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Influenced by the high dynamic of the markets the optimization of supply chains gains more importance. However, analyzing different procurement strategies and the influence of various production parameters is difficult to achieve in industrial practice. Therefore, simulations of supply chains are used in order to improve the production process. The objective of this research is to evaluate different procurement strategies in a four-stage supply chain. Besides, this research aims to identify main influencing factors on the supply chain’s performance. The performance of the supply chain is measured by means of back orders (backlog). A scenario analysis of different customer demands and a Design of Experiments analysis enhance the significance of the simulation results.
In manufacturing, adherence to delivery dates is one of the main logistic goals. The production control department has to cope with short-term deviations from the planned route sheets. Because of unforeseen disruptions, e.g. machine breakdowns or shortage of material or personnel, in some situations, the promised delivery date to the customer is at stake. In practice, a fast and reasonable decision on how to deal with the delayed order is required. This decision process is often based on a qualitative analysis relying on the planner’s subjective assessment of a complex situation. To improve the quality of possible countermeasures this paper presents an application, which supports the decision process through a quantified analysis using real-time data from business application systems in combination with a simulation of the value stream. The developed app is part of the decision process and estimates the effect of selected countermeasures to accelerate a delayed order. Performance indicators illustrate the effect of the countermeasures on the specific order as well as the whole system. This approach empowers the planner to assess unforeseen situations and aims to improve the quality of the decision-making process. This paper describes the architecture of the application, its simulation ecosystem, the relevant data and the decision process to select the most effective countermeasures.
The operation of CNC milling is expensive because of the cost-intensive use of cutting tools. The wear and tear of CNC tools influence the tool lifetime. Today’s machines are not capable of accurately estimating the tool abrasion during the machining process. Therefore, manufacturers rely on reactive maintenance, a tool
change after breakage, or a preventive maintenance approach, a tool change according to predefined tool specifications. In either case, maintenance costs are high due to a loss of machine utilization or premature tool change. To find the optimal point of tool change, it is necessary to monitor CNC process parameters during machining and use advanced data analytics to predict the tool abrasion. However, data science expertise is limited in small-medium sized manufacturing companies. The long operating life of machines often does not justify investments in new machines before the end of operating life. The publication describes a cost-efficient approach to upgrade legacy CNC machines with a Tool Wear Prediction Upgrade Kit. A practical solution is presented with a holistic hardware/software setup, including edge device, and multiple sensors. The prediction of tool wear is based on machine learning. The user interface visualizes the machine condition for the maintenance personnel in the shop floor. The approach is conceptualized and discussed based on industry requirements. Future work is outlined.
Das Gegenteil von Theorie ist die Praxis. So sagt man landläufig und unterstellt damit oft, dass wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse nicht immer für den Alltag taugen. Dass Theorie aber nicht gleich Theorie ist und Wissenschaft und Praxis trotz aller Unterschiedlichkeit aufeinander angewiesen sind, darauf weist das FIR an der RWTH Aachen schon mit der Auflösung seines Akronyms hin: „Forschung. Innovation. Realisierung.“ Hier zielen alle Forschungsaktivitäten darauf ab, Lösungen für reale Herausforderungen aus der Praxis zu schaffen, die am Ende auch umsetzbar sind. Eine nutzenbringende Verbindung zwischen den beiden scheinbar so unterschiedlichen Welten ist dafür unabdingbar und diese Lücke schließt das FIR mit Industriekooperationen, Wissens und Technologietransfer sowie Weiterbildungsangeboten auf vielen Ebenen. Nicht zuletzt positionierte sich das FIR als leitendes Institut des Clusters Smart Logistik auf dem RWTH Aachen Campus und füllt diese Rolle seit über 10 Jahren erfolgreich aus.
Blockchain-Lösungen sind bisher vor allem im Finanzbereich bekannt
und erfolgreich. Doch ihre unbestreitbaren Vorteile bieten weit darüber
hinaus Potenzial und machen sie auch für industrielle Anwendungen
interessant. Vor allem Lieferketten mit ihren komplexen Strukturen,
vielen Beteiligten sowie verschiedensten Material-, Informations- und
Finanzströmen lassen sich mit der Technologie erheblich effizienter
gestalten.
Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) hat sich über die letzten Jahre stetig zu einem Thema mit strategischer Priorität für Unternehmen entwickelt. Das zeigt sich nicht zuletzt in der gesteigerten Investitionsbereitschaft deutscher Unternehmen in KI-Projekte. Wirtschaftliche Akteure haben erkannt, dass durch eine sinnvolle Nutzung von KI-Technologien Wettbewerbsvorteile erzielt werden können. Die vorliegende Studie legt das Augenmerk auf den industriellen Einsatz einer KI-Technologie, die bereits heute von vielen Unternehmen erfolgreich genutzt wird: Die natürliche Sprachverarbeitung (engl. Natural Language Processing, kurz NLP). Die wirtschaftlichen Potenziale der Technologie liegen dabei in ihrer Fähigkeit, betriebliche Abläufe zu automatisieren und die Schnittstelle zwischen Mensch und Maschine zu verbessern und zu vereinfachen. Ziel der Studie ist es, die Potenziale der NLP-Technologie für Unternehmen nutzbar zu machen, indem konkrete Anwendungsfälle und allgemeine Handlungsempfehlungen sowie Nutzen und Risiken aufgezeigt werden.
Nowadays, the market for information and communication technologies used for IOT-applications grows daily. Since companies need technologies to transform their business processes corresponding to the digital revolution, they need to know which technologies are available, and fit the best for their use case. Their inertial issue is the lacking overview of technologies suitable to connect their production or logistics. Hence, this paper presents a methodology to select technologies (and combinations) based on their functions. It differentiates between information and communication technologies, digital technologies and connecting technologies by the physical function and its role in a cyber-physical system. Depending on the use case, the applicability of every technology varies. Due to that reason, the paper illustrates a ranked qualification of the technologies for typical use cases, focussing tracking and tracing issues in the intralogistics of producing companies. The evaluation is performed upon a literature research, a market study to identify suitable technologies, and various expert interviews to assess the applicability of the technologies.
Pricing for Smart-Product-Service-Systems in Subscription Business Models for Production Industries
(2021)
In the production industry, subscription business models have the potential to create long-term relationships where a supplier provides a continuous value-oriented service to a customer based on digitalisation. Monetising this increase in value through pricing represents a central challenge for suppliers in subscription business. Unlike the current dominant transactional business, the focus of pricing is on the value-in-use of the customer (e.g. on the increase in output for the customer). In this regard, there is so far no pricing approach for practice that allows the linking of the performance data of the customer with the periodically charged price. However, in subscription businesses, such an approach is required to create win-win situations for the customer and supplier through continuous performance improvement. Therefore, this paper develops a novel process model for pricing of smart-product-service-systems in subscription business for production industries. This process can serve as basis for suppliers of subscriptions in the production industry to align pricing with the created value-in-use. In the long term, this allows companies to systematically develop their pricing to monetise the potential of digitalisation.
Die Globalisierung und der steigende Wettbewerbsdruck erfordern, dass Supply Chains heutzutage komplexe Anforderungen erfüllen. Dabei müssen sie gleichzeitig flexibel genug sein, um an kurzfristige Veränderungen angepasst werden zu können. Ein unternehmensübergreifender Datenaustausch ermöglicht den Akteuren durch schnelle Informationsweitergabe über auftretende Ereignisse entlang der Supply Chain, dynamisch auf aktuelle Gegebenheiten zu reagieren und dadurch hervorgerufene mögliche Schäden zu minimieren. Auch wenn viele Unternehmen mit der Bereitstellung von Daten noch zurückhaltend sind, gehen die Vorteile des Datenaustauschs weit über die Verkürzung der Reaktionszeit hinaus.
Manufacturing companies worldwide recognized the high potential of Industrie 4.0 in order to increasing production efficiency. Key benefits include creation of integrated systems, networked products and improvement of service portfolios. However, for many companies deriving and evaluating necessary measures to use Industrie 4.0 potentials represents a major challenge. This paper introduces the "acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index" as an approach to meet this challenge. The development of multidimensional maturity model intents to provide companies an assessment methodology. The aim is to capture the status quo in companies in order to be able to develop individual roadmaps for the successful introduction of Industrie 4.0 and manage the transformation progressively.
Trends und Entwicklungen
(2020)
Der traditionelle After Sales Service inklusive der hohen Margen und Gewinnbeiträge steht einem Wandel gegenüber. Digitale Transformation, Globalisierung oder disruptive Geschäftsmodelle verändern die etablierten Rahmenbedingungen des Geschäftsbereiches zunehmend. Daher sollten sich Unternehmen auf diesen Wandel vorbereiten und Veränderungen in der eigenen Organisation anstoßen. Aus diesem Grund wird in dem letzten Kapitel des vorliegenden Buches auf wichtige Trends im After Sales Service eingegangen. Zu nennen sind hierbei der Ansatz der Servitization (Abschn. 7.1), die Digitale Transformation im After Sales Service (Abschn. 7.2), digitale Geschäftsmodelle (Abschn. 7.3), das Smart Service Engineering (Abschn. 7.4) oder der Einfluss der Elektromobilität auf den automobilen After Sales Service (Abschn. 7.5).
