Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has opened an Industry X.0 Innovation Center in Essen, Germany, to help resources companies in the chemicals, metals, mining, utilities, and energy industries develop innovative products and services for the digital economy.
Industry X.0 is how Accenture defines the digital reinvention of industry, when businesses use advanced digital technologies to transform core operations, worker and customer experiences, and business models.
Located at Zollverein, a former coal mine and now a UNESCO world heritage site, the center offers clients a three-step innovation journey:
- Inspiration: Use cases show how artificial intelligence, blockchain, the internet of things (IoT), augmented reality and other digital technologies can be applied in the resources industries for solutions related to digital plant and workforce, digital twin and Industrial IoT security.
- Ideation: Clients can explore the latest digital trends and, through design-thinking sessions and a range of workshop formats, discover ways to apply them to their businesses.
- Co-creation: The center provides a studio environment where clients can collaborate with industry and technology experts from Accenture to rapidly prototype products and services.
“The Industry X.0 Innovation Center in Essen addresses the industry-specific challenges and needs of our clients and, through collaboration with our experts, can help them achieve incremental and breakthrough innovation,” said Götz Erhardt, a managing director at Accenture who leads its Resources operating group in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Russia. “The center’s combination of practical use cases, innovation and design-thinking tools and techniques, and industrial-ready digital technologies will help rejuvenate the industrial heart of Germany.”
Frank Riemensperger, chairman of Accenture in Germany, said, “Every day, digitalization is increasingly relevant at the core of our clients’ businesses—in the chemical plant, the power generation facility, the electric grid and the refinery. Our center in Essen will help companies in the resources sectors, which are among the leading industries in Germany, apply new digital innovations and transform toward Industry X.0. The timely development of digital infrastructure and business models will be crucial for German chemicals and utilities companies to maintain their leadership positions in the global economy.”
The center in Essen expands Accenture’s global network of more than 20 Innovation Centers for Industry X.0 and bolster Accenture’s digitization capabilities for industrial companies in Germany, which include the Industrial IoT Innovation Center in Garching.