AMBERG, Germany--The next front in Germany's effort to keep up with the digital revolution lies in a factory in this sleepy industrial town.
At stake isn't what the Siemens AG plant produces--in this case, automated machines to be used in other industrial factories--but how its 1,000 manufacturing units communicate through the Web.
As a result, most units in this 100,000-plus square-foot factory are able to fetch and assemble components without further human input.
The Amberg plant is an early-stage example of a concerted effort by the German government, companies, universities and research institutions to develop fully automated, Internet-based "smart" factories.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/german ... link=zacks
Factories running 24/7 all year round with a skeleton staff of security to keep the kids out and all placed on self driving trucks to get them to their destination. Five to ten years?