In Germany’s transition to a more sustainable industrial landscape, electricity generated by wind turbines (WT) remains a mainstay of the energy mix. Operating and maintenance costs, which account for roughly 25% of electricity generation costs in onshore WTs make improvements of maintenance activities a key lever in the economic operation of WTs. Prescriptive maintenance is a possible approach for improved maintenance activities. It is a concept where asset condition data is used to recommend specific actions and has great potential for the operation of wind parks. However, especially small, but also large wind park operators, and maintenance service providers often struggle with the implementation of such a new maintenance approach. As a part of the research project ReStroK, a learning game has been developed to support the training and familiarization of maintenance technicians with the concepts and underlying principles of this maintenance approach. In this paper, the concept for the development of a learning game will be presented. Multiple scenarios for its usage and their corresponding requirements will be discussed and an overview over the game will be given.
The Impact Of Manufacturing Execution Systems On The Digital Transformation Of Production Systems
(2021)
With the focus of manufacturing companies on the digital transformation, Manufacturing Execution Systems are market-ready, modular software solutions for manufacturing companies to integrate the value-adding and supporting processes horizontal and vertical in the company. Companies, especially small and mediumsized companies, face high internal and external costs for the implementation of the MES modules. An advantage of MES is the possibility to implement the systems in a continually, module-by-module approach, with the benefit of timely distributed investments. By realizing fast improvements, companies can use the benefits for further module implementations. This paper proposes a maturity model to measure the impact of an MES on the digital transformation of the company’s production systems. The model fulfils two purposes. The first, companies can measure the impact based on the difference between its current maturity index and the potential index of an implemented MES. The second is, the user can identify what impact an MES has in general on the digital transformation since the developed maturity model is derived from an established industry 4.0 maturity model. The development of the maturity model is based on the methodologies of AKKASOGLU and focuses on the further development of an established model. As an outlook, the application of the model will be described briefly. The proposed maturity model can directly be used by practitioners and offers implications for further development of MES functionalities.
Die Verschärfung des Wettbewerbsumfelds produzierender Unternehmen und die als Antwort hierauf in den Fokus rückenden agilen Methoden vergrößern die Bedeutung einer effizienten Handhabung von Änderungsprozessen. Am Beispiel des Maschinen- und Anlagenbauers Ortlinghaus zeigt der Beitrag, dass eine Kombination aus ungeeigneten Änderungsprozessen und mangelhaftem IT-Support in der Praxis oft die schnelle und gleichzeitig qualitätsgesicherte Durchführung von Änderungsprozessen verhindert. Der Zielkonflikt aus geringem Zeitbedarf und hoher Prozessqualität lässt sich durch Anpassungen in der IT-Unterstützung reduzieren. Hierdurch können Erfolgsfaktoren für ein effizientes Änderungsmanagement gehoben und die Problemfelder der Workflowunterstützung, Informationsverteilung und Datenhandhabung verbessert werden. Zentrales Hindernis zur Adressierung der Erfolgsfaktoren stellt die aktuell zur Abwicklung von Change Requests genutzte Arbeitsumgebung dar. Der Beitrag präsentiert hierfür als zentralen Lösungsansatz die Internet of Production Infrastruktur. Das Potenzial der Internet of Production Infrastruktur im Kontext des Änderungsmanagements wird anhand von drei Anwendungsbeispielen verdeutlicht. Abschließend wird der Migrationspfad für Unternehmen bei der Einführung eines effizienten Änderungsmanagements aufgezeigt.
Die Finanzkrise hat viele Unternehmen kalt erwischt. Die Folgen des Konjunktureinbruchs sind drastische Absatzeinbrüche, Produktionsstopps und Liquiditätsengpässe. Die Tendenz zur Wertminderung der Produkte zwingt vor allem Industrieunternehmen, Abschreibungen auf ihre Bestände vorzunehmen. Dies gilt insbesondere für die äusserst dynamischen und hochwertigen Lagerbestände im Automobilbau, Maschinenbau oder der chemischen Industrie.
Manufacturing companies (MFRs) are increasingly extending their
portfolios with services and data-driven services (DDS) to differentiate themselves from competitors, tap new revenue potential, and gain competitive advantages through digitization and the subsequently generated data. Nonetheless, DDS fail more often than traditional industrial services and products within the first year on the market. Particularly, companies are failing to sell DDS successfully and efficiently with their existing (multi-level) distribution structures. Surprisingly, there is a lack of scientific research addressing this issue. Since there are currently no holistic models for an end-to-end description of distribution-tasks for DDS in the manufacturing industry, this paper contributes to a task-oriented reference model for mapping interactions in the multi-level distribution management. Therefore, a case study research approach is used, to identify and describe the interactions in the multi-level distribution management of DDS, as well as to develop a regulatory framework for MFRs and their multi-level distribution management. This research uses the established theoretical framework of Service-Dominant-Logic to address the co-creation in multi-level distribution management of DDS. As a result, this paper identifies different interaction variants as well as the need for a new management function with 4 main and 14 basic tasks.
