The competitive situation of manufacturing companies is characterized by growing dynamics, increasing process complexity and shortening product and innovation cycles. At the same time, new digital technologies enable real-time networking of production facilities and open up new possibilities for increasing productivity. Within the Future Laboratory Production of the Center for Digital Innovations (ZDIN), innovative approaches to networking, modeling and optimization of production processes and process chains are being researched in an interdisciplinary collaboration of Lower Saxony's universities, colleges and companies. Examples are secure data and IT infrastructures, easily configurable cyber-physical systems or practical methods of intelligent data evaluation. Furthermore, the Future Lab plays a leading role in education and training in the field of Industry 4.0.