22nd International IEEE Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS 2026)
Offenburg, Germany – April 21-24, 2026
22nd International IEEE Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS 2026)
Offenburg, Germany – April 21-24, 2026
Welcome
In 2026, Offenburg University has the great honor of hosting the 22nd International IEEE Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS 2026). The WFCS is the only IEEE conference dedicated specifically to communication for industrial automation systems. It will take place in Offenburg for the first time.
The conference will be hosted by the Institute of Reliable Embedded Systems and Communication Electronics (ivESK) of Offenburg (Germany) and organized in collaboration with the Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering CNR-IEIIT (Italy). The WFCS is supported by IEEE and IES and coordinated by the IEEE Technical Committee on Factory Automation (TCFA). The local organizers from Offenburg University, the Department of Electrical Engineering, Medical Engineering and Computer Science (EMI), and ivESK invite all interested parties to participate in this exciting event and exchange ideas with international experts.
Venue
The tutorial day will take place on April 21, 2026, the conference between April 22 and 24, 2026 at the main campus of the university (77652 Offenburg, Badstrasse 24).
How to reach us
The WFCS conference will be held at the main campus of Hochschule Offenburg in the city of Offenburg in the beautiful Ortenau region, neighbored by the Black Forest on the East and by Alsace on the West. You can travel to Offenburg by plane, train, bus, or car.
Locally, you can use Offenburg's versatile public transport to commute between the city and the university or you can walk. From most of the hotels in the city center, the walking distance is 10 to 15 minutes.
More information on how to reach the venue can be found here.
- The best connection certainly will be via Frankfurt International Airport (IATA code: FRA), the largest airport in Germany. From there, you will reach Offenburg Main Station in about 90 minutes with a direct hourly high speed train connection (ICE, see below).
- Strassbourg Airport (Aéroport Strassbourg, IATA code: SXB) on the French is also close by, however, offers much less connections. Offenburg can be reached via regional transport.
- EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (IATA code: BSL) can also be an alternative, however, the public transport connections are not so well supported.
Being located at the major North-South connection from Frankfurt to Switzerland and Italy, Offenburg is easily accessible by train. For a seamless journey to the WFCS 2026 venue or your hotel, consider Deutsche Bahn's City Ticket option, which includes local public transport within Offenburg. For more information and booking, please visit Deutsche Bahn.
Intercity bus services, primarily operated by Flixbus, offer direct routes to many cities across Germany and Europe. Flixbus is stopping at Messeplatz, close to the venue and most of the hotels.
Additionally, Offenburg is well connected to the regional train services, also with Strassbourg and the Black Forest region.
Offenburg is situated near the A5 motorway, one of the major North-South connections. Use Offenburg Junction (exist 55). For easy navigation to the conference venue or your hotel, you can use online map services like Google Maps or Bing Maps to plan your route efficiently.
The city’s transport services are part of the public transport association TGO Tarifverbund Ortenau GmbH. All TGO members share the same ticket system, allowing easy transfers between trains, trams, buses, and ferries without needing to purchase a new ticket for each change. Journey planning within Offenburg is easy with the TGO web app, and a complete map of routes and tariff zones is available on the TGO website.
Tickets can be purchased at suburban train stations or on board most trams and buses. Tickets bought on vehicles usually are pre-validated, whereas tickets from ticket machines require stamping before use.
We recommend using mobile ticketing apps for a seamless travel experience in Offenburg. Deutsche Bahn customers may find it convenient to use the DB Navigator app to manage both local and long-distance tickets in one place. Alternatively, the TGO mobile ticketing app offers some additional features for local travel making it a versatile tool beyond ride planning and ticketing.
Sponsors
