Shaping the Digital Transformation

​We believe that the future belongs to data-driven enterprises and that there is a clear & managable path for every company to get there.​

Our Vision & Mission

We believe that the economy is at the brink of a new paradigm for industrial management. It will help us to overcome some of the biggest challenges of our time such as the transition to net zero CO2 emissions, aging societies in many western economies & managing the complexity of world that changes at an unprecedented pace.

There are multiple names for this new paradigm: Industrie 4.0, Smart Manufacturing or Digital Transformation among many others. No matter how you call it, the common idea of this transition is to consider data as a new key resource for your operations.

There are new, fantastic technologies available that help us to capture, manage, analyze data & even to automate entire processes based on data. But becoming a data-driven company requires more than just buying a set of new technologies. A comprehensive shift in the way of working, of the organizational structure, of the capabilities of employees and sometimes entirely new business models are necessary.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to go through this transition. It depends on what a company wants achieve in its business and on the current status quo of each individual factory and department. However, we believe that there is a clear & manageable path for every enterprise to unlock the value of becoming a data-driven enterprise - And we are there to define this path togehter with you.

Our principles: Industrie 4.0 needs Consulting 4.0

Walk the talk: We combine consulting with data & software to deliver a scalable service to our customers

Value first, technology second: We solve problems of your business while being open to any technology & vendor-agnostic

Pragmatic & profound: We develop & deploy the leading frameworks & methods for the digital transformation

Go & see: We feel at home on the world’s shopfloors and connect strategy with implementation

Enable our customers: We offer capability building, coaching & tools instead of never-ending consulting projects

Our origins

ONWARD PARTNERS is a spin-off from the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at RWTH Aachen Campus, the scientific home of the globally recognized “Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index” - one of the world’s leading management frameworks for the digital transformation of factories.

After applying our methologies in more than 250 factories around the globe we saw an even broader need in the market. With ONWARD PARTNERS we not only continue the consulting business around developing digitalization roadmaps for factories. We extend it with services on globally scaling digitalization programs in manufacturing, developing future-proof IT architectures and with professional software tools to manage the transformation.

We still closely cooperate with the Industrie 4.0 Maturity Center at the RWTH Aachen Campus by running joint qualification programs for our customers and by jointly improving our frameworks & conducting studies.

Learn more about our journey from i40MC to Onward

Our Partners

  • Dipl.-Inform. Christian Hocken, MBA

    Managing Partner

    Christian is Onward’s thought leader in the field of data-based decisions. He focuses on Industrie 4.0 Roadmap Design and Strategic Reflections in companies across all industries.

  • Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Schmitz

    Partner

    Sebastian is Onward’s Industrie 4.0 Platform expert and focuses on the challenge of scaling Digital Transformation in companies on a global level. His expertise covers the process industry and the pharmaceutical sector.

  • Dr.-Ing. Tobias Harland

    Partner

    Tobias is Onward’s mastermind when it comes to Industrie 4.0 Strategy and Implementation. His vast experience ranges from food & beverage industry to the automotive sector.

Visit us!

Aachen Office

Onward GmbH

Campus-Boulevard 55

52074 Aachen

Cologne Office

Onward GmbH

Erftstraße 15-17

50672 Köln