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Digitalization is changing the industrial landscape in a way we did not anticipate. The manufacturing industries worldwide are working to develop strategies and concepts for what is labelled with different terms such as the Industrial Internet of Things in the USA or Industrie 4.0 in Germany. Many industrialized economies are driven by the production sector and this sector needs specific approaches and instruments to take up other than those approaches we know from start-ups and ventures coming from Silicon Valley and other places. In this paper, we demonstrate an appropriate approach to transform producing companies in a systematic and evolutionary approach.
In particular, the objective of this paper is to provide results from two initiatives which conceptually build upon each other and are of particular relevance for the production industry. First, we present a global survey on the state of implementation and the future perspectives of the concept Industrie 4.0 from 2016. Findings from this study have forced parts of the German industry to heavily invest into a common approach to accelerate change towards Industry 4.0 in order to stay competitive in worldwide economy. This approach is presented in a second part.
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.
Generation of a Data Model For Quotation Costing Of Make To Order Manufacturers From Case Studies
(2022)
For contract or make to order manufacturers, quotation costing is a complex process that is mainly performed based on experience. Due to the high diversity of the product range of these mostly small or medium-sized companies (SMEs) and the poor data situation at the time of quotation preparation, the quality of the calculation is subject to strong variations and uncertainties. The gap between the initial quotation costing and the actual costs to be spent (pre- and post-calculation) is crucial to the existence of SMEs. Digitalization in general can help companies to get a better understanding of processes and to generate data. For improving these processes, an understanding of the important data for that specific process is crucial. Accurate quotation costing for customized products is time-consuming and resource-intensive, as there is a lack of an overview of data to be used within the process. This paper therefore derives a data model for supporting quotation costing in the company, based on literature-based costing procedures and recorded case studies for quotation and calculation. Based on the results, SMEs will have a first overview of the needed data for quotation costing to optimize their calculation process.
Development of a platform business model for co-creation ecosystems for sustainable furniture
(2023)
Existing design platforms with multi-dimensional value chains currently have deficits in terms of their business models, resulting in insufficient attention to sustainability goals and individual requirements for products of these platforms. Co-creation approaches, such as the Do-It-Together (DIT) approach for furniture, involve customers and manufacturers as equal partners in the design and production process. This allows customers to have more influence on the sustainability and individualization of products. The existing literature addresses sustainability-oriented design principles for platform business models, but concrete platform business models for multidimensional DIT cocreation of furniture are still missing. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to develop a business model for a DIT co-creation platform for the furniture industry based on a four-step business model innovation framework. This method will then be applied to a specific project scenario to derive a project-specific DIT co-creation business model. This generates knowledge about the collaborative manufacture of sustainable and customized furniture and contributes to the cross-sectoral transfer of platform business models for the development of sustainable products.
The manufacturing industry consumes 54% of global energy and attributes for 20% of global CO2 emissions, demonstrating the industry’s role as global driver of climate change. Therefore, reducing its carbon footprint has become a major challenge as its current energy and resource consumption are not sustainable. Industrie 4.0 presents a chance to transform the prevailing paradigms of industrial value creation and advance sustainable developments. By using information and communication technologies for the intelligent networking of machines and processes, it has the potential to reduce energy and material consumption and is considered a key contributor to sustainable manufacturing as proclaimed by the European Commission in the term “twin transition”. As organizations still struggle to utilize the potential of Industrie 4.0 for a sustainable transformation, this paper presents a framework to successfully align their own twin transition. The framework is built upon three key design principles (micro level: leverage eco-efficient operations, meso level: facilitate circularity and macro level: foster value co-creation) derived using case study research by Eisenhardt, and four structural dimensions (resources, information systems, organizational structure and culture) based on the acatech Industrie 4.0 Maturity Index. Eleven interconnected areas of action are defined within the framework and offer a holistic and practical approach on how to leverage an organization’s twin transition. Within the conducted research, the framework was applied to the challenge of information quality and transparency required for high-value secondary plastics in the manufacturing industry. The result is a digital platform design that enables information transactions for secondary plastics and establishes a circular ecosystem. This shows the applicability of the framework and its potential to facilitate a structured approach for designing twin transitions in the manufacturing industry.
[Study] Blockchain
(2019)
Distributed ledger technologies, of which the best known example is blockchain, were expected to make their big breakthrough in 2018. Instead, the opposite happened. Cryptocurrency price slumps and delays in promising projects became symptoms of a new sense of caution. Organizations tried to use blockchain in unsuitable applications, and underestimated implementation hurdles. Despite this, the need for effective data exchange and data management in today's connected world remains high. Decentralized solutions, intelligent sensors, global supply chains and vast quantities of customer data will further stimulate demand for specialized and powerful data management systems. Blockchain therefore remains one option to enable a secure and interconnected world. The following five-step approach will help you harness blockchain's potential, avoiding common mistakes and overcoming implementation hurdles on your way.
