Industry at WFCS 2027

Industry participation is an important component of WFCS, complementing the technical paper program with perspectives on real-world deployment, industrial requirements, technology roadmaps, standardization, and emerging challenges in factory communication systems.

WFCS 2027 will continue this approach with several activities involving industrial experts. The conference program will include keynote speakers from industry, addressing relevant technological and strategic developments from an industry perspective. A dedicated Industry Forum will bring together key representatives from industry to discuss a selected hot topic in industrial communications. The forum will combine short contributions from the invited participants with a moderated panel and an open question-and-answer session, providing direct interaction between the panelists and conference attendees.

Industry participation will also extend to other parts of the program. Tutorials and Demonstration Sessions are expected to include contributions from companies and industrial research organizations, providing opportunities to present technologies, use cases, prototypes, and practical experience.

_{WFCS 2026 panelists, from left to right: Eike Lyczkowski (SEW-EURODRIVE), Dirk Schulz (ABB Corporate Research), Andreas Walz (Siemens AG), Alexander Artemenko (Bosch).}

WFCS 2026 — Offenburg: Industry Forum

The WFCS 2026 Industry Forum in Offenburg focused on the transformation of industrial automation driven by digitalization, connectivity, AI, and the evolution toward software-defined factories. The program combined four industry presentations with a panel discussion, examining both technological opportunities and practical challenges associated with the Factory of the Future. The four presentations addressed complementary aspects of this transformation. Eike Lyczkowski, SEW-EURODRIVE, discussed the softwareization of the factory floor and the migration of automation functionality from dedicated devices toward software-defined and centralized architectures. Andreas Walz, Siemens AG, addressed cyber resilience, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and security mechanisms for industrial communication systems. Alexander Artemenko, Bosch, presented the integration of sensing and communication in the context of 6G and its potential for applications such as AGVs and collaborative robots, while Dirk Schulz, ABB, discussed the technical challenges of scaling Operational Technology over IT and cloud-oriented infrastructures. The subsequent panel discussion connected these topics through questions concerning cybersecurity responsibilities, OT/IT convergence, cloud-native industrial systems, determinism, regulation, and the role of standards in future industrial architectures.

Dirk Schulz’s talk at the Industry Forum, WFCS 2026 (Source: Image courtesy of Axel Sikora)

WFCS 2025 — Rostock: Industry Forum

At the WFCS 2025 Industry Forum in Rostock, Filippo Dell’Agnello (IUVO) presented industrial exoskeleton deployments and the opportunities for dependable 6G connectivity to support responsive wearable robotic systems, while Kirsten Matheus (BMW Group) discussed the challenges associated with the growing variety and complexity of in-vehicle communication technologies.

The presentations were followed by an industrial panel and open discussion, moderated by Hans-Peter Bernhard and Valerio Frascolla.

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