The HARTING Technology Group has won the coveted HERMES AWARD for the second time, garnering the prize on Sunday evening in Hannover. The company beat four other competitors with its HARTING MICA (Modular Industry Computing Architecture), the company’s mini-industrial computer. The family-owned company had previously picked up the prestigious prize in 2006 for an RFID solution. The Hermes prize is awarded by the Deutsche Messe.
“The HERMES AWARD is the world’s most important innovation prize for industry. We are very excited about this important victory. It highlights the innovative capacity of our engineers and developers”, explained Philip Harting, CEO of the technology group. The presentation of the nominated innovations and the award took place as part of the festive opening ceremony of the exhibition on Sunday in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama. The prize was presented by Prof. Dr. Johanna Wanka, Minister of Education and Research.
The HARTING MICA (Modular Industry Computing Architecture), which was developed by subsidiary HARTING IT Software Development, is an open and modular platform that functions as a core component consisting of embedded hardware and software for Industry 4.0. The jury was also impressed by the concept of lightweight virtualisation using LINUX containers, which the MICA achieves in a compact field device. The MICA provides existing machinery and systems with intelligence, making it possible to migrate existing factories towards Smart Factories. This in turn enables numerous SMEs to enter the world of Industry 4.0.