Task-Specific Decision Support Systems in Multi-Level Production Systems based on the digital shadow
(2019)
Due to the increasing spread of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) suitable for shop floors, the production environment can more easily be digitally connected to the various decision making levels of a production system. This connectivity as well as an increasing availability of high-resolution feedback data, can be used for decision support for all levels of the company and supply chain. To enable data driven decision support, different data sources were structured and linked. The data was combined in task-specific digital shadows, selecting clustering and aggregation rules to gain information. Visual interfaces for task-specific decision support systems (DSS) were developed and evaluated positively by domain experts. The complexity of decision making on different levels was successfully reduced as an effect of the processed amounts of data. These interfaces support decision making, but can additionally be improved if DSS are extended with smart agents as proposed in the Internet of Production.
Service Engineering Models
(2019)
Since the field of service engineering emerged in the late 20th century, the service industry has undergone drastic changes. Among the reasons for these changes is the increasing digitalization, which has made it difficult for companies to successfully develop new service offerings. While numerous service engineering models are available to provide guidance during the design of new services, many of them cannot keep up with the requirements of today’s economic environment. The present paper examines the requirements that service engineering models need to meet in order to be suitable guidelines for the digital age. To this end, the introduction illustrates how digitalization has changed the service industry. Afterwards, selected service engineering models and related norms are presented. Finally, a set of requirements for modern service engineering models derived from best practices from recent years is introduced.
Industrie 4.0 is changing the industrial landscape in an unanticipated way. The vision for manufacturing industries is to transform to an agile company, in order to react on occurring events in real-time and make data based decisions. The realization requires also new capabilities for the information management. To achieve this goal agile companies require taking measured data, analyzing it, deriving knowledge out of this and support with the knowledge their employees. This is crucial for a successful Industrie 4.0 implementation, but many manufacturing companies struggling with these requirements. This paper identifies the required capabilities for the information management to achieve a successful Industrie 4.0 implementation. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-65151-4_3]
This paper contributes to an assessment framework for valuing data as an asset. Particularly industrial manufacturers developing and delivering Smart Product Service Systems (Smart PSS) are comprehensively depended on the business value derived by processing data. However, there is a lack in a framework for capturing and comparing the Smart PSS data value with the purpose of increasing the accountability of data initiatives. Therefore a qualitative data value assessment approach was developed and specified on Smart PSS, based on an industrial case study research. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-57997-5_39]
In recent years, the complexity of the management of supply chains has increased significantly due to the growing individualization of products and dynamics of the market environment. To remain competitive, ensuring efficient and flexible processes and procedures along the entire supply chain are of particular importance for companies. Especially in the inter-company context, decisions must be made as quickly and correctly as possible. To enable good decision-making processes data must be processed and provided in a targeted manner. Currently, however, the necessary transparency is often lacking within the supply chains. In this article, a software-based assistance system for decision support on supply chain level is presented that aims to increase the transparency and efficiency of the decision-making process. A concept for decision support on supply chain level is presented. This paper focuses on the conceptual linkage of relevant decisions and data. Therefore, indicators are identified and linked with the relevant decisions. Moreover, a suitable way of visualizing the identified indicators for each decision in a user-friendly manner is defined. These results are then used to implement the software tool.
The industrial food production is currently caught between the increas-ing demands of numerous stakeholders, economic profitability and the challenges of digitization. A solution to face these various challenges can be seen in the aggregation of data into higher-value, independent data products that can be of-fered and sold on a buyer's market. Large amounts of heterogeneous data are already available in the value chain of the industrial food production, e.g. throughout the data-driven harvesting of primary products, further processing by interconnected production facilities and the information-intensive product distri-bution to end consumers. However, the data is usually only evaluated and used locally for the optimization of internal processes or, at the most, within compre-hensive partnerships. The purpose of this paper is to identify new revenue oppor-tunities for current and future players in the industrial food production by using data as an independent economic good (data products). For this purpose, scenar-ios for the development and use of data products via Industrial Internet of Things platforms are developed for a food technical reference process, the industrial chocolate production and its value chain. On this basis, examples for different types of data products and their value propositions are derived. The results can not only serve food producers and relevant stakeholders but all industrial produc-ers as an input for the future, yield-increasing orientation of their business models.
Many ERP systems support configurable materials. Due to an ever increasing number of product variants the benefits of this approach are well understood. However, these implementations are not standardized. In this article we propose a new standard interface for the exchange of configuration data. This would lead to further benefits as systems as Advanced Planning systems could better use manufacturing flexibility while web shops as Amazon could easily integrate manufacturers of complex products with much reduced implementation effort.
