What is Smart Industry?
Smart Industry is the Dutch term for the digitalisation of manufacturing, in which the latest production technology, advanced software and modern communication technology connect machines, systems and entire supply chains. The term also refers to the public-private programme that has been accelerating this digitalisation in the Netherlands since 2014. In Germany the same phenomenon is called Industrie 4.0; in the United States people speak of the Industrial Internet. The technologies are the same: IoT, Edge Computing, AI, big data, digital twins and robotics.
Smart Industry = flexible, data-driven, and connected production.
The goal is to produce more efficiently, sustainably, and responsively through smart automation and real-time insight. Because Smart Industry links the shop floor to office systems, suppliers and the cloud, it is a direct driver of OT convergence.
🧠 What exactly does Smart Industry mean?
Smart Industry has two meanings that are often used interchangeably:
- A concept - the shift from separate automated machines to connected production networks. Cyber-physical systems measure, communicate and adjust, and data flows from sensor to customer and back.
- A programme - the coalition of industry, knowledge institutions and government that, under the Smart Industry name, organises fieldlabs, regional hubs, assessments and training, mainly for industrial SMEs.
Smart Industry is therefore not a different idea from Industry 4.0, but its Dutch translation and implementation. Where the German programme focuses heavily on standardisation, with RAMI 4.0 and the Asset Administration Shell, Smart Industry emphasises practical collaboration. It targets three kinds of change: smarter production processes, smart and personalised products, and new business models in which companies add services to their products.
🕰️ How did the Smart Industry programme start?
The programme was set up as the Dutch answer to Industrie 4.0. The term Smart Industry was coined by the research organisation TNO and the employers’ association FME.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2014 | On 7 April, FME, TNO, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KvK), VNO-NCW and the Ministry of Economic Affairs present the report Smart Industry – Dutch industry fit for the future at Hannover Messe; the Smart Industry Action Agenda follows in November |
| 2015 | Implementation starts with three action lines: capitalising on existing knowledge, accelerating in fieldlabs and strengthening the foundations; ten initial fieldlabs, with Fieldlab Campione (smart maintenance in the process industry) the first official one in October |
| 2018 | Implementation Agenda 2018–2021 with eight industrial transformations and nine acceleration projects; 32 fieldlabs with a combined investment of about €165 million |
| 2018–2021 | Each region sets up a Smart Industry Hub as a single point of contact for businesses; SMITZH in South Holland is the first |
| 2022 | Scale-up Agenda (Schaalsprong Agenda) 2022–2026: 50 fieldlabs started, 5 hubs, more than 800 companies involved and about 25,000 participants reached |
| 2023 | Regional hubs merge into the European Commission’s European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) |
The nine acceleration projects from 2018 show clearly what the programme steers on: an assessment programme, an expertise centre, regional hubs, a national research roadmap, skills labs, human-centred technology, a cybersecurity action plan, a Data Value Center for secure data sharing, and international business.
🎯 What are examples of Smart Industry applications?
| Application | Examples |
|---|---|
| Predictive Maintenance | Sensors detect anomalies and predict maintenance before a failure occurs |
| Connected factory | Machines exchange data automatically via OPC UA, MQTT or 5G |
| Digital twins | A virtual representation of a machine or process for simulation and optimisation |
| Mass customisation | Flexible lines that make small series with short changeover times, down to batch size 1 |
| Real-time dashboards | SCADA coupled to Cloud analytics for insight into energy consumption, output and OEE |
| Automated quality control | Vision systems with AI inspect every product instead of a sample |
| Human-robot collaboration | Cobots take over heavy or repetitive work next to the operator |
The fieldlabs were set up around themes like these: from maintenance in the process industry and flexible robotisation to 3D printing and smart supply chains. Companies can test a technology together with knowledge institutions before investing themselves.
🧯 Why is Smart Industry important?
- Productivity - the Implementation Agenda named higher productivity as its first goal, partly because technical staff are scarce
- Less waste and downtime - data makes failures, rejects and energy losses visible
- Customisation at mass-production prices - flexible production makes small series profitable
- Traceability and Compliance - for every product you can record how and when it was made
- Sustainability - the Implementation Agenda explicitly named lower use of energy and raw materials as a goal
- Faster innovation - shorter time to market and new services around existing products
Dutch industry is highly dependent on exports. Large customers increasingly demand digital order exchange, 3D models and quality data, and a supplier that cannot provide them loses business.
🔁 How does Smart Industry differ from traditional industry?
| Traditional | Smart Industry |
|---|---|
| Linear, fixed production processes | Flexible, adaptive processes that adjust based on data |
| Physically separated systems | Connected IT and OT systems, with controlled interfaces |
| Manual control and Logging | Automated Monitoring, analysis, and optimisation |
| Periodic maintenance | Data-driven, predictive maintenance |
| Paper orders and separate spreadsheets | Digital supply chain links with customers and suppliers |
| Knowledge in the heads of skilled workers | Knowledge captured in data, models and digital work instructions |
🏭 What does Smart Industry mean for OT environments?
- Shop-floor integration - PLCs, SCADA, sensors and HMIs are opened up to edge and cloud platforms
- Vertical integration - MES and ERP exchange orders and production feedback according to ISA-95
- AI on the shop floor - AI for quality control or process optimisation close to the machine
- Connected supply chains - suppliers and customers share real-time status, planning and quality data
The Scale-up Agenda calls this digital plugs: agreed standards that let even an SME connect machines and systems without custom work. Examples are OPC UA and umati towards machines, the Asset Administration Shell for digital twins, and the Smart Connected Supplier Network (SCSN) for data exchange between supply chain partners. In existing plants, the brownfield situation, this often involves machines that are twenty years old or more and must first be connected through a gateway.
