Industry_Integrator as retrofit solution for digital manufacturing methods in existing industrial plants

In this paper an industrial project insight of the ongoing research and implementation activities of a German co-founded and cross-sectoral applied research project, called "Industry Integrator", will be delivered. This project merges the disciplines mechanical engineering, modem IT, tool manufacturing, polymer processing, food technology as well as academia and fosters Industry 4.0 solutions for SME. The conceptual design of the industry integration device itself serves as a quite handy and easy to use enabler for smart production, even in existing and outdated production systems or in rough environments. No integration towards DIN rail or even wiring is necessary, as essential data aggregation and evaluation is done decentralized at the spot of data origin. The Integrators themselves are connected via a unique communication protocol and are performing in a dynamic meshed network (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.