Siemens and Merck KGaA Partner to Boost Machine-to-Machine Trust in Industrial Value Chains

The collaboration will reportedly develop a machine-to-machine (M2M) solution to leverage smart contracts, blockchain, and industrial edge technologies.

The solution would aim to simplify processes and significantly increase efficiency across the entire value chain for several industries, including food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and automotive.

 

The poster of the new project. Image used courtesy of Siemens and Merck KGaA

 

Merck KGaA

A technology and science pioneer, Merck KGaA was first established in 1668 as a pharmaceutical and chemical company. Today, Merck KGaA counts over 58,000 employees in 66 countries and provides a series of tools, services, and a digital platform designed to make research simpler, more precise, and help businesses deliver breakthroughs more quickly.

Merck KGaA specializes in technologies that enable the access, storage, processing, and display of information. Together with Siemens, Merck KGaA now plans to create new solutions that offer high levels of trust in M2M industrial value chains.

 

Improving M2M Trust in Industrial Valve Chains

“We have been guardians of quality for centuries and now, we aim to transfer this value proposition to the digital machine-to-machine connected world,” commented Laura Matz, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Merck KGaA Darmstadt.

According to the technology expert, the new collaboration with Siemens can fundamentally change quality control and assurance operations across different industries. 

“Enabled by an unprecedented level of digital trust, certified machine-to-machine cyber-physical communication will not only boost quality, transparency, and traceability of products along value chains but will also enable new business models,” she added.

 

Siemens is working on several initiatives to promote machine-to-machine communication. Image used courtesy of Siemens

 

For context, the current requirements of value chains are growing exponentially, as IIoT applications become increasingly more complex. 

At the same time, M2M communication is often lacking in many IIoT scenarios regarding the quality status of many products. To address this issue, the joint solution developed by Merck KGaA and Siemens will provide all parties in the value chain with a single-source-of-truth access point to trusted data.

The goal will reportedly be achieved through technologies like smart contracts, tokens, blockchain, and industrial edge computing that can anchor physical objects to digital identity. This does not ensure transparency and authenticity of information and physical objects and promotes originality, and helps prevent the creation of counterfeit products.

 

IIoT and Traceability

Within the partnership, Siemens will focus on building an object-centric IIoT data ecosystem in which objects can communicate by sharing data within a trusted environment.

 

Merck and Siemens partner in promoting machine-to-machine communication. Image used courtesy of Merck KGaA

 

The crypto technology platform from Merck KGaA will be combined with Siemens’ trusted traceability system (an end-to-end genealogy system for products) to make them interoperable based on blockchain technology.

“Our customers will be able to produce more efficiently while ensuring sustainability and quality of their products in a wide range of areas – from personalized medicine to food and beverages to high-tech electronics,” commented Cedrik Neike, Managing Board Member of Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries.

Siemens is hopeful that through this partnership, they can boost machine-to-machine trust in industrial automation.