GEA: Digitalisation through a smart valve
As the world's leading system provider, GEA developed an AR prototype in the Cross Innovation Lab to facilitate the maintenance of its products.
The challenge
Innovation cycles are shortening, markets are becoming more complex - the framework conditions for industry are changing. New solutions are needed to ensure that the manufacturing industry remains competitive in the global marketplace. In the Cross Innovation Lab, valve manufacturer GEA tackled these challenges in collaboration with creative professionals.
Specifically, the question was how the functions of a digital valve twin can be used to drive GEA's products, processes and organisational development towards Industry 4.0.
Output
By working together with experts from the creative industries, it was possible to develop a digital twin of a valve within four workshops. An augmented reality prototype was created in a very short time, particularly thanks to the collaboration of a game designer: a real valve can be focussed on with the help of a tablet. This lays the foundation for reading out information about the current valve status and any predictive maintenance requirements or transmitting virtual maintenance instructions.
In addition, new business models were conceived by analysing data.
Team: Kiran Gill, Konstantin Buchmann, Christian Oeing, Jan Dietrich, Aart Bezooijen, Imanuel Schipper.
"The Cross Innovation Lab is an enrichment by combining technical and creative thinking to develop our products in a forward-looking way."
Format & method
In the Cross Innovation Lab, companies come together in changing constellations over a period of six weeks to work together on product developments in a stimulating environment. Experts from the creative industries are specifically involved in the process.
- Field research: At the beginning, the challenges of the companies are analysed in a new kind of depth in collaboration with creative professionals - and their fresh perspective from the outside.
- Workshop phase: In a total of four workshop/lab days, the companies develop new solutions together with selected creative professionals.
- Feedback loops: Between the labs, a concept review takes place with all participating companies in order to further improve the products through joint feedback and exchange.
In the iterative work process, companies develop new products or product adaptations in a significantly reduced amount of time.
Our partner: GEA
GEA is one of the largest system providers for the food processing industry and for a wide range of other sectors. The internationally active technology company specialises in machines and systems as well as process technology and components. GEA was represented in the Cross Innovation Lab with its valves and pumps product division. These convey milk, beer, other beverages, paste-like foods, pharmaceuticals and chemical products on a daily basis.
