Interview with Holger Schulte about the cooperation with ZVEI

Holger Schulte is not only Manager Corporate Technology, but also member of the board of the ZVEI Automation Section, the central association of the electrical industry in Germany. He is therefore active at many front lines and is very familiar with products and markets in the company. Here, Holger Schulte explains in an interview what the ZVEI ShowCase is all about – and how the association and member companies want to cope with the current demands together.


More than ever, the industry is facing many challenges. How is the ZVEI tackling them together?

Holger Schulte: As an association of member companies, the ZVEI is predestined to tackle the problems that affect our industry offensively. The relevant topics are dealt pre-competitively in cross-company working groups in order to work out appropriate approaches to solutions. Since competitors work together here, it is of course important to meet the current compliance requirements and to focus exclusively on market-specific content.

The ZVEI is, of course, always up to date, knows the current developments in the EU and has the necessary market insights. In this way, it supports not least the medium-sized companies in the sector, which do not have the necessary internal capacities for many issues – such as EU wide regulation regarding bans on substances, technical requirements or even customs issues. The information generated by the ZVEI working groups is then passed on to all member companies. With an office in Berlin and one in Brussels, the association is very close to politics and also works closely with the European umbrella organisation CAPIEL. Furthermore, it sends members to the German Commission for Electrical Engineering (DKE) and supports national and international standardisation with these experts.

All of this enables the ZVEI, as the collective body of the industry, to use and bundle the collective potential of the member companies and to systematically and holistically overcome challenges.


One example of a joint project is the ZVEI ShowCase. What exactly is it all about?

Holger Schulte: In purely physical terms, the project consists of a control cabinet equipped with components from a wide range of manufacturers. The focus is on the digital product passport – a product passport, with all relevant product information, such as the CO2 footprint, as it is to be introduced for all products within the framework of the Green Deal. The ZVEI is developing practicable solutions for this by using the digital nameplate and the Asset Administration Shell. 

For example, the ShowCase of the ZVEI, meaning the cabinet, has a digital type plate as a QR code on each product and in the background as a transmission medium the Asset Administration Shell – in short: AAS –with the possibility to read out the contained data via mobile phone from the server of each manufacturer. By automatically linking components and control cabinets, the total carbon footprint can be displayed on the screen next to the control cabinet.

In summary: With this solution, the ZVEI ShowCase informs how digital data from different manufacturers can be linked and thus how product requirements of the EU can be intelligently implemented and therefore demonstrates the association's solution-finding competence. This helps everyone, the big players and the medium-sized companies.


What role does Wöhner play here exactly with its solutions and what exactly is the directly innovative aspect of the action?

Holger Schulte: Among other things, the products from Wöhner are also represented in this control cabinet and thus Wöhner is also one of the pioneers regarding tracing products along their life cycle and labelling them in terms of their ecological footprint.

The innovation also consists of making a potentially complex and time-consuming area paperless –which also has an environmental aspect. Considering the amount of information and data involved, the potential for savings is enormous.

In this context, I would like to refer above all to medium-sized companies: Particularly these are likely to face major challenges from the effort that would be required to deal with the volume of data in the traditional way. So it is also a matter of making requirements and solutions compatible with medium-sized companies, minimising potential risks, especially in the area of product specifications and standards – and, of course, being able to speak with a strong voice towards politicians. 


Hannover Messe under the motto "Industrial Transformation –Making the Difference" seems to be the optimal stage for this – is the showcase represented at the trade fair? 

Holger Schulte: Indeed. At its booth, the ZVEI is presenting solutions focused on how the CO2 footprint in industry can be recorded and reduced. It is more important than ever to show the innovative power of our industry and thus to promote digitisation under the aspect of sustainability. Those who would therefore like to find out more about the project and see the control cabinet live are cordially invited to visit the ZVEI booth at Hannover Messe in hall 11, booth B39.