➀ Siemens and Merck announce a strategic partnership to develop smart manufacturing technology; ➁ The collaboration aims to bring new products to market faster, more cost-effectively, and with a focus on sustainability; ➂ The partnership includes a centralized governance structure and a contractual framework to streamline decision-making and reduce time to market.

➀ The article discusses the importance of smart digital manufacturing (SDM) and digital twins in the context of Industry 4.0.; ➁ It highlights the need for successful navigation in the path to smart digital manufacturing through webinars and other educational resources.; ➂ The article also mentions specific technologies and solutions, such as Innodisk’s camera modules for parking management and Nordic Semiconductor’s e-book on extending battery life for IoT devices.

1. TU Ilmenau successfully completed the 'Engineering for Smart Manufacturing (E4SM)' project, focusing on human-machine interaction in intelligent manufacturing and assembly. 2. The project, funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, introduced innovations like a 3D multi-view stereo system for safe human-robot collaboration and autonomous assistance in assembly tasks. 3. It also developed a flexible, cost-effective AI-supported laser beam welding method and an interactive visual toolchain for small and medium-sized enterprises to develop their own AI-based assistance systems.