Siemens Spending $1B to Create the Blueprint for its Industrial Metaverse

The company plans photorealistic, physics-based, real time simulation with the targeted use of relevant physical data and the application of artificial intelligence.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Right) and Achim Peltz, CEO DI MC visit “Robot Alley” at Siemens Erlangen facility, where robots and humans work side by side. (Image: Siemens AG)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Right) and Achim Peltz, CEO DI MC visit “Robot Alley” at Siemens Erlangen facility, where robots and humans work side by side. (Image: Siemens AG)

Siemens has announced it’s establishing its Erlangen location as a global research and development hub and the nucleus of global technology activities for the industrial metaverse.

The company says the move will help to accelerate its overall growth, drive innovation and increase its resilience, and it is part of the more than $2 billion investment strategy the company announced earlier this summer.

The company says it will invest about half of the amount, roughly $1 billion in Germany to boost the country’s innovative strength. It will establish of its new Technology Campus in Erlangen, Germany, with investments of around €500 million in the expansion of development and manufacturing capacities.

The $1 billion will be focused mainly on new manufacturing capacities, innovation labs, education centers.

With around 3,500 employees, the Erlangen location is already home to a world-class factory for key products in industrial automation and digitalization. Today, production in Erlangen is already highly automated, with humans and robots working side by side.

Through this investment, Siemens is now creating a blueprint for the industrial metaverse, a virtual representation of the real world – photorealistic, physics-based and in real time. The company says its “targeted use of relevant, physical data and the application of artificial intelligence will create the latest generation of high-tech manufacturing,” which can manufacture more sustainability and respond flexibly to market changes.

“This investment is a strong signal for Germany as a location for innovation and production. 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,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Siemens is banking on innovation in Germany and launching the next stage of digitalization: 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,” said Roland Busch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG. “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 campus will focus on sustainable and future-oriented high-tech manufacturing, related research and development activities, and the opening of the location for an ecosystem of partners from the business and scientific communities. The plan for Erlangen also calls for converting existing facilities and expanding the site.

Before construction work begins, the new buildings for research and development, production and logistics will be planned and simulated in the digital world. They will then be implemented in the real world. In the process, an exact replica is created in the digital world, in which the entire existing factory layout is optimized and readjusted in the real world by using the industrial metaverse.

Its roughly 2 million-square-foot area is being designed to be a net-zero location that meets the highest sustainability criteria. Plans include an innovative energy infrastructure, green energy supply and energy storage in partnership with the city of Erlangen, and the extensive use of Siemens’ sustainable digital building technology solutions.

Written by

Michael Ouellette

Michael Ouellette is a senior editor at engineering.com covering digital transformation, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and automation.