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Program | FACTORY OF THE YEAR 2026

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09:00 o'clock

Welcome and moderation

Sprecher Thomas Bauernhansl Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Bauernhansl Fraunhofer IPA Moderator Peter Wiedemann Peter Wiedemann Former Chief Operational Officer (COO), RATIONAL AG, Landsberg am Lech, and member of the Supervisory Board of Washtec AG, Augsburg
09:15 o'clock

Keynote: Embodied AI as a game changer for German industry

Sprecher Thomas Bauernhansl Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Bauernhansl Fraunhofer IPA
09:45 o'clock

Keynote: Catena-X@Circular Economy

Frank Göller - Sprecher FABRIK DES JAHRES Frank Göller Program Lead Catena-X für Volkswagen Konzern und AUDI AG; Vorstandsmitglied Catena-X e.V
10:15 o'clock

Coffee break and visit to the trade exhibition

10:45 o'clock

Winner Outstanding Series Production
Smart Factory of the Future - North Hall

• Innovation, courage, curiosity, and passion for top-quality production

Fabrik des Jahres Speaker - Christian Mayer Christian Mayer Managing Director of Production at SEW-EURODRIVE
11:15 o'clock

Winner Outstanding small-batch production
Special-purpose machine construction in cycle

• Flexibility in line production
• Lean administration – transparency and speed in the office

Fabrik des Jahres Sprecher - Oswald Steinhauer Oswald Steinhauer Werksleiter, MAPLAN GmbH
11:45 o'clock

Lunch break and visit to the trade exhibition

13:15 o'clock

Winner of the GEO AWARD: We live JACOB!

• For our customers
• For our future
• For all of us

Fabrik des Jahres Speaker - Nick Töws Jan Niklas Töws Director of Operations and Supply Chain Management, JACOB Group
13:45 o'clock

Winner of Factory of the Year
From Industry 4.0 factory to AI factory: E2E customer centricity as the guiding principle of transformation

• No process disruptions: Digitalization from the inside out—and from customer to customer
• End-to-end Industry 4.0 process chains as AI enablers
• From Industry 4.0 factory to AI factory: E2E customer centricity as the guiding principle of transformation

Fabrik des Jahres - Sprecher Dennis Benfer Dennis Benfer Head of Digital Processes / Production Planning, Rittal
14:15 o'clock

EXPERT TALK: Power politics in 2026: Global challenges and the role of the US

Annika Bahl Annika Bahl Director, Global Government & Public Affairs, WILO SE Fabrik des Jahres Speaker - Michael Scharfschwerdt Michael Scharfschwerdt Senior Advisor Geopolitics, Kearney Fabrik des Jahres Sprecher - Gerhard Koblenzer Gerhard Koblenzer Managing Director, LPW Cleaning Systems GmbH
15:00 o'clock

Closing ceremony and end of the 34th FABRIK DES JAHRESJAHRES, followed by closing coffee