Open Access

Learning factories present a promising environment for education, training and research, especially in manufacturing related areas which are a main driver for wealth creation in any nation. While numerous learning factories have been built in industry and academia in the last decades, a comprehensive scientific overview of the topic is still missing. This paper intends to close this gap establishing the state of the art of learning factories. The motivations, historic background, and the didactic foundations of learning factories are outlined. Definitions of the term learning factory and the corresponding morphological model are provided. An overview of existing learning factory approaches in industry and academia is provided, showing the broad range of different applications and varying contents. The state of the art of learning factories curricula design and their use to enhance learning and research as well as potentials and limitations are presented. Conclusions and an outlook on further research priorities are offered.

The physicochemical properties of synthetically produced bone substitute materials (BSM) have a major impact on biocompatibility. This affects bony tissue integration, osteoconduction, as well as the degradation pattern and the correlated inflammatory tissue responses including macrophages and multinucleated giant cells (MNGCs). Thus, influencing factors such as size, special surface morphologies, porosity, and interconnectivity have been the subject of extensive research. In the present publication, the influence of the granule size of three identically manufactured bone substitute granules based on the technology of hydroxyapatite (HA)-forming calcium phosphate cements were investigated, which includes the inflammatory response in the surrounding tissue and especially the induction of MNGCs (as a parameter of the material degradation). For the in vivo study, granules of three different size ranges (small = 0.355–0.5 mm; medium = 0.5–1 mm; big = 1–2 mm) were implanted in the subcutaneous connective tissue of 45 male BALB/c mice. At 10, 30, and 60 days post implantationem, the materials were explanted and histologically processed. The defect areas were initially examined histopathologically. Furthermore, pro- and anti-inflammatory macrophages were quantified histomorphometrically after their immunohistochemical detection. The number of MNGCs was quantified as well using a histomorphometrical approach. The results showed a granule size-dependent integration behavior. The surrounding granulation tissue has passivated in the groups of the two bigger granules at 60 days post implantationem including a fibrotic encapsulation, while a granulation tissue was still present in the group of the small granules indicating an ongoing cell-based degradation process. The histomorphometrical analysis showed that the number of proinflammatory macrophages was significantly increased in the small granules at 60 days post implantationem. Similarly, a significant increase of MNGCs was detected in this group at 30 and 60 days post implantationem. Based on these data, it can be concluded that the integration and/or degradation behavior of synthetic bone substitutes can be influenced by granule size.

Jeder weiß, dass die Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie ein Nachhaltigkeitsproblem hat und es neuer Lösungsansätze bedarf. Auch Konsumenten und deren Verhalten haben einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Erfolgsaussichten einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung. Welche Rolle und Bedeutung obliegt jedoch dem einzelnen Mitarbeiter in diesem Prozess? Und welche Handlungsmaßnahmen können daraus abgeleitet werden? Eine empirische Analyse von über 100 internationalen Bekleidungsunternehmen gibt Aufschluss.

Der betriebswirtschaftlichen Forschung in der Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie gelingt es nicht, Lösungen zu erarbeiten, die das Nachhaltigkeitsproblem der Branche lösen. Dies liegt primär an der Art und Weise, wie in unserem Fachbereich geforscht wird. In Anbetracht der Problemstellung kann der starke Fokus auf empirische Arbeiten nur eine begrenzte Hilfestellung leisten. Denn empirische Forschung erfolgt innerhalb der bestehenden Denkmuster und ist tendenziell gegenwarts- oder vergangenheitsorientiert. Für die Lösung zukunftsorientierter Fragestellungen werden jedoch völlig neue Parameter und Logiken benötigt. Ein Umdenken ist gefragt.