Past events

2018 – 2025

International Smart Factory Summit 2025

11 - 13 June 2025

“Deep Tech Smart Factory – Uniting Humans, AI, Robots, & Processes”

This was the motto o the 6th International Smart Factory Summit (ISFS) taking place in Biel/Bienne (CH)!

This year, the Summit went to the next level: three days, +150 participants and +50 speakers from around the globe – bigger, more professional, and more impactful then ever.

We welcomed international delegations, including ambassadors, young innovators (Forbes 30 Under 30, start-up founders and contest winners) as well as leading industry and research figures. The Summit provided an open and dynamic environment, rich with networking opportunities, social gatherings, and meaningful exchanges, all set in an inspiring atmosphere. 

International organizations, industry visionaries and technology leaders came together to explore the role of emerging deep technologies, their economic and societal impact, and how they are shaping the future of manufacturing.

Agenda highlights included:

Organizers 2025
Co-Organizers 2025
Sponsors 2025

International Smart Factory Summit 2024

12 - 14 June 2024

During the 5th International Smart Factory Summit, we had the pleasure to welcome over 70 participants from more than 10 countries around the globe for two intensive days of brainstorming, workshops, pannel discussions and keynotes.  This prestigious event was held in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Swiss CxO Forum.

Held for the fifth time in Biel, the summit is a unique and exclusive platform for the global Smart Factory community to explore the impact of smart factory labs and discuss strategies towards a more sustainable, human-centric, and resilient manufacturing industry globally.

This year, we chose to dedicate it to the following topic: “Elevating Skills, Empowering Innovation: Smart Factories for a Sustainable Future” During this event, the participants could:

  • Engage with innovation and thought leaders from Almer TechnologiesDassault SystemsINCITMercedes-BenzSiemens, the World Economic Forum, WorldSkills, ZF and many more.
  • Participate in interactive sessions to shape the future of manufacturing.
  • Take exclusive field trips to Posalux, the ESB/BKW hydroelectric power station in Hagnek and the Swiss Cobotics Competence Center (S3C).
  • Experience the Swiss Smart Factory, Switzerland’s leading innovation hub for I4.0 technologies.
Organizer 2024
Co-Organizers 2024
Sponsors 2024

International Smart factory Summit 2023

14 - 16 June 2023

The International Smart Factory Summit in Biel/Bienne already took place fot the 4th time at the Swiss Smart Factory. This year under the motto of “Accelerating Skills Development for Next Generation Smart Manufacturing Systems”.

Around 50 participants from all over the world joined the summit. 

Day 1 We had a great opening day with visiting Camille Bloch. We learned a lot about the factory and of course some chocolat tasting was also included. At dinner every one could connect to new people and start networking. 

Day 2 After the warm welcome of Dominic Gorecky, Jean-Philippe Devaux introduced the activities of the Bern Economic Development Agency. Raimund Klein gave us the honor to present a keynote about how digital transformation and worldwide sustainability are achieved. Then three different work sessions took place, moderated by Dr. Johannes be Isa of Inoyad Technologies, by Prof. Dr. David Romero, Tecnologico de Monterrey, and Dominic Gorecky, Head of Swiss Smart Factory. Everyone also took a tour through the Swiss Smart Factory. Pitching sessions gave us insights from different international initiatives. A nice end to the evening took place at the Péniche restaurant. With a great dinner and the first award ceremony of the Swiss CxO Forum. 

Day 3 This day was all about the Swiss CxO Forum. The keynotes from Jayant Narayan, manager, World Economic Forum (WEF), from Reiner Petzold, ex. chief digital officer/consultant, Swiss Federal Chancellery, Strategy & Innovation Department, from Koki Mitani, senior research engineer, NTT Social Informatics Laboratories and from Martin Schiesser, DETECON Schweiz AG, were all inspiring. A brilliant closing took place at OMEGA. There we had the possibility to visit the factory and the museum.   It was a successful event with exciting keynotes, interesting discussions and good networking. Thanks to all speakers and also to all the participants for this great summit.

Organizer 2023
Co-Organizer 2023
Sponsors 2023

International Smart Factory Summit 2022

23 - 24 June 2022

The third International Smart Factory Summit was held under the theme “Rewiring Global Value Chains and Production Networks for Resiliency and Sustainability.”

The summit kicked off with a social event featuring a visit to the Cité du Temps Museum of Omega and Swatch, followed by a relaxed dinner. From June 23 to 24, more than 50 participants from the global Smart Factory community gathered for the first time at the new Swiss Smart Factory to exchange ideas and develop new approaches on the following topics:

  • After the Pandemic: Lessons Learned & Perspectives for the Future

  • Data & Analytics: The Lifeblood of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains

  • Towards More Sustainable, Resilient and Human-Centric Industries

Outstanding speakers such as Prof. Dr. Dr.-Ing. Detlef Zühlke, Industry 4.0 pioneer, retired Professor of Industrial Automation and founder of smartfactory-KL; Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Kyritsis, Professor of ICT for Sustainable Manufacturing at EPFL; Dr. Milan Kumar, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at ZF Commercial Vehicles; Benjamin Schönfuss, Initiatives Specialist for Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains at the World Economic Forum; and Mario Fürst, Head of Digital Enterprise at Siemens Switzerland, ensured an extremely engaging and informative event.

The International Smart Factory Summit concluded on Friday afternoon with a visit to the new headquarters of GF Machining Solutions in Biel.

Sponsors 2022

International Smart Factory Summit 2019

30 September - 1 October 2019

Sponsors 2019

International Smart factory Summit 2018

22 - 23 November 2018

Sponsor 2018