Open Access

Untersuchungsthemen: Welche Indikatoren beinflussen den Erfolg einer Kooperation? Welche Bewertungsverfahren sind geeignet, um Wirkungszusammenhänge zwischen Nutzenindikatoren und Erfolg der Kooperation zu beschreiben? Wie können die Bewertungsverfahren in ein Diagnose-Instrument integriert werden? FIR. (U903, AiF-Projekt)

In an era increasingly defined by the relentless advance of climate change, the imperative for sustainable transformation has emerged as a central concern for global organizations. For this transformation the intertwined concepts of decarbonization and digitalisation can offer a blueprint for a sustainable future. Decarbonization, aimed at reducing carbon-based emissions, is critical in lessening the ecological footprint of businesses. Yet, achieving decarbonization is not a solitary journey but one that necessitates the integration of digitalisation as a pivotal facilitator, enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of this transition. However, the challenge for organizations lies in devising and executing appropriate strategies for this transformation. Within the framework of the Roadmap.SW research project, a methodology is being developed to aid utilities in accelerating their decarbonization and digitalisation efforts. This involves initially assessing the organization’s current capabilities in digitalisation and decarbonization to then establish a desired future state and to finally outline steps for implementation. This research work extends the acatech Industry 4.0 Maturity Index to encompass additional design domains, incorporating capabilities and maturity levels specific to decarbonization. At the same time, the focus of the target group is changing. While the original model focussed on Industry 4.0, i.e. the transformation of manufacturing companies, the extension focuses on municipal utilities. This approach not only charts a course for sustainable organizational transformation but also underscores the critical interplay between reducing carbon emissions and embracing digital advancements.

Industrial companies are moving to a solution driven business by offering smart product service systems (Smart PSS). In addition to an existing portfolio of physical goods and technical services, companies develop new digital services and combine all three offerings to an integrated digital solution business. While the development of new digital services does not pose any major challenges for companies, the successful sale of Smart PSS does. Due to changing customer requirements and value propositions of a solution, the sale of Smart PSS requires new design principles for the sales organization compared to the simple sale of physical goods or technical services. While there are already many publications on the topic of industrial sales in research, the description of Smart PSS in particular represents a new field of research. The combination of both topics is therefore not only interesting from a theoretical point of view, but also has a particularly high practical relevance and impact for industrial companies. This paper therefore describes on the one hand, which characteristics can be used to derive customer requirements for Smart PSS and on the other hand, which effects these requirements have on the sales organization of the industrial company. The design principles give recommendations for the organizational structure, the resources, the information systems and the culture of the company depending on the targeted customer type. In order to identify and describe both the customer requirements and the design principles, two morphological boxes were developed based on a literature research and semi-structured interviews with industrial companies. The paper gives an outlook on the different characteristics of the design recommendations and describes first best practices for the successful transformation of the sales organization.

In recent times, both geopolitical challenges and the need to counteract climate change have led to an increase in generated renewable energy as well as an increased demand for clean electrical energy. The resulting variability of electricity production and demand as well as an overall demand increase, put additional stress on the existing grid infrastructure. This leads to strongly increased maintenance demands for distribution system operators (DSOs). Today, condition monitoring is used to address these challenges. Researchers have already explored solutions for monitoring critical assets like switchgear and circuit breakers. However, with a shrinking knowledgeable technical workforce and increasing maintenance requirements, mere monitoring is insufficient. Already today, DSOs ask for actionable recommendations, optimization strategies, and prioritization methods to manage the growing task backlog effectively. In this paper we propose a vision of a grid-level cognitive assistance system that translates the outcome of diagnosis and prognosis systems into actionable work tasks for the grid operator. The solution is highly interdisciplinary and based on empirical studies of real-world requirements. We also describe the related work relevant to the multi-disciplinary aspects and summarize the research gaps that need to be closed over the next years.

Der Werkzeugbau ist eine traditionsreiche Branche in Deutschland, die sich aktuell im Wandel befindet. Nachhaltigkeitswende, Digitalisierung und internationaler Wettbewerb stellen Unternehmen vor große Herausforderungen. In dieser Folge spricht Marco Lohrey, FIR an der RWTH Aachen, mit Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Boos, Geschäftsführer des FIR an der RWTH Aachen und der Werkzeugbau Akademie GmbH, über die dringendsten Probleme und Chancen der Branche. Wie lässt sich der Fachkräftemangel bewältigen? Welche Rolle spielen Innovationen und Automatisierung für die Zukunftsfähigkeit?