Celebrating 30 Years of Innovation: A Look Back at 2023

We reflect on the past year filled with multiple global crises that continue to affect us. As we say goodbye to 2023, we want to emphasize and celebrate the many positive aspects of this year. Moreover, 2023 is a significant year for SYSTEMA as we celebrated our 30th anniversary.

In this blog post, we look back on important events, celebrate achievements, and offer perspectives on the ever-changing world of digital manufacturing and technology.

Building resilience in the face of global challenges

The difficulties of 2022 and the past years, such as the ongoing pandemic and its aftermath or the situation in Ukraine and its impact on Europe, led us to reassess our tactics and maintain a resilient position. In contrast, we are delighted to be able to meet in person once more. These meetings improved our global collaboration with customers worldwide and strengthened connections with our international teams. Meeting in person adds a more personal and binding touch to business dealings, which has been long overdue. Though we continue to do a significant share of our work remotely in virtual teams and in a hybrid format, we believe that meeting face-to-face adds a superior quality to the collaboration.

Highlights of 2023 for us were taking part in different industry events like the Innovation Forum, Hannover Messe, ITAP, Factory Automation User Group, SAP Manufacturing Innovation Day, and various Semicons all over the world.

Bright Prospects in Semiconductor Manufacturing

The semiconductor industry experienced important advancements, particularly in domestic chip manufacturing. Initiatives like the U.S. Chips and Science Act have emphasized the industry’s significance. Our office in Dresden is located within the “Silicon Saxony” semiconductor cluster which is currently gaining significant ground with local investments from BOSCH, GlobalFoundries, X-FAB, Jenoptik, TSMC, and Infineon for new fabs and extensions.

We’re glad, we can help many of our customers to make strategic decisions regarding their manufacturing IT landscapes that will affect the future of semiconductor and high-tech manufacturing.

We’ve been innovating for 30 years!

To show our appreciation and loyalty to employees, we celebrated the 30-year SYSTEMA anniversary with them and their families at a special location in Dresden. We thank our customers and partners for their support that let us thrive. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from many loyal customers who have been with us throughout our journey. We understand the importance of long-term partnerships to address manufacturing challenges and create sustainable, positive change.

Digital transformation is ongoing

Artificial intelligence and machine learning, including digital twin scenarios, have been important in smart manufacturing for a while. The release of ChatGPT and other AI tools to the public has increased the urgency around these topics significantly. While this is important to our customers and requires assessment, diligence, and clarification of legal and data security aspects, SYSTEMA has created a workgroup to explore using AI for code quality assurance and efficiency improvements – starting with internal projects to prioritize compliance and security issues.

The journey of digital transformation is an ongoing process. Its primary objectives include transitioning from legacy systems and managing the growing intricacies of manufacturing IT, such as IIoT and Cloud integration. We are committed to enhancing efficiency and bridging the expertise gap as a skills shortage loom.

We see that the transition in a running 24/7 manufacturing environment needs many intermediate steps as existing and new IT systems need to be run in parallel for a while. As one example, visit our website to learn about SYSTEMA’s RBA (Rule-Based Activities Engine) solution. The app manages and executes complex business rules on top of legacy MES products, e.g. such as lot routing decisions on process flows, lot and wafer sampling for metrology and creating maintenance orders upon state changes of production equipment.

Expect more from us in the future

A few weeks ago, the management board and global site managers gathered in Dresden to discuss business plans, market demands, and ways to improve international teamwork. We’ve picked solutions to improve product development, standardization, and market requirements for our semiconductor business. For SAP’s manufacturing business, we will assist customers worldwide in transitioning smoothly to SAP Digital Manufacturing. We will also support customers who are (yet) unable to migrate from the on-premises system. Follow us on LinkedIn for updates and to learn more about our activities.

As we work on our internal strategy, we’re collaborating with Gartner to simplify our organization. We’re utilizing methods like the Top Trends Impacting Manufacturing and the Use-Case Prism: Generative AI for Manufacturing.

Another source of inspiration for the Smart Manufacturing Mindset is the eponymous podcast, in which experts like Simon Jacobson and others share insights on how new technologies can improve operations.

We’re also sharing stories of customer success

Our partnerships with top-notch customers across the semiconductor value chain, including electronics and other high-tech-industries, demonstrate how our solutions work in real-world situations. We deliver value and innovative solutions to our clients, starting from SAP ME implementations to Digital Manufacturing Cloud projects. By advancing the possibilities in manufacturing, we strive to go beyond the limits.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is teaming up with T-Systems and SYSTEMA to digitize their main production processes for the next five years. They plan to transfer their mechanical production processes to the cloud and execute a new manufacturing system (MES). This will increase efficiency and align them with future markets. The partnership highlights Heidelberg’s pledge to digitize manufacturing by employing SAP’s Digital Manufacturing Cloud to monitor production processes. This decision showcases Heidelberg’s innovative strategy that dates back to their 170-year legacy.

As we end 2023, we want to thank our diverse and vibrant community – including our customers, partners, and employees – for their collaboration, contribution and knowledge sharing. Cheers to a year of new ideas, teamwork, and ongoing achievements. Have a joyful holiday season, a merry Christmas, and a happy new year from all of us at SYSTEMA!