- Bilfinger Digital Next inaugurates headquarters in Germany’s City of Science, Heidelberg
- Ideal environment for future-focused projects
Bilfinger’s digital hub has a new home in the city of Heidelberg, a center of German scientific research. The industrial services provider has brought together over 30 of its digitalization experts to serve the process industry from the new location. Bilfinger has identified digitalization services as a strategic growth market with great potential. The city’s Bahnstadt district, home to a large number of research companies and institutes, provides an ideal setting for Bilfinger Digital Next’s future-focused projects. Bilfinger COO Duncan Hall opens the new premises today (Wednesday, March 27, 2019) together with Chief Digital Officer Franz Braun and the Mayor of Heidelberg, Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner.
“Bilfinger combines decades of experience as an industrial services provider with a wealth of IT expertise. This unique profile enables us to support our clients as they transition to the digital age. We once built bridges made of concrete. Now we build the digital kind,” said Franz Braun. “In Heidelberg, we have found an attractive location for employees that offers good transport links and a high quality of life. Being able to exchange news and views with other companies and organizations in the digital scene helps us develop new ideas for digital services and drive our growth.”
Eckart Würzner: “Heidelberg is home to Digital Hub kurpfalz@bw, which supports companies from the greater Rhine-Neckar region when it comes to digitalization. We are delighted to see Bilfinger strengthen the Heidelberg digital cluster and help ensure that the city and the region maintain their innovative and economic edge into the digital era.”
Bilfinger has expanded its digital business significantly in less than two years. Three newly developed products for the process industry and strategic alliances with Software AG, Microsoft Germany and Siemens underscore the dynamics at play in this area. That growth is driven by strong demand from the process industry. Bilfinger helps its clients use digital solutions to boost asset efficiency and availability while cutting maintenance costs.
The Group has invested more than €15 million in its digital capabilities over the last two years. In Europe alone, Bilfinger estimates the total market potential for digitalization to be around €7 billion.
Bilfinger Digital Next’s products include the Industrial Tube video platform. With the aid of an app and artificial intelligence, this makes it possible to bank and leverage the knowledge held by employees. BCAP, a cloud-based digital solution for the process industry, can enhance asset efficiency by up to 15 percent, cut maintenance costs by up to 30 percent and reduce downtime by up to 25 percent. PIDGraph is an ultra-fast, cost-effective solution for generating virtual plant models or “digital twins”.