🔐 What cybersecurity risks does Smart Industry bring?
Every link between machine, office, supplier and cloud enlarges the attack surface. The Dutch ministry pointed this out as early as 2018: sharing data in the supply chain brings great benefits, but also makes companies more vulnerable to cyberattacks. A cybersecurity action plan therefore became one of the nine acceleration projects.
- Legacy Systems - older controllers often lack authentication or encryption
- Remote Access - machine builders want to perform maintenance remotely, which must be strictly controlled
- Supply chain risk - a compromised supplier can abuse its connection to your factory
A secure Smart Industry architecture follows IEC 62443, with zones, conduits and network segmentation between office and production. Regulatory pressure is also growing:
| Regulation | Relevance to Smart Industry | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Data Act | Right of access to data from connected products and machines | Applies since 12 September 2025 |
| Cybersecurity Act | Dutch implementation of NIS2 for essential and important entities, including many manufacturers | In force since 15 August 2026 |
| Cyber Resilience Act | Security requirements for products with digital elements, including industrial components | Reporting obligations from 11 September 2026, full application from 11 December 2027 |
| Machinery Regulation | Protection against corruption of control systems becomes part of CE marking | From 20 January 2027 |
🧭 How do you get started with Smart Industry?
The programme advises starting small and concrete. A proven sequence:
- Determine where you stand - a digital maturity assessment, for example through a regional EDIH, gives you a baseline and a direction
- Choose one business problem - unplanned downtime, rejects, lead time or energy use, not the technology itself
- Take stock of your installations - which machines already deliver data, which protocols are in use and which connections already exist?
- Unlock data in a standardised way - with OPC UA, MQTT or an edge gateway, without disturbing the control system
- Design security from the start - segment, restrict remote access and define who may see which data
- Test in a pilot or fieldlab - measure the effect in OEE, downtime hours or lead time before scaling up
- Invest in people - operators and technicians must be able to use and maintain the new systems
| Support | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Fieldlabs | Practical environments where companies and knowledge institutions develop and test technology together |
| EDIHs (formerly Smart Industry Hubs) | Regional point of contact with assessments, test-before-invest facilities and help with financing |
| Smart Makers Academy | Short learning routes (metro lines) built from nanomodules for SME employees’ digital skills, delivered by regional academies |
| Tax and innovation schemes | Including the WBSO R&D tax credit and the MIT scheme for SME innovation projects |
Up to 2026, the Scale-up Agenda aims to actively support more than 3,500 companies and guide at least 1,000 companies through an implementation on the factory floor. The longer-term ambition is for 6,000 manufacturers to get started with Smart Industry.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Is Smart Industry the same as Industry 4.0?
Smart Industry and Industry 4.0 cover the same digitalisation of industry using IoT, AI, robotics and digital twins. Industry 4.0 is the German concept from 2011, while Smart Industry is the Dutch name and the associated programme launched in 2014. The Dutch programme puts the emphasis on implementation through fieldlabs and regional hubs.
Who is behind the Smart Industry programme?
The Smart Industry programme was launched in 2014 by FME, TNO, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, VNO-NCW and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, later joined by Nederland ICT and Koninklijke Metaalunie among others. Regional development agencies, the top sectors and educational institutions also take part. FME, Koninklijke Metaalunie and TNO are partners in the Scale-up Agenda 2022–2026 and play a major role in reaching industrial SMEs.
What is a Smart Industry fieldlab?
A Smart Industry fieldlab is a practical environment in which companies, research institutes and educational institutions jointly develop, test and implement new production technology. Between 2015 and 2022 about 50 fieldlabs were started, covering topics such as smart maintenance, robotisation and 3D printing. This lets an SME try out a technology without immediately making the full investment itself.
Is Smart Industry suitable for SMEs?
Smart Industry is designed precisely to bring industrial SMEs along, because the front-runners are already well advanced while the large group behind them lags. An SME is best off starting with an assessment, one concrete problem such as downtime or rejects, and a small pilot. Regional EDIHs and fieldlabs help with knowledge, test facilities and financing.
What role does cybersecurity play in Smart Industry?
Cybersecurity is a precondition for Smart Industry, because machines that used to be isolated are now connected to office networks, suppliers and the cloud. An attack can halt production or damage products. Standards such as IEC 62443 and laws such as the Dutch Cybersecurity Act and the Cyber Resilience Act therefore make security a fixed part of every Smart Industry project.
What are digital plugs in Smart Industry?
Digital plugs are agreed standards in Smart Industry that let machines, software and supply chain partners exchange data without custom integration. Examples are OPC UA for machines, the Asset Administration Shell for digital twins and SCSN for order exchange between suppliers. They lower the cost of integration, especially for SMEs.
📌 In summary
Smart Industry is about intelligently connecting, automating, and optimising your production process, and it is also the Dutch programme that has been accelerating this digitalisation since 2014. Through fieldlabs, regional hubs and digital plugs, it mainly helps SMEs get started. Success requires close collaboration between IT and OT, standardised interfaces and a cybersecurity approach based on IEC 62443.