Darmstadt, 26 June 2020 – A mutually agreed change within the board of the prostep ivip Association: Dr. Henrik Weimer, representative of the OEMs on the board, takes over from Armin Hoffacker as chairman of the board. Both will continue to guide the the association in close cooperation with the two other members of the board, Prof. Dr. Rainer Stark and Philipp Wibbing. The board has set itself the goal of focusing the association to an even greater extent on digital transformation in times of crisis and gaining new members to grow the association’s global footprint and recognition.
The prostep ivip Association is a collaboration platform comprising leading industrial companies from the automotive, aviation and other industries, software vendors, service providers and research institutions that is unique worldwide. Its aim is to drive collaboration among member companies to master the challenges of digital and model-based approaches in product development, production and services. As a trusted network, it advocates greater PLM openness (for example within the framework of the CPO initiative), defines new standards for model-based processes, and promotes the non-competitive exchange of information and experience on issues relating to digitalization. The association currently counts 190 member companies and research institutions from 20 countries.
Henrik Weimer has been a member of the association's board since 2018. He studied Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern and holds a doctorate degree from Rice University before assuming a number of different management positions in Daimler AG’s IT division. At the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, he is currently responsible for the architecture and integration of digital design, manufacturing and services solutions, which includes enterprise architecture, demand management and business planning, as well as innovation, research and development in these areas. He is the first member of an OEM that does not come from the automotive industry on the board of the association, which was founded in 1993 by leading carmakers and automotive suppliers.
The prostep ivip association's key focus is digital transformation and model-based approaches for product development, production and services. prostep ivip provides a forum for collaboration among member companies delivering huge synergy potential between the automotive, aerospace and other industries through projects. As the new chairman of the board Dr. Weimer says: "Industry 4.0 requires and makes possible a much more holistic view on products, processes and resources. This means that we must open up to embrace more domains and more people involved in the fields of industrial digital transformation, especially including production engineering and also from services. My vision is to establish the association as the leading forum for industrial users worldwide to drive holistic, end-to-end collaboration, to accelerate digital transformation, and to establish model-based processes across member companies.“