Augmented reality seems to offer great potential benefits in the field of industrial services. However, the question of the exact benefits, both monetary and qualitative, is difficult to evaluate, as is the case with IT investments in gen-eral. Within the framework of the DM4AR research project, an evaluation model was therefore developed. Based on group discussions and interviews on potential AR use cases, a list of monetary and qualitative benefits was compiled to form the basis for selecting suitable evaluation modules in the existing literature. These include an impact chain analysis in the form of a strategy map, a monetary eval-uation as a calculation of the return on investment, based on the assumptions of the use case as well as existing studies, and a qualitative evaluation in the form of a utility analysis. The outcome is an evaluation model in the form of a multi-perspective approach that considers the impact of AR in the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard (financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth). The results of the qualitative and monetary evaluation can be sum-marized in a 2D matrix to support decision-making.
This research area focuses on the management systems and principles of a production system. It aims at controlling the complex interplay of heterogeneous processes in a highly dynamic environment, with special focus on individualized products in high-wage countries. The project addresses the comprehensive application of self-optimizing principles on all levels of the value chain. This implies the integration of self-optimizing control loops on cell level, with those addressing the production planning and control as well as supply chain and quality management aspects. A specific focus is on the consideration of human decisions during the production process. To establish socio-technical control loops, it is necessary to understand how human decisions are made in diffuse working processes as well as how cognitive and affective abilities form the human factor within production processes.
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]
Industrie 4.0 is said to have major positive effects on productivity in manufacturing companies. However, these effects are not visible yet. One reason for this is the lack of understanding of maintenance services as a crucial value contributing partner in production processes, although scientific literature already highlighted the importance of indirect maintenance costs. In order to retrieve the unused potential of maintenance services, a digital shadow in form of a sufficiently precise digital representation is required, providing a data model for the value of maintenance actions so that asset and maintenance strategies can be optimized later on. Using case study research for process manufacturers, the first research contribution of this paper consists of 21 value contributing elements being identified. The second contribution is a reference processes model, showing seven major process steps as well as the required intra-organization interaction on an information technology system level. Therefore, it provides the base for the missing data model shaping the targeted digital shadow of maintenance services’ value contribution. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-57993-7_69]
Due to Digital Transformation, also called Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet of Things, the barrier for implementing data collecting technology on the shop floor has decreased dramatically in the past years – leading to an increasingly growing amount of data from a multitude of IT systems in production companies worldwide. Despite that, the production controller still relies heavily on intrinsic knowledge and intuition for the management of disruptions in production. Thanks to advances in the fields of production control and artificial intelligence, potentials for the collected data for disruption management arise. However, in order to transform data into usable information and allow drawing conclusions for disruption management in production, the relevant data-objects, disturbances and alternative actions must be known. Thus, the decision-making can be supported, reducing the decision latency and increasing benefit of alternative actions. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to discuss the prerequisites necessary to perform a data based disruption management and the methodology itself, serving as an approach to allow companies to build a data basis, classify disruptions and alternative actions in order to improve decision making in the future. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-28464-0_13]
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]
Long-term production management defines the future production structure and ensures the long-term competitiveness. Companies around the world currently have to deal with the challenge of making decisions in an uncertain and rapidly changing environment. The quality of decision-making suffers from the rapidly changing global market requirements and the uniqueness and infrequency with which decisions are made. Since decisions in long-term production management can rarely be reversed and are associated with high costs, an increase in decision quality is urgently needed. To this end, four different applications are presented in the following, which support the decision process by increasing decision quality and make uncertainty manageable. For each of the applications presented, a separate digital shadow was built with the objective of being able to make better decisions from existing data from production and the environment. In addition, a linking of the applications is being pursued:
The Best Practice Sharing App creates transparency about existing production knowledge through the data-based identification of comparable production processes in the production network and helps to share best practices between sites. With the Supply Chain Cockpit, resilience can be increased through a data-based design of the procurement strategy that enables to manage disruptions. By adapting the procurement strategy for example by choosing suppliers at different locations the impact of disruptions can be reduced. While the Supply Chain Cockpit focuses on the strategy and decisions that affect the external partners (e.g., suppliers), the Data-Driven Site Selection concentrates on determining the sites of the company-internal global production network by creating transparency in the decision process of site selections. Different external data from various sources are analyzed and visualized in an appropriate way to support the decision process. Finally, the issue of sustainability is also crucial for successful long-term production management. Thus, the Sustainable Footprint Design App presents an approach that takes into account key sustainability indicators for network design. [https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-98062-7_15-1]
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]
Reliability-centered maintenance for production assets is a well-established concept for the most effective and efficient disposition of maintenance resources. Unfortunately, the approach takes a lot of effort and relies heavily on the knowledge of individuals. Reliability data in Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is scarce and almost never used well. An automated risk assessment system would have the potential to contribute to the dissemination and effective use of risk information and analysis. The individuality of production setting, however, prevents current systems from being practically relevant for most industries. The presented approach combines ontologies to store and link knowledge, an information logistics model displaying the various information streams, and the Internet of production to take the different user systems and infrastructure layers into account. The provided model of a reference digital shadow for risk information and a detailed information logistics model will help software companies to improve reliability software, standardize and enable assets owners to establish a customized digital shadow for their production networks. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-57993-7_2]
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.
