In this project, the partners wish to involve the companies in the M&M center through co-creation. This co-creation is realized through two successive cycles (inspiration and implementation, co-design and co-production and co-evaluation). After each cycle, the findings are disseminated openly and non-discriminatively to the broad target group. In particular, 9 proof-of-concepts will be developed and validated with participating companies that meet typical I4.0 challenges. For the realization of I4.0, smart & interconnected machines, smart & flexible production systems and innovative support technologies for the operator are inextricably linked. Within this proposal, the focus is on removing barriers in the development and implementation of these key elements. This project aims to respond to the following industrial challenges:

* How can intelligence be integrated into new / existing machines?

* How can interconnectivity between machines and machines cloud be realized in a production system in a reliable and flexible way?

* How can a Digital Twin be built v.e. machine or a complete production system? How can it be used in a practical way to make machine operation more controllable, reliable, efficient, predictions for wear and maintenance, and service life tests?

* How can technology such as VR / AR, mobile / collaborative robots, support human operators?

* How can solutions be developed for these challenges tailored to the specific requirements of each stakeholder? How can best practices be defined from these implementations for rolling out I4.0?