Christian Sallach has assumed the newly created position of “Chief Digital Officer” at WAGO, © WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Germany 2017

Focusing on the Digital Transformation – WAGO at the SPS/IPC/Drives

“The digital transformation is a vital factor for our success. WAGO is setting a clear strategic focus here which includes all Group divisions and which is consistently aligned to the needs and demands of our customers”, declares Chief Marketing Officer Christian Sallach, who took over in May of this year as head of the newly created “Digital Transformation Office” business management unit at WAGO as the Chief Digital Officer. The unit is responsible for strategic bundling and promotion of all digital content within the company.

WAGO is supporting its customers with new products and services as a forward-looking partner. The company is also underpinning this aspiration at this year‘s SPS/IPC/Drives, Europe‘s leading industrial trade fair for electrical automation. Under the fair‘s guiding theme “This is the digital future – on the path to a smart factory”, WAGO will be presenting its solutions for sensor/actuator integration, cloud connectivity, cyber-security, adaptable production processes, horizontal networking and smart data. “The trend toward digitalization poses several challenges for manufacturers that must be resolved over the medium term” stresses Christian Sallach. WAGO has dealt extensively with these requirements and will display ready-to-work solutions at the SPS/IPC/Drives trade show. These are based on technologies that are available today and offer measurable added value to users. For example, with a simple software update, the WAGO PFC controllers can be turned into IoT controllers that transmit data from the field level directly to the cloud, where it can be aggregated and used for analysis. The WAGO Cloud Data Control can be used in this process as the link between elements of the real and digital worlds. These can be employed to help monitor and manage the controllers and their application and data – from any location.

“Our goal is to provide our customers here in Nuremberg with optimal digital access to these areas”, continues Christian Sallach. The presentation therefore focuses on user friendliness, interactivity and the digital experience. Besides a large LED wall and augmented reality functions, the trade fair booth also offers a number of interactive user interfaces on touchscreens for demonstrating different initial steps along the path toward the digital factory.

Picture: Christian Sallach has assumed the newly created position of “Chief Digital Officer” at WAGO, © WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Germany 2017