Adolf Würth built a thriving business after World War II selling screws, nuts and bolts to local businesses. Today, his Würth GmbH sells digitally monitored supply bins that let customers around Europe restock fasteners automatically.

Würth’s shift is emblematic of a transformation taking place across Germany’s machinery sector, the backbone of its thriving industrial economy. Giants like Robert Bosch GmbH and the legions of small and midsize companies that once only worked with metal today are branching into cyberspace.

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