The manufacturing portion of GDP in developed as well as developing countries continues to shrink in favour of the services sector, especially financial services, real estate and internet-related services. As a consequence, there has been a drive in many developed countries to refocus on manufacturing.

"Industry 4.0" refers to a forward-looking project initiated by the German federal government to re-vitalize its local manufacturing sector with the aim of increasing manufacturing to at least 20% of GDP by 2020. The key objective is to strengthen Germany's competitive edge by increasing manufacturing efficiency, shortening time to market and increasing the flexibility and variety to best respond to local and international demand. After more than two years of work, the Industry 4.0 working group has produced a paper titled "Industry 4.0 – A vision on the way to reality". Our special guest speaker at this event will explain the background of Industry 4.0 and summarise the main findings outlined in the paper.

The "Industry 4.0" Working Group, was set up in January 2012 under the chairmanship of Dr Siegfried Dais (Robert-Bosch GmbH) and Professor Henning Kagermann (acatech - German Academy of Science and Engineering) with participants from Industry (including Siemens), academic institutions and other associations supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research. Its purpose was to draft a paper detailing comprehensive strategic recommendations for implementing "Industry 4.0".

Industry 4.0 focuses on the industrial areas of production and manufacturing. The development towards 4.0 will lead to completely digitalized manufacturing and smart factories. These smart or digital factories will have self- organizing and optimization capabilities, which will allow greater flexibility, efficiency and productivity, 30% or more, than factories today. Smart factories will be the benchmark in future manufacturing economies and a decisive competitive advantage.

In the Taiwan context, advancement in manufacturing technology and especially re-shoring of manufacturing, is on the top of the economic development agenda. Industry 4.0 is therefore an important enabler to strongly support Taiwan's development in the manufacturing landscape and to reach its strategic objectives.

Erdal Elver is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Limited Taiwan and concurrently an Executive Director of the ECCT. Prior to this, he held a number of senior positions with Siemens in various countries. He was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Ltd., Vietnam; General Manager, Jiangsu Province and Vice President of Siemens Ltd., China; General Manager and Vice President of Sales China, Mobile Networks, Siemens AG and Vice President of Business Development and Strategy & Business Excellence, Mobile Networks, Siemens AG. He holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

To cancel without penalty, written cancellations must be received 24 hours prior to the event.

Contact: Fiona Lee / Tel 2740-0236 ext. 215 / fiona.lee@ecct.com.tw / www.ecct.com.tw