Ongoing digitalization and Industry 4.0 enable the development of new business models due to the increase in available data and digital connected products. A promising business model type for the machinery and plant engineering industry are subscription models, consisting of products and services offered in return for continuous payments. However, subscription-based business models are associated with extensive changes in the traditional machinery and plant engineering industry, in particular, for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Established concepts for the development of value propositions and business models neglect important aspects, such as the integrated development and optimization of products and services across the entire life cycle or the data infrastructure. This paper presents a concept for a methodology to support SMEs developing value propositions within subscription models. Therefore, the systematic identification of customer benefits, the determination and prioritization of subscription relevant functionalities as well as the design of product and service elements addressing those functionalities are the main aspects on which the focus is placed on. The result is a subscription value proposition canvas for SMEs to address the impact of subscription models on products and services.
One major problem of today’s producing companies is to reach a high adherence to delivery dates while considering the volatile market situation as well as economic aspects. This problem can only be solved by using a production control that is optimally adapted to the processes. A good working, process-oriented production control is essential for being able to control the production situation and to ensure a high adherence to delivery dates. Data generation and processing determine the success of production control. Current processes and IT systems have several shortcomings in meeting these challenges.
The solution for this problem is the so called “cyber physical production control” (CPPC). It optimally supports the production scheduler in his decision making process based on real-time high-resolution data. With the help of data analytics, the production controller receives decision support over various steps. Due to CPPC, the overall goal of a high adherence to delivery dates can be fundamentally increased.
Understanding the Organizational Impact of Robotic Process Automation: A Socio-Technical Perspective
(2022)
Interest in AI-driven automation software is growing constantly across
all industries, as these technologies enable companies to almost automate administrative processes completely and significantly increase operational efficiency.
However, many implementation attempts fail due to a lack of understanding of how these technologies affect the various socio-technical aspects that are intertwined in an organisation. This leads to a widening gap between value propositions of automation software and the ability of companies to exploit them. For long-term
success, collaboration between humans and software robots in the organization must be optimised. Therefore, the social, technical, and organizational impact of Robotic Process Automation was investigated. Following a socio-technical systems approach, a model was developed and validated in a use case of a company in the mechanical engineering sector. Knowing the influencing factors before launching large-scale automation initiatives will help practitioners to better exploit
efficiency potentials and increase the long-term success.
Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) hat als Technologie in den vergangenen Jahren Marktreife erlangt. Es existiert eine Vielzahl benutzerfreundlicher Produkte und Services, welche die Anwendung von KI im Alltag und im Unternehmen vereinfachen. Die Herausforderung, vor denen Anwendende, gerade im betriebswirtschaftlichen Kontext, stehen, ist nicht die technische Machbarkeit einer KI-Applikation, sondern deren organisatorisch und rechtlich zulässige Gestaltung. Zu einer zunehmenden Dynamik in der Gesetzgebung kommt ein gesellschaftliches Interesse an der Kontrolle und Transparenz über die für KI-Modelle erhobenen Daten. Die Diskussion über Datensouveränität im geschäftlichen und privaten Alltag rückt mehr und mehr in das Zentrum der öffentlichen Aufmerksamkeit.
Datenbasierte KI-Anwendungen stehen damit in einem Spannungsfeld zwischen den Potenzialen, die das Erheben und Teilen von Daten über Unternehmensgrenzen hinweg bietet, und der Herausforderung, die Datensouveränität der involvierten Personen zu wahren. Die vorliegende Studie soll erstens über die Auswirkungen der Datensouveränität und die damit verbundenen aktuellen und kommenden Regularien auf KI-Anwendungsfälle aufklären. Dafür wurden Expertinnen und Experten aus den Bereichen Recht, KI- und Organisationsforschung befragt. Zweitens zeigt die Studie Potenziale und Best Practices von KI-Anwendungsfällen mit überbetrieblichem Datenaustausch auf. Dafür wurden Fallstudien in Unternehmen durchgeführt, die bereits erfolgreich Datenaustausch in ihre Geschäftsmodelle integriert haben, um ihre KI-Applikationen zu betreiben und zu verbessern.
With big data-technologies on the rise, new fields of application appear in terms of analyzing data to find new relationships for improving process under-standing and stability. Manufacturing companies oftentimes cope with a high number of deviations but struggle to solve them with less effort. The research project BigPro aims to develop a methodology for implementing counter measures to disturbances and deviations derived from big data. This paper proposes a methodology for practitioners to assess predefined counter measures. It consists of a morphology with several criterions that can have a certain characteristic. Those are then combined with a weighting factor to assess the feasibility of the counter measure for prioritization.
