Every company that wants to continue to play a role on the market in the future needs to get to grips with the terms smart factory, virtual reality and Internet of Things: We are talking about nothing less than the fourth industrial revolution and the digital networking of all industrial processes - from design and production through to delivery to the customer.



The Industry 4.0 concept aims to show what companies will have to look like in the future in order to survive the global competition. "Industry 4.0 is not an end in itself. The aim is to secure the competitiveness of Germany as an industrial location," emphasizes Renate Pilz, Chairwoman of the Management Board, Pilz GmbH & Co. KG. Reinhold Schäfer, Editor of "MM Maschinenmarkt", also underlines the importance of digitalization for industrial companies: "Those who fail to manage the digital transformation will no longer have a future."



At the Hannover Messe, the world's most important industrial trade fair, from April 25 to 29, 2016, the Factory Automation (Halls 8-12 and 14-17) offers a good information opportunity for all those who want to take a closer look at the topic of Industry 4.0.



In the current issue, the trade medium "MM Maschinenmarkt" sheds light on where the journey will take us in the future and shows in advance which approaches and solutions will be on show in Hanover.



You can order a free press copy of the current "MM Maschinenmarkt" at: pressestelle@vogel.de.



"MM MaschinenMarkt" is published weekly in Germany with a circulation of over 40,000 copies. The industry magazine offers business news, management information and practical technical reports for decision-makers in production, automation and construction in the entire manufacturing industry. MM is published internationally in China, India, Thailand, Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Austria and Switzerland with a total annual circulation of over 6 million copies. The specialist portal maschinenmarkt.de is primarily aimed at managers and specialists in the core sectors of the manufacturing industry in seven topic channels. The parent company Vogel Business Media is Germany's largest trade media company with 100+ trade journals, 100+ web portals, 100+ business events as well as numerous mobile offerings and international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrates its 125th birthday in 2016.