Inspiring insights, best practices and global networking were all major features of our Customer Day “Digitalization” 2024.
More than 130 Krones customers took part in our digitalization-focused customer day.
The participants listened intently to the presentations of the numerous speakers.
From the USA to China: the audience was international.
How can we make the shift to a smart beverage factory? This question was the focus of the Customer Day “Digitalization”, which took place last week in the Krones Academy in Neutraubling. More than 130 customers traveled from around the world to join with other decision-makers in discussing the digital future and learning about our digital portfolio.
June 26, Krones Academy in Neutraubling: In a space that is usually bustling with training activities, this day was a bit different. The halls of the Academy provided the perfect location to welcome participants from around the world – some of whom had traveled many thousands of miles – for our international customer conference on the topic of digitalization. The close proximity to the Krones machines – something reflected in our digital solutions as well – made it the ideal setting and gave customers an authentic, practical look at our technologies.
Timo Frankl, Krones’ Head of Sales for digitalization, opened the event by officially welcoming everyone and then passed the mic to Severin Diepold, responsible for all topics relating to digitalization and automation at Krones. Mr. Diepold introduced the Krones.digital community, who collaborate across the group to develop digital solutions. He also outlined Krones’ strategic aims with respect to digital technology: “To be competitive in a rapidly changing world, beverage manufacturers will need to achieve maximum performance while keeping their total cost of ownership as low as possible. And that is exactly where our digital services come in.”
Thomas Ricker, CSO at Krones, also welcomed everyone to Krones in Neutraubling and emphasized the added value that such an event brings. Meeting outside regular operations like this was a great opportunity to strengthen our relationships with our customers. And that, he said, is the foundation on which we can achieve a new level of efficiency, not only in our work together but also in our customers’ lines.
From FC Bayern Munich to beverage-industry success stories
A variety of breakout sessions spotlighted the benefits of digitalization
After the customer presentations, which highlighted various set-ups and pathways for digital transformation, the event moved into breakout sessions. These sessions sharpened the focus on the future with concrete use cases and answered pressing questions from customers, such as these: How can digital solutions help us increase output while lowering costs in a targeted manner? And how can they help us achieve our sustainability goals? In smaller groups, participants took a deep dive into Krones’ digital portfolio:
Analytics and MSA Performance: Making better use of production data with transparency and coaching
AI solutions: How AI creates added value in the beverage industry
SAP solution and SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition: The ERP system designed specifically for the beverage industry
Intelligent operator support with Shopfloor Guidance
Efficient production and fine planning
Maintenance management: New Krones maintenance strategy
Breakout sessions focused specifically on the digital solutions from Krones.
Close collaboration with SAP
Krones’ partnership with SAP was also a key topic of our customer day. Alexandra Altermann, Solution Manager Industrial Manufacturing at SAP, teamed up with Dominik Buchfelder, who is responsible for plant applications within the Krones.digital community, to share exciting insights into the companies’ collaboration. Alexandra was also impressed by the content of the event as a whole: “Today I heard great talks about how Krones has implemented SAP for its customers, for example at Altmühltaler. For me, a highlight was that I had the chance to present together with Dominik Buchfelder on the topic of SAP’s and Krones’ partnership and how we bring digital solutions from Krones and SAP to customers in the beverage industry.”
Tanja Lichtenegger of the Theo Müller group of companies shared with us her three personal highlights: “I actually had three highlights today. The first was in the morning, seeing all the customer presentations, seeing how they used the Krones solutions, seeing how they have implemented them in the last few years, their path to digitalization. The second highlight was in the afternoon, seeing all the solutions in detail, seeing the progress they have made in the last few years, for example how they work together with SAP, seeing how the partnership is growing there. This was really interesting. And the third thing for sure was meeting old colleagues, meeting colleagues from different companies and branches, getting in touch with them. This was really my biggest highlight, so thank you for this great day.”
One day with many highlights
Interesting, inspiring, varied – those were words that participants used to describe the day in a brief survey at the end of the event. And although they each will surely have taken different ideas, inspiration and realizations home with them, their shared enthusiasm for digital transformation was palpable.
Our speaker Olaf Kroh also gave a positive report: “First, I want to say thank you that I can speak to such an international audience and represent our project and partnership with Krones. For me, the other presentations were also highlights – they show us that we at RheinfelsQuellen are not alone with our project. Highlights of the afternoon included looking to the future and getting many impressions to take home with us. We will think about what our future will be in the next years.”
The Krones team was also very pleased to have this opportunity to get to know our customers better.
Strengthening our relationships with customers
The customer day on digitalization also gave Krones the perfect opportunity to speak directly with many of our international customers. To break the ice and help participants get to know each other, Krones hosted a networking dinner the evening before the conference event itself. The dinner was held in the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte museum in Regensburg.
Over the course of the two days, the Krones team was able to get to know the participating customers better and learn what concerns and requirements they have and where they see room for improvement in our solutions. That helps us enormously in our effort to further enhance our services and even better address the needs of users.
And the feedback from participants confirms that Krones is on the right track with its digital strategy. Our comprehensive solutions are designed to address the needs and wants of our customers. To help further pave the way for them to build the smart factory of the future, we are now working full steam ahead on developing and expanding the use cases presented here.