Since data becomes more and more important in industrial context, the question arises on how data-driven added value can be measured consistently and comprehensively by manufacturing companies. Currently, attempts on data valuation are primarily taking place on internal company level and qualitative scale. This leads to inconclusive results and unused opportunities in data monetization. Existing approaches in theory to determine quantitative data value are seldom used and less sophisticated. Although quantitative valuation frameworks could enable entities to transfer data valuation from an internal to an external level to take account of progress in digital transformation into external reporting. This paper contributes to data value assessment by presenting a four-part valuation framework that specifies how to transfer internal, qualitative to external, quantitative data valuation. The proposed framework builds on insights derived from practice-oriented action research. The framework is finally tested with a machine tool manufacturer using a single case study approach. Placing value on data will contribute to management’s capability to manage data as well as to realize data-driven benefits and revenue. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-85902-2_19]
Viable Production System for adaptable and flexible production planning and control processes
(2009)
High Resolution Supply Chain Management (HRSCM) aims at designing adaptable and flexible production planning and control (PPC) processes according to the needs of the company’s supply chain environment. To reach this goal a model for a Viable Production System (VPS) has been elaborated and is presented in this paper. Based on the Viable System Model (VSM) developed by Stafford Beer current production systems are analyzed in terms of integrity. With the gained knowledge a complete recursive framework of a VPS is developed. The framework allows the design of a decentralized production system that meets all requirements of a dynamic environment. Flexible and adaptable PPC processes can be developed for each identified subsystem of the VPS. Hence, further research focuses on the development of process and control loops in order to assure the application of the framework. Exemplarily the decentralised control loop for inventory management is elaborated in a case study.
Ziel des Forschungsbereichs "Selbstoptimierende Produktionssysteme" ist es, sowohl technische als auch soziotechnische Produktionssysteme zu entwickeln, die durch Selbstoptimierung eine bessere Performance erreichen, als bei der Auslegung geplant und erwartet werden kann. Im Fokus steht die Steigerung der Produktivität in der Produktion direkt vor Ort. Bedeutend ist die dezentrale Entscheidungsfähigkeit der Mitarbeiter auf dem Shopfloor und in unterstützenden Bereichen, sowie der kognitiven und adaptiven Systeme und Netzwerke in der Produktion.
Der Technologie- und Trendradar 2022 enthält die neusten Technologien und Trends des vergangenen Jahres. Im aktualisierten Radar wurden die Technologiereifegrade in den Steckbriefen neu bewertet, die Anwendungen, Potenziale und Herausforderungen der Technologien wo nötig aktualisiert und neue Technologien aufgenommen.
Der Technologie- und Trendradar 2022 enthält elf neue Steckbriefe. Das Technologiefeld Vernetzung wurde um Eventgetriebene IT-Architekturen, Internet of Behaviors und Web3 erweitert. Dem Feld Virtualisierung wurde die Technologie Metaverse hinzugefügt. Das Technologiefeld Datenverarbeitung wurde um den Trend Data-Centric AI ergänzt, das Feld Prozesse um den Trend Digitale Souveränität. Im Technologiefeld Produkte wurden die Technologien Edge AI, Inter Planetary File System (IPFS), Photonische Siliziumchips, Soft-Robotik und Neuromorphic Computing aufgenommen.
This paper addresses the challenge of modelling individual cyber-physical systems (CPS) for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing industries. CPS are key technology building blocks for the implementation of Industrie 4.0. Especially for SMEs the increase of production efficiency and reduction of manufacturing costs through CPS offer potential to maintain their competitiveness and innovation capacity. Although SMEs perceive the potential of CPS, they often lack financial and human resources to acquire the necessary CPS-competencies as well as an overview of all the currently available technological solutions. To overcome this issue a matching platform will offer SMEs support in finding suitable CPS-components by letting them express their functional and technical requirements. The matching logic is based on a set of morphologies that encompasses the functional and requirement spectrum of CPS-components. The matching algorithm analyses the input for congruence of requirements and available technologies and suggests suitable technology combinations. This paper describes the methodology of the matching platform, and introduces the research work to define and to develop the technology morphologies. The presented results facilitate the selection and configuration of CPS for SMEs.
Immer noch ist es um die Zufriedenheit der Kunden mit der Qualität von Diestleistungen hierzulande nicht gut bestellt. An der Verbesserung dieses Zustands müssen wir arbeiten, in den Unternehmen, in den staatlichen Organisationen und in den Bildungseinrichtungen, denn die Frage, ob und wie wir den Wandel zur uneingeschränkten Servicegesellschaft bewältigen - der ohne eine konsequente Digitalisierung der Wertschöpfung unmöglich ist -, hat auch entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Zukunft des Wirtschaftsstandorts Deutschland.
