The Allianz Industry 4.0 Award 2024 confirms it: KNOLL Maschinenbau is one of the most innovative companies in Baden-Württemberg when it comes to holistic digital transformation. The Bad Saulgau-based company was presented with the award in the “Excellence” category by Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, at the “Startup the Future” digitalization event in Stuttgart on 23 October.

Ten years ago, Industry 4.0 was still a vision of the future for many companies. But not for KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH, the leading supplier of conveyor systems, filter systems and pumps for metalworking and a specialist in automation solutions. Even back then, digitalization was already taking shape at KNOLL in various software installations. Over the years, new and more powerful technologies have been implemented, making the company one of the pioneers in digital transformation today.

The Bad Saulgau-based company received confirmation from a neutral body with this year's Allianz Industry 4.0 Award in the Excellence category. A competition that was launched in 2022 by Allianz Industry 4.0 Baden-Württemberg. This network is initiated and supported by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism, and is coordinated by VDMA e.V. Baden-Württemberg.

The Allianz Industry 4.0 Award is presented in two categories. In the Winner category, innovative individual Industry 4.0 solutions are honoured, while in the Excellence category, companies must offer more. The winners are honoured for outstanding holistic approaches to digital transformation.

Convincing digitalization strategy

The decisive factor for KNOLL Maschinenbau's award was the digitalization strategy implemented in the company, which comprises three pillars: Software, processes and working methods. Managing Director Matthias Knoll explains: “With SAP in combination with our PPS, we are perfectly equipped on the software side to have reliable control over adherence to deadlines, lead times and inventories. Among other things, this has enabled us to synchronize the procurement, production and assembly processes in such a way that we can now deliver over 95 percent of our orders on time.”

But KNOLL is not satisfied with this. “By checking our processes for waste, identifying it and eliminating it, we are aiming for the 99 percent mark,” emphasizes Christian Spohn, Head of Automation. In order to support employees in this regard and change working methods accordingly, his team developed its own digital information system called Click.it, which is integrated into the network.

The principle of this pushbutton system is simple: If faults are detected in the production process, the employee can use Click.it to trigger a predefined action at the touch of a button. “First and foremost, it's about getting help as quickly as possible so that the employee can continue to add value,” says Christian Spohn. “In addition, every fault is documented so that managers can address the cause and its sustainable elimination.”

KNOLL Click.it has developed into a dual success story: On the one hand, the digital Click.it system increased productivity within the company. “On the other hand, we have turned our self-developed Click.it into a KNOLL product with which we can reach new customers and markets, which offers us further growth opportunities,” says Managing Director Matthias Knoll.