BERLIN, March 29 (Xinhua) -- German technology company Siemens is set to be the "integration partner" for automaker Volkswagen's recently-announced industrial cloud project to improve the car maker's production efficiency, the two companies announced on Friday.
Siemens would be contributing its "comprehensive expertise in automation, the networking of machinery and plant and the world of industrial IoT" in order to ensure efficient networking of machines and systems at the 122 plants of Germany's largest car maker, according to the two companies.
In addition to Siemens' MindSphere platform, an IoT operating system for connecting systems, machines and plants, so-called "industrial edge solutions", are to be integrated by Siemens into the Volkswagen industrial cloud.
These industrial edge solutions would process and analyze production data directly from end devices and machines before they are sent into the Volkswagen cloud. "In this way, complex manufacturing processes can be further optimized," the companies' statement read.
"We intend to make our Volkswagen Industrial Cloud a partner network with digital functions bringing benefits to all the participating companies," said Oliver Blume, Volkswagen management board member in charge of production.
On Wednesday, Volkswagen and U.S. online retail giant Amazon had announced the joint development of a cloud platform, which is seeking to improve the efficiency of all Volkswagen's production plants.
Volkswagen is planning to put its industrial cloud and "first concrete services and functions" into operation by the end of 2019.
The German car maker is currently aiming to improve the efficiency at its production plants by 30 percent by 2025.
