Microsoft Announces Intelligent Manufacturing 2025 Awards
The winners of the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award (MIMA) for 2025 have been selected. The coveted prize, which Microsoft Germany awards together with the strategy consultancy Roland Berger, honors innovative manufacturing companies. This year, for the sixth time, MIMA is honoring groundbreaking solutions that are shaping the future of the industry, with a focus on operations. The winning teams were selected by a high-ranking jury of experts from industry, science and consulting firms.
“Accelerating future Operations!” – Under this motto, companies from the entire economic region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) were called upon to submit their innovative digital solutions for the manufacturing, process, construction and automotive industries. Outstanding projects were sought in the categories Innovate, Scale, Add Value, Disrupt, Sustainability as well as the overall winner of MIMA 2025. The focus was on the area of operations, which encompasses all processes and activities required to manufacture products: from the planning, control and optimization of production processes, supply chain management, quality control and maintenance to personnel management.
From the best applications, 16 finalists were selected to present their projects at the recent Pitch Day. After extensive evaluations and discussions, the MIMA jury selected the six best projects that are particularly innovative and have the potential to lead the digital transformation across their industry. All MIMA 2025 winning solutions are based on artificial intelligence (AI), which is now an indispensable tool for industry.
“Artificial intelligence is the crucial technology of our time. It enables completely new solutions for manufacturing that determine its future. And the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award honors the best ideas for this,” says Edith Wittmann, who is responsible for Microsoft Germany’s corporate customer business as Enterprise Commercial Lead. “This year’s winners impressively show how the use of AI leads to greater efficiency, better quality, new products and greater sustainability. The MIMA recognizes these achievements and thus promotes the progress of the entire industry.”
The winners of the Microsoft Intelligent Manufacturing Award 2025 in the various categories were:
ZEISS Digital Innovation: Combined Virtual and Physical Metrology For Manufacturing (“Scale!”)
ZEISS Digital Innovation has developed an IIoT solution for machine-integrated process optimization in precision manufacturing that integrates quality assurance into the manufacturing process. Zeiss has won the MIMA 2025 in the “Scale!” category. The combination of virtual and physical metrology can predict the quality of components in real time using digital solutions and enables immediate adjustments to production processes. Based on the closed-loop approach, the software solution has shown significant productivity gains and cost savings, achieving its return on investment (ROI) after just a few months. The numerous fields of application, especially in brownfield applications, and the positive effects demonstrated by ZEISS Digital Innovation’s customers underline its effectiveness and scalability in precision manufacturing.
“Anyone who wants to ensure value creation in Germany and Europe in a future-proof and competitive manner, will have to implement autonomous solutions in the near future. This applies equally to complex production structures, such as in the semiconductor industry, and to traditional manufacturing disciplines such as machining. Wherever conventional efficiency measures reach their limits, we will see autonomous manufacturing solutions in the future. For us, the fundamental factor is the ability to use process and workpiece information in real time to control the manufacturing process. This is a major step towards data-driven production” commented Alfred Mönch, COO, ZEISS Digital Innovation:
For more information: www.mimawinners2025.com
