Meet up “Equipment Manufacturing Goes Digital” 2025 at PVA TePla

On October 29, 2025 PVA TePla in Wettenberg hosted our fifth meet up “Equipment Manufacturing Goes Digital”. Experts from equipment manufacturing, service and digitalization used the day to share experiences, present projects and discuss real questions from their daily work.

The day started with Martin Falsner from Kontron AIS and host Till Stoermer from PVA TePla. They looked back at five years of digitalization in equipment manufacturing. The focus was on real experiences instead of polished showcase projects. What works, where things get stuck and which structures help anchor digitalization as an ongoing process. After that PVA TePla showed how digital service concepts look in practice. Rafael Seifert from RAMPF added the perspective of change management and explained how early communication and team involvement shape project success. His takeaway was clear. Those who communicate early, define roles and actively involve their teams increase the chance that digital projects will have an impact.

Next, Vanessa Kluge and Thomas Dreyer presented product highlights from Kontron AIS including functions for monitoring and service digitalization. A key focus was the use of AI in service. The goal is to provide information faster, answer support questions more precisely and give better visibility into machines and projects. AI is meant to assist service teams, not replace them. In an open discussion participants gave feedback on the 2026 roadmap and added their requirements.

Ein Firmenrundgang durch die Produktion und den TechHub von PVA TePla bot im Anschluss Einblicke in aktuelle Anwendungen. Die Teilnehmenden sahen unter anderem Anlagen aus den Bereichen Hochtemperatur Vakuumtechnik, Plasmatechnologie und Kristallzucht. So wurden viele der zuvor diskutierten Themen direkt vor Ort greifbar.

In the afternoon participants continued in three workshops.

• In the workshop Connecting Machines – Secure and Scalable Connectivity, Thomas Dreyer and Stefan Köhler from PVA TePla worked with the group on the idea of a switchboard as a standardized intermediate layer. Components discussed included FabEagle®Connect, Node RED, KontronOS and KontronGrid.
• The workshop Transformation That Works was led by Vanessa Kluge and Richard Stegmann from MackSmaTec. It focused on roles, resources and a roadmap that is actually used inside the company.
• In the workshop From Product to Service, Martin Falsner and Tobias Pistor from the HESS Group worked with participants on concrete service ideas based on today’s customer experience for example in concrete block production.

To close the day the group walked up to Gleiberg Castle. At the top they enjoyed a tour with views over Wettenberg and the surrounding area. During the dinner that followed there was plenty of time for conversation, exchanging project experiences and making new connections. Many participants left with practical checklists, starting points for their roadmaps and follow up ideas in addition to the inputs from the talks and workshops. A common takeaway was that less integration effort, faster answers in service and more clarity about next steps are exactly what helps in day to day work. With the positive feedback it is clear that Equipment Manufacturing Goes Digital will continue in 2026.

Even more insights from the day are available in the blog post.