Close co-operation ensures progress

Meetings with associations, organizations and project teams are an important part of our company philosophy. Only through the active exchange of ideas, thoughts and experiences with experts from the industry is it possible to keep up to date with technology and to always be aware of market expectations.

The close relationships between the associations, organizations and the industry is vital. “From experience – to experience” – both sides profit from the knowledge of the other. The work of many committees provides impressive evidence – they develop and create standards, features and functions. Stimuli from meetings with partners, experts and association members frequently flow into further development of our products.

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Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology-related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, we are the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,000 distinct organizations. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,400 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries.

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Competence Site is a project of NetSkill AG and is one of the leading competence networks in questions of management, IT and law. The ideal of NetSkill considers competence management (in the style of the Delphi-Group, Prof. Probst et al.) to be the ability to promote the constant creation of ideas, products and services through systematic and technology-supported combinations of action-oriented content, experts and networks.

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GALIA is a partner to the automotive industry and an institution whose activities are focussed on the development of standards and recommendations for IT in the automotive industry. All of its members are all from the automotive industry – suppliers, service and IT solution providers. GALIA is a member of the European Odette organization and is associated with the AIAG in the USA and the JAMA / JAPIA in Japan. The association is situated in Boulogne-Billancourt in France.

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ITA was founded on March 14, 2000 with the objective being to improve the flow of information between the automotive manufacturers and suppliers on the one hand and the IT companies on the other, whereby emphasis is on the analysis of the supply chain logistics. Today, more than 50 renowned companies with various core competencies are represented in ITA. They fully understand the business processes of the automotive industry and are able to employ IT technology or provide support in this area to fulfill the special requirements of the industry.

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The OPC Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization whose members are leading producers and solution providers of factory and process automation as well as providers of business solutions. The objective of the OPC Foundation is the development and distribution of global industry standards for data transfer, which ensure manufacturer-independent interoperability and smooth connection of measurement and automation machines, networks, industry software and production management in discrete manufacturing and the processing industry based on open IT technology. Staff from more than 400 member organization around the world are involved in the development of the specifications.

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The VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau - German Engineering Federation) is one of the key association service providers in Europe and offers the largest engineering industry network in Europe. The VDMA covers the entire process chain - everything from components and plant manufacturers, system suppliers and system integrators through to service providers. We reflect the varied customer-supplier relations all along the value adding chain, permitting both industry-specific and intra-industry cooperation.

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The 'ZVEI - Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie e.V.', the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, represents the economic, technological and environmental policy interests of the German electrical and electronics industry on national, European and international levels. It provides specific information about the economic, technical and regulatory framework conditions of the electrical industry in Germany. The ZVEI promotes the development and use of innovative technologies with proposals concerning research, technological, environmental protection, educational and scientific policy. It supports market-orientated European and international standards-making activities.