On November 8th, 2017, the 2nd Sino-German Forum on Digital Manufacturing Industries, jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and co-organized by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was held at the Shanghai International Convention Center. This forum is an important part of "International Forum on Innovation and Emerging Industries Development" held in Shanghai from November 7th to 9th. Nearly 300 experts, scholars and researchers from government, domestic and foreign universities, research institutes and famous enterprises, including the presidents and academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) attended the forum. The experts and scholars discussed the hot issues, cutting-edge technologies, and development of digital transformation of global manufacturing industry.

Prof. Zhou Ji, President of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Prof. Henning KAGERMANN, President of National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and Chief Designer of "Industry 4.0", and Prof. Lin Zhongqin, President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University attended the conference and delivered speeches. Prof. Liu Baicheng, Prof. Li Peigen and Prof. Guo Dongming, Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Prof. Michael DOWLING, Chairman of the Board of Münchner Kreis, Academician of acatech, Dr. Norbert GAUS, Vice President, Head of Research in Digitalization and Automation at Siemens, Dr. Tanja RUCKERT, President, Business Unit IoT & Digital Supply Chain of SAP, Prof. Günther SCHUH, Professor of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Albert SHIH, Professor of University of Michigan, and Mr. Joo Young-Shik, former Director of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, gave the keynote report. Prof. Zhu Gaofeng and Prof. Xu Zhilei, Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr. Zhang Gang, Councilor of the State Council of the PRC, Mr. Zhu Sendi and Mr. Xu Jiabin, members of the National Manufacturing Power Strategy Advisory Committee and other government and business representatives were also invited to attend the forum.

On behalf of CAE, Prof. Zhou Ji delivered a speech and expressed his warm welcome to the experts and scholars from various countries. He pointed out that German "Industry 4.0" plan has driven a new round of technological revolution in global industry, in which acatech has played a guiding role; "Made in China 2025" is the world's largest manufacturing technology upgrading plan. Academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering have also played a central role in the validation of the plan. He hoped that China and Germany would respond to the call made by Premier Li Keqiang and Chancellor Merkel to strengthen innovation cooperation in the manufacturing industry, promote the deep integration of "Made in China 2025" and German "Industry 4.0", and jointly drive the technological progress and industrial upgrading of the global manufacturing industry.

Prof. Henning KAGERMANN delivered a speech on behalf of acatech, reviewing the cooperation between CAE and acatech and focusing on the profound impact of digital transformation on various aspects of production life and enterprise development, etc. Prof. KAGERMANN believed that "Made in China 2025" and "Industry 4.0" have a wide scope for cooperation in the field of smart manufacturing and hoped that the two sides will further strengthen international cooperation and jointly promote the in-depth cooperation in the field of digitalization to help the global manufacturing industry transform and upgrade.

Prof. Lin Zhongqin delivered a speech on behalf of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He said that the manufacturing industry is the foundation of the country, the tool of the country and the base of the country. At present, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution are forming a historic intersection with China's accelerated transformation of economic development mode, and the global manufacturing industry is ushering in a new era of digitalization, networking, and intelligence. He said that in the field of smart manufacturing, SJTU has unique disciplinary advantages among national universities, and the relevant research layout is also in the forefront of national universities. In 2015, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Lin-gang Special Area Management Committee established Shanghai Institute of Smart Manufacturing, and in 2017, signed a memorandum of cooperation with Fraunhofer Society, which is the core research institute of the German "Industry 4.0" technology system. He hoped that China and Germany will further expand and deepen their cooperation in the field of smart manufacturing and provide new ideas and insights for the transformation of China's manufacturing industry.

The forum brought together famous scholars and entrepreneurs from Germany, the United States, Korea, and China in the field of manufacturing. They brought nine excellent presentations on three themes: "Digital Transformation Strategies for Manufacturing in the Global Era", "Digital Transformation and Industrial Internet of Thing" and "Digital Transformation Strategies for Small and Medium Enterprises".

The first session focused on "Digital Transformation Strategies for Manufacturing in the Global Era" and was hosted by Prof. Li Peigen from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Tanja RUCKERT from SAP gave a presentation named as "When Software Becomes Strategy", focusing on the dramatic changes in the role of software in the era of "Industry 4.0".

Chinese manufacturing industry is huge but not strong and faces new challenges in the digital era. "What is the breakthrough and the main direction of Chinese manufacturing industry, and what are the key technologies?" Prof. Liu Baicheng from Tsinghua University combined the background and important contents of the document "Made in China 2025" and pointed out that "Made in China 2025" focuses on five major projects: innovation system, strong foundation project, smart manufacturing, green manufacturing and advanced equipment, and smart manufacturing is the breakthrough and the main direction. Prof. Liu emphasized that digital design and manufacturing is the key basic technology of smart manufacturing, and modeling and simulation is the scientific foundation. In addition, he further introduced the latest progress of digital design and manufacturing and modeling and simulation in domestic and international.

Prof. Albert SHIH, professor of University of Michigan, explored how the existing research and productivity of American manufacturing can be leveraged for the development of American creativity in a presentation titled "The National Network of American Manufacturing".

The second session was focused on "Digital Transformation and the Industrial Internet of Thing" and was chaired by Prof. Michael DOWLING. Prof. Günther SCHUH, Professor of RWTH Aachen University, gave a presentation entitled "The Internet of Production - A New Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration", arguing that the Internet will provide a brand-new cross-domain cooperation for production and manufacturing, which will facilitate more timely and accurate access to data and allow enterprises to create greater value.