Towards a Methodology to Determine Intersubjective Data Values in Industrial Business Activities
(2021)
This paper contributes to a valuation framework for valuing data as an intangible asset. Especially those industrial manufacturers developing and delivering holistic digital solutions are limited in calculating the true business value of data initiatives. Since the value of data is strongly dependent on the respective use case, a completely objective valuation is not possible. This complicates decision-making on the internal side regarding investments in digital transformation, and on the external side to communicate existing benefits to third parties via financial reporting. Therefore, the target is to design a valuation framework that allows industrial manufacturers to determine an intersubjective, i.e., traceable and transparent, data value. In order to develop a framework that can be applied in practice, the approach is based on industrial case study research.
The shop floor is a dynamic environment, where deviations to the production plan frequently occur. While there are many tools to support production planning, production control is left unsupported in handling disruptions. The production controller evaluates the deviations and selects the most suitable countermeasures based on his experience. The transparency should be increased in order to improve the decision quality of the production controller by providing meaningful information during his decision process. In this paper, we propose a framework in which an interactive production control system supports the controller in the identification of and reaction to disturbances on the shop floor. At the same time, the system is being improved and updated by the domain knowledge of the controller. The reference architecture consists of three main parts. The first part is the process mining platform, the second part is the machine learning subsystem that consists of a part for the classification of the disturbances and one part for recommending countermeasures to identified disturbances. The third part is the interactive user interface. Integrating the user’s feedback will enable an adaptation to the constantly changing constraints of production control. As an outlook for a technical realization, the design of the user interface and the way of interaction is presented. For the evaluation of our framework, we will use simulated event data of a sample production line. The implementation and test should result in higher production performance by reducing the downtime of the production and increase in its productivity.
Ein ständig wachsender Preisdruck und immer individuellere Kundenaufträge sind nur zwei Kennzeichen der industriellen Produktion im europäischen Wirtschaftsraum. Gerade in Deutschland ansässige Unternehmen können im internationalen Wettbewerb in den wenigsten Fällen allein aufgrund des Produktpreises konkurrenzfähig bleiben. Stattdessen bauen diese Unternehmen ihre Wettbewerbsvorteile anderweitig aus und verfolgen vielmehr eine konsequente Kundenorientierung, hohe Logistikleistung oder Prozessbeherrschung. In diesem Umfeld setzten zahlreiche Unternehmen bereits frühzeitig auf eine Reduzierung ihrer Wertschöpfungstiefe und verlagerten verschiedene Entwicklungs- oder Produktionsschritte auf andere Unternehmen mit komplementären Kompetenzen. Damit rückte die überbetriebliche Zusammenarbeit bzw. Koordination der Auftragsabwicklung entlang einer mehrstufigen Lieferkette oder innerhalb eines polyzentrischen Unternehmensnetzwerks zunehmend in den Mittelpunkt betrieblicher Anstrengungen. So gilt es also heute, in Netzwerkstrukturen zu denken, diese ganzheitlich zu gestalten und effizient zu organisieren. Der Beitrag konkretisiert am Beispiel des Aachener PPS-Modells geeignete Referenzmodelle und zeigt Entwicklungspfade einer wertorientierten Logistikgestaltung auf.
Die digitale Transformation hat mittlerweile alle Wertschöpfungsstufen im industriellen Sektor erfasst. So ist ein großer Teil aktuell produzierter Maschinen bereits mit Sensorik und Software ausgestattet und kommuniziert über digitale Infrastrukturen. Stetig sinkende Kosten für Sensorik , Vernetzungstechnologien, Rechen- und Speicherleistung erlauben Unternehmen die wirtschaftliche Erhebung und Verarbeitung von Daten in einem bisher nicht gekannten Ausmaß. Diese Veränderungen durch Digitalisierung und Industrie 4.0 müssen Unternehmen als Chance für den industriellen Service nutzen.
Eine wesentliche Bedingung zur Optimierung der Wertschöpfungsprozesse ist die Transparenz über die leistungsbestimmenden Faktoren eines Unternehmens. Die Ermittlung dieser Faktoren stellt für viele Industriebetriebe eine Herausforderung dar. Im Rahmen der Veröffentlichung wird daher eine Vorgehensweise zur systematischen Identifikation von Einflussfaktoren der Unternehmenskennzahlen vorgestellt, welche die Grundlage zur Ableitung von individuellen Stellhebeln zur Steigerung der Unternehmensleistungsfähigkeit darstellt.