Industrie 4.0 is all around us today: in politics, in the media, and on the agendas of researchers and entrepreneurs. Smarter, faster, more personalized, more efficient, more integrated – those are just some of the promises of this new industrial era. The potential, especially for Germany ́s mechanical
engineering industry and plant engineering sector, is indeed great, both for providers and for users of technologies across the spectrum of Industrie 4.0.
But there are still many unresolved questions, uncertainties, and challenges. Our readiness study seeks to address this need and offer insight. Because Industrie 4.0 will not happen on its own.
This study is intended to bring the grand vision closer to the business reality. We also highlight the challenging milestones that many companies must still pass on the road to Industrie 4.0 readiness.
The study examines where companies in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering currently stand, focusing on what motivates them and what holds them back, and on the differences that emerge between small and medium enterprises on the one hand and large enterprises on the other.
The results make it possible for the first time to develop a detailed, systematic picture of Industrie 4.0 readiness in the engineering sector.
The study concludes with recommendations for action in the business community, complementing the diverse suite of programs and activities offered by VDMA’s Forum Industrie 4.0. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the two sponsors of this project from the VDMA Forum, Dietmar Goericke and Dr. Christian Mosch, whose efforts played a critical role in making this study a success.
We are convinced that Industrie 4.0 can become a success story for Germany’s engineering sector. May our “Industrie 4.0 Readiness” study do its part in this effort.
Changing customer demands lead to increasing product varieties and decreasing delivery times, which in turn pose great challenges for production companies. Combined with high market volatility, they lead to increasingly complex and diverse production processes. Thus, the susceptibility to disruptions in manufacturing rises, turning the task of Production Planning and Control (PPC) into a complex, dynamic and multidimensional problem. Addressing PPC challenges such as disruption management in an efficient and timely manner requires a high level of manual human intervention. In times of digitization and Industry 4.0, companies strive to find ways to guide their workers in this process of disruption management or automate it to eliminate human intervention altogether. This paper presents one possible application of Machine Learning (ML) in disruption management on a real-life use case in mixed model continuous production, specifically in the final assembly. The aim is to ensure high-quality online decision support for PPC tasks. This paper will therefore discuss the use of ML to anticipate production disruptions, solutions to efficiently highlight and convey the relevant information, as well as the generation of possible reaction strategies. Additionally, the necessary preparatory work and fundamentals are covered in the discussion, providing guidelines for production companies towards consistent and efficient disruption management.
Smart Service Engineering
(2019)
In our digitalized economy, many traditional service engineering models lack flexibility, efficiency and adaptability. As today’s market differs significantly from the market of the late 20th century, service engineering models must meet different requirements today than they had to meet in the past. The present paper starts off by providing an overview of the requirements that modern service engineering models need to fulfill in order to succeed in today’s economic environment. Afterwards, three promising models that meet several of these requirements will be introduced.
Nowadays, cyber physical systems support the improvement of efficiency in intralogistics by controlling and manipulating the production and logistic environment autonomously. Due to the complexity of the individual production processes, designing suitable cyber-physical systems based on their existing production environment is a challenge for companies.
This paper presents a new methodology on how to design cyber-physical systems conceptually to suit an individual production environment. Compared to existing design approaches, this methodology matches immediately the required functions to existing information and communication technology’s components insisting on the neutral assimilation of requirements.
Therefore, the requirement specification asks for needed functions in relating to offered functions of information and communication technology (ICT) components. The paper focusses the use case of implementing a cutting-edge mobile network technology into an existing tracking and tracing process.