Internet of Production

This seminal compendium, available through open access, illuminates the forefront of digital collaboration in production. It introduces the visionary concept of the Internet of Production (IoP), an ambitious initiative by Germany's esteemed Cluster of Excellence at RWTH Aachen University. This handbook pioneers the integration of data, models, and knowledge across development, production, and user cycles, offering interdisciplinary insights into production technology's horizons with the overall objective to create a worldwide lab.

The work is organized into seven key parts, each contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the IoP. Part I lays the foundation with interdisciplinary visions and concepts. Part II delves into IoP's infrastructure, encompassing digital shadows and actionable artificial intelligence. Part III examines materials within the digitalized production landscape. Part IV confronts the challenges and potentials of production processes under novel digitalization methods.

Part V focuses on production management with data-driven decision support, while Part VI explores agile development processes. Finally, Part VII delves into the interplay between internal and external perspectives in the IoP, human-centered work design, and platform-based ecosystems.

Supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), this compendium redefines manufacturing through the transformative IoP lens. Embrace this scholarly endeavor to embrace technological advancement.

This is an open access book.

​Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Brecher has held the Chair of Machine Tools at RWTH Aachen University since January 2004. His research areas include machine technology, machine data analysis and NC technology, control technology and automation, gear technology, precision machines, fiber composite technology, and integrative lightweight construction. At the same time, he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Laboratory for Machine Tool and Production Engineering (WZL) and of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT in Aachen. From 2006 to 2018, Prof. Brecher was spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence
“Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries” at RWTH Aachen University. In 2012, he founded the Aachen Centre for Integrative Lightweight Production (AZL) together with Prof. Hopmann. In 2018, Prof. Brecher was appointed Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT. Currently, Prof. Brecher is also, among other positions, spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence EXC2023 “Internet of Production” (IoP) at RWTH Aachen University, spokesperson for the SFB/Transregio 96, Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP), and member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). In 2020 and 2021, he was President of the Scientific Society for Production Engineering (WGP).



Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt. Ing. Günther Schuh has held the Chair of Production
Engineering at RWTH Aachen University and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer-Institute for Production Technology (IPT) in Aachen. He is also Director of the Research Institute for Industrial Management at RWTH Aachen University (FIR e. V.). Additionally, he is one of the deputy spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University. In 2005, Prof. Schuh initiated the RWTH Aachen Campus, a network of science and business with currently more than 420 technology companies.



As a scientist and entrepreneur, Prof. Schuh is concerned with disruptive innovations, information and production management, as well as sustainable mobility solutions. He supports the approach that complex interrelationships and systemic innovations require scientific and entrepreneurial collaboration. For more than 30 years, he has been working on issues of innovation and technology management, industrial production, and complexity management in industrial systems. With researchers and developers in the industry, he has repeatedly proven to develop cost-effective industrially manufactured products, especially electric vehicles, with Industry 4.0-based highly iterative development processes as well as new product and production architectures. In order to implement new mobility concepts into practice, he is still the founder of various companies that develop and produce mobility solutions. The focus is on holistic solutions to drive the transformation to new individual transport.

Prof. Dr. Ir. Wil van der Aalst is Full Professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group and deputy spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University. He is also the Chief Scientist at Celonis, part-time affiliated with the Fraunhofer FIT, and a member of the Board of Governors of Tilburg University. His research interests include process mining, Petri nets, business process management, workflow management, process modeling, and process analysis. Wil van der Aalst has published over 900 articles and books and is considered to be in the top-15 of most cited computer scientists with an H-index of 170 and more than 130,000 citations.


Van der Aalst is an IFIP Fellow, IEEE Fellow, ACM Fellow, and received honorary degrees from the Moscow Higher School of Economics (Prof. h.c.), Tsinghua University, and Hasselt University (Dr. h.c.). He is also an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, the Academy of Europe, and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. In 2018, he was awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship.


Prof. em. Dr. Matthias Jarke is Professor em. of Databases and Information Systems at RWTH Aachen University. After his Doctorate from Hamburg University in 1980, he held professorships at the Stern School of Business at New York University and the University of Passau before joining RWTH in 1991. Key teaching contributions focus on RWTH internationalization, founding the Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT (b-it) and as Inaugural Dean at the GUTech German University of Technology in Oman. After 8 years as Chairman of Aachen’s CS Department, he became Executive Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT. As ICT representative in the Fraunhofer Presidency 2010–2015, he co-initiated the International Data Space concept for European data sovereignty.



Jarke’s research addresses database query processing, metadata management,
requirements, and information systems engineering. Large interdisciplinary projects
studied Chemical Engineering processes, Media and Cultural Communication, and
Highspeed Mobile Information and Communication. Currently, he serves as deputy
spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen University. As President of the GI German Informatics society, Jarke coordinated the BMBF Science Year 2006, which started the German Chancellor’s Digitalization Summits. He was elected to the German Academy of Technology and Sciences acatech and received prestigious awards including ACM Fellow and GI Fellow.


Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Frank T. Piller is Professor of Management and Head of the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management at RWTH Aachen University. Prior to that, he had positions at MIT and TU Munich. He is also the Academic Director of the Institute for Management Cybernetics (ifu e.V.), an independent research institute associated with RWTH Aachen with a focus on applied machine intelligence, systemic change, and institutional transformations. Prof. Piller’s current research focuses on the need of established corporations to deal with disruptive business model innovation and supporting organizational structures and cultures. Leadership for Industry 4.0 and Managing a Digital Transformation are core topics in this field. He also is currently building a research program on the role of AI&ML in the innovation process and managing hybrid innovation teams, where human experts and algorithms/machines collaborate (“hybrid intelligence”). Prof. Piller is a Principal Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” at RWTH Aachen and serves as a scientific advisor to Germany’s national Industry 4.0 policy. Prof. Piller has consulted with many Dax30 or Fortune500 companies and serves as an advisor for several deep-tech startups.



Melanie Padberg, M.Sc., received the B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering and the M.Sc. degree in Automation Engineering from RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. After her graduation, she started as a researcher within the Chair of Machine Tools at the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University. Her research focused on automation and safety in the Industrial Internet of Things, and cloud and edge computing as enabler for the digital shadow.


Since January 2022, she is Managing Director of the Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production.” In her position, she is responsible for the comprehensive scientific coordination of the Cluster of Excellence and its sustainable personnel, scientific, and structural development.