For the second time, around 120 experts from the wine industry met at the Weincampus Neustadt in the auditorium of the DLR Rheinpfalz to discuss the possibilities, limits, opportunities and risks of digitization. Eleven companies from the wine industry and supplier companies presented their digitization strategies and visions in stand-up pitches. This provided an exciting insight into the present and future of Viticulture 4.0.
The digitization in the wine industry offers many opportunities for the future, but also risks. Is the investment in new technologies worthwhile and is digitalization actually a relief or an additional burden for the farms? Last year, there was already a constructive exchange between the participants of the Digi-Wein Forum. This year, too, the unique forum in Neustadt was used intensively, bringing together representatives from the wine industry as well as from the fields of mechanical engineering, software development, cloud technology, drone, probe and sensor manufacturers, as well as experts from research, marketing and important political representatives.
The discussions were divided into three sections:
1. Digitalization strategies from the perspective of the wine industry and supplier companies.
A total of eleven businesses from the wine industry and supplier companies gave their perspectives on the following three questions in stand-up pitches:
- What benefits do they see in digitization for themselves and for the wine industry?
- What is their company's digitization strategy?
- What do they expect from digitization networks like the Digi-Wein Forum?
2. Presentation of SmartWinery
"Today we start to rewrite the future of the wine industry". With these words, course director Prof. Dr. Dominik Durner from the wine campus began the presentation of the innovation network for viticulture and wine. SmartWinery unites the innovation drivers from the wine industry, supplier companies and the university and boosts the technology transfer from and into the industry. In addition to lobbying for innovations throughout the wine industry, SmartWinery's tasks are to initiate research and development topics, coordinate them across projects and develop new business areas.
3. Project ideas in the field of digitalization
Harvesting, transport and processing of grapes, energy management aspects in the field as well as in the cellar and internal information and document flows are of extraordinary relevance for the success of all winegrowing enterprises. In the above-mentioned and many other areas of wine production, careful planning must precede the processes, which require accurate management and control. Digital tools that support precisely this are to be developed and enhanced in order to secure the competitiveness of the German wine industry in the long term.
The discussions focused on knowledge transfer and networking within the industry. On this topic, Stefanie Nauel from the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture was able to provide important food for thought, providing information on the state's innovation and transfer strategy. She also held out the prospect of her ministry's support for Smart Winery.
"Digitalization is democratization," opined Kilian Moser of the start-up Oculyze, who have developed a cell counter, for example, and work with cloud data systems. Prof. Dominik Durner agreed with this thesis and emphasized that the wine industry could only remain strong through collaboration. "We need to network and work together on innovations. Only in this way can even small wineries keep pace with digitalization." SmartWinery, he said, offers an ideal platform for this collaboration and a stable basis for the transfer of knowledge from research to practice.
At the end of the discussion, the consensus of the participants was to plan for open interfaces in all further development steps, which can connect the different systems with each other and thus enable easier data exchange across the value chain. Too many media discontinuities have so far hampered the use of collected data. Dr. Matthias Nachtmann, Leader Digital Farming BASF, also emphasized the need to strengthen exchange across different disciplines. Viticulture, for example, could benefit greatly from the knowledge gained in other agricultural fields. An axis for knowledge transfer must be created here, he said.
Dominik Durner finally summarizes: "Technology transfer between developers and users is one of the great challenges of the future in our industry. SmartWinery forms the nucleus of progress and offers the opportunity for cross-industry and cross-border exchange."
The Digi-Wine Forum, which takes place once a year, was held as part of the "From Research for Practice" event, which was jointly organized by DLR Rheinpfalz, Weincampus Neustadt, Bauern- und Winzerverband Rheinland-Pfalz Süd e.V. and LWK Rheinland-Pfalz.
The Weincampus Neustadt is a scientific institution of the universities of Ludwigshafen, Bingen and Kaiserslautern, which, together with the Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum (DLR) Rheinpfalz and more than 500 training companies in Germany and abroad, runs the bachelor's degree program "Viticulture and Oenology" and the master's degree program "MBA Wine, Sustainability and Sales".
Technical contact:
Weincampus Neustadt
Breitenweg 71
67435 Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Tel.: +49 6321-671-468
Fax: +49 6321-671-514
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