WHAT THE FOG?

The Coronavirus pandemic is forcing companies to go digital. Anyone who does not have a clue when digital gibberish such as for example "fog computing" are used, will in future be given regular, easy-to-understand explanations of digitalization terminology in our series "Digital Solutions".

With more than 30 years of experience in the digitalization, automation and electrification of mobile machines, we support our customers with customized workshops, the right concepts and suitable system architectures. But what is this digitalization anyway? What does it mean exactly?

The situation in which we find ourselves at the moment is extraordinary in many ways. Life presents each and every one of us with great challenges, both professionally and personally. Many of us are forced to find solutions to completely new and unprecedented problems within a very short period of time. The enormously high degree of networking at all levels of society can help us create something new in an uncomplicated, fast and pragmatic way. Never before have there been so many new ideas for digital solutions as there are today, the possibilities for implementation are almost unlimited and new ones are added every day.

However, people must first learn to handle the new technologies that they have created and to use them in a sensible, sustainable, but also economically efficient way. Without a new way of thinking and exploring new patterns and structures, however, this will not be easy. More than ever before we are forced to imagine even previously unimaginable things and to put the right things into practice as quickly as possible.

To date, digitalization is increasing in all economic sectors. But what is this digitalization? What does it mean exactly? And how can concrete business operations, real products and existing workflows be digitalized and what is the goal of all of this? Questions like these are at the beginning of every digital transformation. Literally, it is precisely these questions that must be answered as accurately as possible before any implementation. Despite all the digitalization, which is of course what it's all about, there is no need to use digital tools or to specify software or platforms at this stage. All you need here are the traditional pen and paper and the right questions. Our customers can benefit from STW's services and many years of experience already at this early stage. We support our customers with customized workshops, develop suitable concepts and design the appropriate system architectures.
And once an individual digitalization solution has been defined, our digital products also come into play.
With a modular system consisting of modern software, scalable cloud infrastructure, robust hardware and long-term partners, we build prototypes, conduct feasibility studies, provide support during market launch and accompany our customers through the entire life cycle of their digital solution, including system maintenance. All this from one source.

Thanks to the modularity, standardization and open interfaces of our digital product portfolio, we enable our customers to cover the entire implementation spectrum between "make-or-buy". This means that a solution can be developed either completely or partially by the customers themselves, or it can be provided by STW as a ready-to-use platform. As a result, our customers can focus on their core competence and we take care of the rest.
In other words, we are already making our contribution today to the world of tomorrow.

Note on the current situation
At STW, the currently unclear and critical situation due to the Corona pandemic is of course viewed with great concern. Long before the current crisis, STW has developed a service that reduces the default risks to a minimum and guarantees long-term availability of STW components through component and obsolescence management. Up to now, STW has not experienced any economically induced delivery difficulties and is able to continue to offer its customers good and reliable service despite adapted working conditions. This means STW remains able to deliver its products.

About STW
As an internationally active company with Headquarter in Kaufbeuren, we stand for the digitization, automation and electrification of mobile machines for over 30 years. With generic or customer-specific products, systems and solutions developed and manufactured at our headquarters in Germany, we support our customers with innovative technology on their way to making their machines the best in the world.
Supplemented by partner products and accompanied by our training, support and system teams, we help medium-sized companies and large OEMs to increase the performance and efficiency of their machines and increase safety. Through communication between machines, connectivity with our cloud platform and additional partner services, we enable the integration of mobile machines into business processes.