Latest NewsDigital offen­sive in SMEs

Digital trans­for­ma­tion in SMEs succeeds faster when compa­nies coop­erate, share their expe­ri­ences, and develop solu­tions together. For this reason, Henrik A. Schunk, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Plat­form Industry 4.0, launched the Next Level Mittel­stand initia­tive in 2024. “Many small and medium-sized compa­nies are still strug­gling with digi­tal­iza­tion,” says Henrik A. Schunk. “Our aim is to create a network for these compa­nies and to jointly develop prac­tical solu­tions, strengthen digital skills, and advance knowl­edge transfer in the industry.”

In order to expand the initia­tive and its growing network in a sustain­able and scal­able manner, Next Level Mittel­stand GmbH was founded at the begin­ning of April 2025. The share­holders include five strong part­ners – SCHUNK, ebm-papst, HEITEC, Block­brain, and Schwarz Digits/STACKIT – who bring their respec­tive exper­tise, infra­struc­ture, and process knowl­edge into the new company.

The new company is based in the new Euro­pean AI hub in Heil­bronn. It sees itself as an open SME ecosystem for the SMEs – a space for exchange, joint projects, and digital strate­gies.

Partic­u­larly in focus: the collab­o­ra­tion between indus­trial compa­nies, IT service providers, soft­ware devel­opers, start-ups, and investors. Henrik A. Schunk empha­sizes the initiative’s collab­o­ra­tive approach: “We invite all small and medium-sized enter­prises to become part of this ecosystem. IT service providers, soft­ware devel­opers, start-ups, and venture capital investors are also welcome – together we can shape digital progress.”

Fore­sight and quick wins

The members of the Next Level Mittel­stand initia­tive meet regu­larly. Espe­cially in this area, quick successes are possible because most compa­nies already have exten­sive data inven­to­ries – ideal condi­tions for AI appli­ca­tions. A concrete example is the previ­ously often manual and error-prone process of creating new customers or suppliers. Next Level Mittel­stand has defined a stan­dard that enables the rele­vant data to be captured and eval­u­ated auto­mat­i­cally. With the help of AI, this data can now be effi­ciently analyzed and forms auto­mat­i­cally filled out – a signif­i­cant relief for admin­is­tra­tion and sales. Another typical appli­ca­tion scenario is the auto­matic docu­men­ta­tion of customer conver­sa­tions. Here, an AI analyzes verbal dialogs, struc­tures the content, and auto­mat­i­cally gener­ates meeting minutes – a real effi­ciency gain in daily busi­ness.

Five years of rapid progress

The time horizon for Next Level Mittel­stand is 2030. “We want to turn the many small and medium-sized SMEs into digital cham­pions by then,” empha­sized Henrik A. Schunk. The initia­tive is also linked to Manufacturing‑X – a cross-industry flag­ship project between the worlds of busi­ness, acad­emia, and poli­tics. The aim is to create a shared, secure data space for the industry – as a foun­da­tion for connected value chains and inno­v­a­tive busi­ness models. “The full results of Manufacturing‑X will only take effect in a few years,” says Schunk. “With Next Level Mittel­stand we are already laying the foun­da­tions today – making the medium-sized compa­nies ‘data­space-ready’.”