It is crucial today that economies harness renewable energies and integrate them into the existing grid. Conventionally, energy has been generated based on forecasts of peak and low demands. Renewable energy can neither be produced on demand nor stored efficiently. Thus, the aim of this paper is to evaluate Deep Learning-based forecasts of energy consumption to align energy consumption with renewable energy production. Using a dataset from a use-case related to landfill leachate management, multiple prediction models were used to forecast energy demand.The results were validated based on the same dataset from the recycling industry. Shallow models showed the lowest Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), significantly outperforming a persistence baseline for both, long-term (30 days), mid-term (7 days) and short-term (1 day) forecasts. A potential decrease of up to 23% in peak energy demand was found that could lead to a reduction of 3,091 kg in CO2-emissions per year. Our approach requires low finanacial investments for energy-management hardware, making it suitable for usage in Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Unvorhergesehene Störungen gefährden in vielen Fällen den Kundenliefertermin. Die Produktionssteuerung hat die Aufgabe, effektiv und effizient auf diese kurzfristigen Störungen zu reagieren. Der Entscheidungsprozess beruht jedoch häufig auf einer qualitativen Analyse einer komplexen Situation anhand subjektiver Einschätzungen durch den Produktionsplaner. Zur Verbesserung der Entscheidungsfindung stellt dieser Beitrag eine App vor, die auf Basis von Echtzeitdaten und einer Simulation des Produktionssystems eine quantitative Entscheidungsfindung ermöglicht.
Organizations, of all sizes, in every domain and in all geographies, are facing growing challenges to comprehend the scope of social media based technologies for their internal process use and for their networks. To assist the CIO’s and executives, FIR has developed a tool based framework to evaluate the impact of social web based collaborative technologies to support knowledge intensive processes. The FSI framework extends organizational spectrum to three categories of Formal, Semi-formal and Informal. The FSI tool places the emphasis on both business process and IT level.
The FSI framework and approach are validated in conjunction with industrial and research clients as test cases. Initial finding, reflected in this article, show a dire mismatch between the process exploitable potential level and organizational ICT profile. At the end, a set of recommendations are included for the organizational management to consider for organizational transformation.
Als größter Berufsverband für Beschäftigte im Kundendienst und im After-Sales-Service innerhalb der DACH-Region verbindet der Kundendienst-Verband Deutschland e. V., kurz KVD, unterschiedliche Akteure
im Thema Service, so zum Beispiel aus Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft. Dabei gelingt es dem KVD nicht nur, seine Mitglieder untereinander zu vernetzen, sondern ihnen stets brandaktuelle Inhalte anzubieten.
Die enge Kooperation mit Forschungseinrichtungen ermöglicht es dem KVD und seinen Mitgliedern immer wieder, neue Themen und nützliche Werkzeuge für die praktische Anwendung zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Distributionslogistik
(2013)
Die Umgebung von Industrie- und Handelsunternehmen hat sich in den letzten Jahren tiefgreifend verändert. Beispielhafte Auslöser waren der Wandel vom Produzenten zum Käufermarkt, der faktische Wegfall der nationalen Grenzen und die damit verbundene Intensivierung des europäischen Binnenmarktes sowie die zunehmende Bedeutung ökologischer Anforderungen. Um die Kundenbedürfnisse dennoch befriedigen zu können und damit dem Wettbewerb gewachsen zu sein, müssen sich die Distributionsstrukturen der Unternehmen immer schneller an diese Veränderungen anpassen. Nur so können die Waren flexibel, kostengünstig und schnell an die Kunden geliefert werden. In diesem Spannungsfeld kommt der Planung und Steuerung der Distributionsabläufe eine immer wichtigere Bedeutung zu.
Ziel dieses Kapitels ist nicht nur die Vermittlung grundlegender Begrifflichkeiten und Zusammenhänge der Distributionslogistik, sondern weiterhin auch Methoden zur Distributionsplanung und steuerung sowie Kennzahlen zur Messung der Distributionsleistung und -kosten.
Driven by different trends, such as digitalization, the number of companies aiming for successful business transformation is increasing, while new structures and systems are paving the way. Strategic agile management systems offer significant potential benefits given the increasing speed of the evolving environment in which organizations find themselves these days. To select and implement the appropriate strategic agile management system, companies need to understand the underlying theoretical principles to be able to select the most suitable for the respective company and to introduce it based on individual adaption. Within this paper, a morphology is presented to improve theoretical knowledge about strategic agile management systems. Creating a common understanding of strategic agile management systems and their current areas of application creates a suitable frame of reference for future research projects.
Data Driven Services
(2020)
Since 2016, the “Digital in NRW” Competence Centre has been supporting SMEs in the manufacturing industry in designing their individual digital transformation. With an Industry 4.0 maturity assessment, we define the status quo of SMEs, derive SME-specific measures from this, develop a digitalization roadmap and accompany the SME transformation. This paper presents the results of the four-year SME support. By analyzing the results of all maturity assessments, potential analysis and design workshops, we present the most frequent and most effective measures for a successful digital transformation of SMEs. The result of the paper is an action guideline for SMEs to initiate their own digital transformation based on formalized experience.