Experience Industrial Metaverse in Industrial Application Prof. Bernd Lüdemann-Ravit, Director, Institute for Production and Informatics, University of Applied Science, Kempten Dr. Steven Vettermann, Program Manager, ASCon Systems Holding GmbH The manufacturing industry is currently oriented towards technologies that enable springboard innovations in production. In this context, the Industrial Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are often mentioned. This article presents first production-related implementations of these technologies and current research activities. Motivation Challenges in production are increasing dramatically. It is inevitable to become even more agile and cost-effective. It cannot be that in the factories of the future, the process logic will still be implemented in the same way as in the past. Today, for example, it is still common to program the process control on site, and one must travel there again for every change. This work must be possible from where the employees are located, and it must be easy. Alternatives exist (s. [1], [2]). Today, digitization in production is still characterized by the classic automation pyramid, which dates back to the 1970s, and is predominantly data-driven. That is, data from production processes are used for monitoring. This is done without specifically and systematically integrating knowledge about the processes them- selves. “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” [Henry Ford] innovations and get Anyone who wants to achieve spring- board into the driver‘s seat of competitiveness must ask himself or herself how much longer he or she can afford to hold on to traditional automation technologies and not rely on cutting-edge technologies. A process- driven approach is the much more effi- cient approach to systematically integrate modern technologies into businesses, especially the Industrial Metaverse and AI. The factory of the future will no longer be about pure data processing, but about information and even knowledge processing. The factory of the future will be a data center in which the capabilities of facto- ries are modeled as digital twins and value streams are monitored, controlled, simulated, optimized, and modified via There is no uniquely accepted definition of the term „Industrial Metaverse“. But taking often named characteristics together, within this article the following definition applies: n The industrial metaverse is the convergence of multiple technologies and information in order to create value in industry. n Here, every physical instance has at least one virtual representation, a digital twin. n It consolidates capabilities to visualize and interact with data in intuitive and immersive ways, enabling users to better understand and control industrial processes. 20 ProductDataJournal 2023-2 interactions through microservices. To achieve this, the process logic must be extracted from the hardware compo- nents that are currently still so frequently installed (keyword PLC) and made avail- able via IT on edge, in the data center or in the cloud. The acceptance of any solution stands and falls with its ease of use. The possibil- ities of Industrial Metaverse solutions offer the right approach here. With it, users can be provided with an easy-to- use cockpit for an entire factory, with which he or she can observe value streams, run analyses, optimize, test alternatives and much more. And they can do this from anywhere in the world, and without any programming knowledge (which also pays tribute to the current discussion on the shortage of skilled workers). In the following, the advantages are pre- sented based on a realization in industry, and they are additionally examined from the scientific perspective. Example of Industrial Application The BMW Innovation Hub is a facility at the BMW Group site in Dingolfing where innovative IT solutions for the Dingolfing plant as the factory of the future and for the entire BMW Group production net- work are developed and tested. Together with Ascon Systems, a solution was im- plemented here to test the possibilities of leveraging production to a completely new level of resilience, agility, and efficiency. A flexible assembly system with work- piece carriers provides automated inter- linking of multiple assembly and inspection