrial country with good sustainable jobs.”
Furthermore, Roland Busch, President and Chief Executive, Siemens AG, explained that his firm was “banking” on Germany’s innovation and “launching the next stage of digitalization.”
Busch continued,
“We’re laying the foundation for the industrial metaverse in the Nuremberg metropolitan region. Here, on the new campus, we’re combining the real and the digital worlds. Together with partners, we’re developing new digital technologies in the metaverse and revolutionizing how we’ll run our production in the future – much more efficiently, flexibly and sustainably”
The news comes after XR Today spoke to Brian Holliday, Managing Director of Digital Industries, Siemens. The conversation took place on the sidelines of the Enterprise Metaverse Summit in London.
At the Economist Summit event, Holliday explained how Siemens’ digital twins and others would empower companies across industry verticals. To the key executive, there was “no question” that digital twins made a “tremendous difference” in improving processes.
Furthermore, Siemens’ partnerships with computing giants NVIDIA and Unity have strengthened its collaboration on industrial metaverse technologies. Current efforts have involved developing solutions, use cases, and global standards for such emerging technologies.
Finally, Siemens efforts to engage enterprises have also involved boosting Freyr’s battery production plant in Norway. Announced at the Hannover Messe 2023 event, analysts have lauded Freyr’s digital transformation as a major success for immersive technologies.
