- Broadcom’s (AVGO) stock dropped 2.18% to $175.37 in early trading Thursday, despite its new partnership with Audi to use VMware Cloud software for smarter factory automation in the Edge Cloud 4 Production (EC4P) project.
- The EC4P initiative, live at Audi’s Boellinger Hoefe plant in Germany where the e-tron GT is made, uses virtual controllers and fewer computers to boost efficiency, cut costs, and help the environment.
- Audi aims to spread this tech to all its plants, with help from Broadcom, Cisco, and Siemens, to make manufacturing faster, more flexible, and eco-friendly by connecting factory machines with cloud power.
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) saw its stock dip by 2.18% to $175.37 during early trading on Thursday, even as it shared some exciting news about teaming up with Audi, the car maker. Together, they’re working on a cool project called Edge Cloud 4 Production, or EC4P for short, which uses VMware Cloud software to make Audi’s factories smarter and more efficient. This isn’t just talk—it’s already happening at Audi’s Boellinger Hoefe plant in Germany, where they build the electric Audi e-tron GT, and it’s the first time they’ve used a virtual programmable logic controller, a kind of digital brain, to run things on the factory floor.
This EC4P project is all about making factories work better by connecting the tech side of things, like computers and software, with the hands-on side, like machines and assembly lines. Audi’s using Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation to manage everything from one place, cutting down on the number of bulky computers scattered around the factory. This means less fiddling with security updates by hand, fewer machines to maintain, and even a smaller impact on the environment since they’re not using as much hardware. Gerd Walker, Audi’s production boss, says this is a huge step in their “360factory strategy” to make manufacturing smoother and smarter, with plans to roll it out to all their plants eventually.
Sven Müller, who’s leading the EC4P charge at Audi, calls this partnership with Broadcom a game-changer for the future of making stuff. He’s excited because it’s not just about saving money or working faster—it’s also about being precise, flexible, and kinder to the planet. By swapping out thousands of old-school industrial PCs for a slick setup of local edge servers, Audi’s blending the power of the cloud with what’s happening right on the shop floor. They’re not doing it alone either; big names like Cisco (CSCO) and Siemens are pitching in too, making this a team effort to set a new bar for how factories can run. Even with Broadcom’s stock taking a little hit at $175.37, this move shows they’re betting big on tech that could change how cars – and maybe more – get made.
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