On September 20 and 21, 2022, APIS invited its users to the International User Conference again, or as it is often called, the user meeting. After two years of abstinence, as far as meeting people in person is concerned, everything went as before. Well, almost. While Mr. Eilers, Sales Director of APIS Informationstechnologien GmbH, had led through the program of the digital user meetings in 2020 and 2021, this year’s event was hosted by Andreas Dietz (Board of APIS Information Technologies (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.). And, while 200 participants and more were the rule before the pandemic, this time there were 150 “fearless” who participated personally in the event. So much for the differences. Apart from that, it was “business as usual”!
The XXVIII International User Conference unofficially started the evening before with the get-together with almost all 150 participants. In the usual relaxed atmosphere, the first technical talks were held, theories were discussed and memories of previous user meetings were reminisced.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
As usual, Mr. Eilers opened the series of lectures with a review and outlook on IQ Software. The following lecture was held again by Mr. Eilers about the possibilities of the IQ Software to handle different QM documents, e.g., the FMEA form or the Control Plan, just to mention a few possibilities.
Next were Mr. Mark Beck and Andreas Beckert (both from Continental Automotive Technologies GmbH) to give a presentation on “Experiences and findings of the AIAG/VDA FMEA harmonization”.
Afterwards, Martin Werdich and his colleague Bernhard Lindner (FMEAplus Akademie GmbH) presented a concrete analysis model called “Automotive meets Medicine” and suggested a common analysis model to meet the requirements of medical technology (EN ISO 14971:2019)..
After lunch, Dr. Alexander Schloske from the Fraunhofer IPA clearly explained his thought models for action and risk assessment for O and D in design and process FMEA, followed by Heiko Dold (Herzog GmbH) who presented how he handles the requirements management in the IQ Software and deals with imports.
Chad M. Johnson, Vice President of the US subsidiary of APIS, demonstrated the advantages and further possibilities of the Web Publisher to the participants. The last presentation of the first day was held by our experienced trainers, Ingo Wroblewski and Holger Grube. They gave a presentation on use cases of the causes based FMEA form.
As always, the breaks were used for numerous conversations in changing groups to discuss the presentations and exchange ideas. Customer also used the APIS support room that was always open to clarify specific questions about the IQ Software in discussions with our support staff, to get tips and to give us feedback. Thank you for that!
The evening event, to which all participants were invited, started with a guided tour through the city in historic double-decker buses. In the bright evening sun, Potsdam’s sights presented themselves in the best light: from the Dutch Quarter to the “Bridge of Spies” (Glienicke Bridge), past the Russian log cabins and many other historic buildings to Sanssouci Palace, the trip crisscrossed the city. Finally, the party reached the historic coach house, where festively decorated tables invited to dinner that was prepared directly in the food truck.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
To begin the second day, Martin Zieglowski and Marc Klausgraber (Magna Steyr Engineering Germany) explained their approach and templates for steps 1 and 7 of the 2019 type risk assessment.
Dr. Alexander Schloske (Fraunhofer Institute IPA) presented a lecture about the applicability of FMEA in the field of cybersecurity to the audience. Riccardo Stüber then raised the question: “Hen or egg?” and thus gave an interesting insight into consequential failures with failure consequences.
Tom Zerl (Scio Technology GmbH), whose co-speaker, Jana Wüstenhöfer, had fallen ill so that he had to present the presentation “From zero to Tier 1” alone, spoke about the importance of FMEA in product development and market introduction of complex systems.
After lunch, John Rainer and Johannes Rödel from APIS offered an outlook on version 8 of the IQ Software, presenting in particular the Central Data Management server with OSLC technology. The last presentation of the conference was given by Alexander Weiß on the ever so popular “Tips and Tricks from APIS Support”.
In conclusion, in view of our own impressions, but also on the unanimous feedback of the participants, let us say that the event was once again more than successful and that a digital event was not a substitute for exchanging information and experiences face-to-face. We are therefore looking forward to welcoming you to the XXIX International APIS User Conference next year:
XXIX. International APIS User Conference
September 19 and 20, 2023
Hotel Dorint am Nürburgring
Thank you to all participants for their interest, the many pleasant conversations and their trust in our company and the IQ Software. We also thank all speakers and participants for their commitment and contribution to the event’s success. We look forward to welcoming you again next year at the Nürburgring!
Presentations to download and read again
If you are interested in the lectures of this year’s speakers, please send us an e-mail to : userconference@apis.de