Case study
Exploring the Digital Twin & Industrial IoT
Industry: Industrial IoT
Period covered: 2015 - 2018
Published: 2019, 2021
Organization: Agilion GmbH
From 2015 to 2018, I worked with Agilion GmbH (Chemnitz, Germany). Agilion developed, produced, and implemented complete RTLS solutions — including hardware, firmware, and software. The company was a true pioneer and global technology leader in what later became known as Industry 4.0 and Industrial AI.
My responsibilities included:
- Refocusing the business development strategy, covering risk, organizational and HR aspects, as well as internationalization (the company grew from 35 to over 70 FTEs — most of them engineers — between 2017 and 2018);
- Establishing investment readiness and leading the M&A process including due diligence and negotiations (culminating in a DAX-40 exit).
Agilion solutions were developed all the way to mass production and real-world applicability in complex industrial environments – a step that often represents one of the greatest challenges in this field. Agilion was truly a pioneer and enabler in what later became known as Industry 4.0 and is now evolving into Industrial AI.
Industrial pioneers
A first major milestone of Agilion’s development was the global market and technology leadership in segments such as public transport fleet management by 2012. Agilion again re-shifted its strategic focus towards industrial IoT in 2016. By 2017, Agilion RTLS systems operated in 22 countries and empowered factory lines of leading industrial manufacturers around the globe. Agilion had branches and representative offices in the United States, in Taiwan, China, and in the Russian Federation.
Agilion was acquired by SIEMENS AG in 2018 as part of its strategic expansion in Industry 4.0 technologies.
In 2018, Frost & Sullivan recognized SIEMENS AG with its Global Company of the Year Award, highlighting the Agilion acquisition as a key component of Siemens’ strategic Industry 4.0 technology portfolio.
According to Frost & Sullivan:
“By acquiring Agilion in April 2018, Siemens bundled innovative real-time location system technology with its other Digital Enterprise offerings. This has enabled numerous intelligent applications in large-scale smart environments — for example, by revealing optimization potential in production processes. It provides customers with an entirely new perspective on their business performance and supports improved operational efficiency.”
Entering Industrial IoT Value Networks
Year of publication: 2019
Case study on How to enter industrial IoT value networks. Discussing potentials and challenges with focus on industrial markets in Germany.
Presented and discussed at the IoT FOCUS 2019 Tech Conference, 22.05.2019. Minsk, Belarus