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The aim of this paper is to show to what extent Artificial Intelligence can be used to optimize forecasting capability in procurement as well as to compare AI with traditional statistic methods. At the same time this article presents the status quo of the research project ANIMATE. The project applies Artificial Intelligence to forecast customer orders in medium-sized companies.
Precise forecasts are essential for companies. For planning, decision making and controlling. Forecasts are applied, e.g. in the areas of supply chain, production or purchasing. Medium-sized companies have major challenges in using suitable methods to improve their forecasting ability.
Companies often use proven methods such as classical statistics as the ARIMA algorithm. However, simple statistics often fail while applied for complex non-linear predictions.
Initial results show that even a simple MLP ANN produces better results than traditional statistic methods. Furthermore, a baseline (Implicit Sales Expectation) of the company was used to compare the performance. This comparison also shows that the proposed AI method is superior.
Until the developed method becomes part of corporate practice, it must be further optimized. The model has difficulties with strong declines, for example due to holidays. The authors are certain that the model can be further improved. For example, through more advanced methods, such as a FilterNet, but also through more data, such as external data on holiday periods.
Ever since the 1980s, researchers in computer science and robotics have been working on making autonomous cars. Due to recent breakthroughs in research and devel- opment, such as the Bertha Benz Project [ZBS+14], the goal of fully autonomous vehicles seems closer than ever before. Yet a lot of questions remain unanswered. Especially now that the automotive industry moves towards autonomous systems in series production vehicles, the task of precise localization has to be solved with automotive grade sensors and keep memory and processing consumption at a mini- mum. This thesis investigates the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) prob- lem for autonomous driving scenarios on a parking lot using low cost automotive sensors. The main focus is herby devoted to the RAdio Detection And Ranging (RADAR) sensor, which has not been widely analyzed in an autonomous driving scenario so far, even though they are abundant in the automotive industry for ap- plications such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). Due to the high noise floor, the radar sensor has widely been disregarded in the Intelligent Transportation Systems and Robotics communities with regards to SLAM applications. However in this thesis, it is shown that the RADAR sensor proves to be an affordable, robust and precise sensor, when modeling its physical properties correctly. In this regard, a GraphSLAM based framework is introduced, which extracts features from the RADAR sensor and generates an optimized map of the surroundings using the RADAR sensor alone. This framework is used to enable crowd based localization, which is not limited to the RADAR sensor alone. By integrating an automotive Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and stereo camera sensor, a robust and precise localization system can be built that that is suitable for autonomous driving even in complex parking lot scenarios. It it is thereby shown that the RADAR sensor is strongly contributing to obtaining good results in a sensor fusion setup. These results were obtained on an extensive dataset on a parking lot, which has been recorded over the course of several months. It contains different weather conditions, different configurations of parked cars and a multitude of different trajectories to validate the approaches described in this thesis and to come to the conclusion that the RADAR sensor is a reliable sensor in series autonomous driving systems, both in a multi sensor framework and as a single component for localization.
The digital age makes it possible to be globally networked at any time. Digital communication is therefore an important aspect of today’s world. Hence, the further development and expansion of this is becoming increasingly important. Even within a wireless system, copper channels are important as part of the overall network. Given the need to keep pushing at the current limitations, careful design of the cables in connection with an adapted coding of the bits is essential to transmit more and more data.
One of the most popular and widespread cabling technologies is symmetrical copper cabling [1, pp. 8-15]. It is also known as Twisted Pair and it is of immense importance for the cabling of communication networks.
At the time of writing this thesis, data rates of up to 10 GBit/s over a transmission distance of 100 m and 40 GBit/s over a transmission distance of 30 m are standardized for symmetrical copper cabling [2]. Other lengths are not standardized. Short lengths in particular are of great interest for copper cables, because copper cables are usually used for short distances, such as between computers and the campus network or within data centres.
This work has focused on the transmission of higher order Pulse Amplitude Modulation and the associated transmission performance. The central research question is:“how well can we optimize the transmission technique in order to be able to maximise the data bandwidth over Ethernet cable and, given that remote powering is also a significant application of these cables, how much will the resulting heating affect this transmission and what can be done to mitigate that?”
To answer this question, the cable parameters are first examined. A series of spectral measurements, such as Insertion Loss, Return Loss, Near End Crosstalk and Far End Crosstalk, provide information about the electromagnetic interference and the influence of the ohmic resistance on the signal. Based on these findings, the first theoretical statements and calculations can be made. In the next step, data transmissions over different transmission lengths are realized. The examination of the eye diagrams of the different transmission approaches ultimately provides information about the signal quality of the transmissions. An overview of the maximum transmission rate depending on the transmission distance shows the potential for different applications.
Furthermore, the simultaneous transmission of energy and data is a significant advantage of copper. However, the resulting heat development has an influence on the data transmission. Therefore, the influence of the ambient temperature of cables is investigated in the last part and changes in the signal quality are clarified.
Frost reduction in mechanical balanced ventilation by efficient means of preheating cold supply air
(2019)
This study has focused on evaluating the financial potential of wastewater and geothermal heat recovery systems in a multi-family building. The recovered heat was used to improve the performance of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system during the coldest days in central Sweden. The main issue, which was targeted with these solutions, was to reduce frost formation in the system and hence increase its thermal efficiency. By looking at the life cycle cost over a lifespan of 20 years, the observed systems were being evaluated economically. Furthermore, statistical analyses were carried-out to counter the uncertainty that comes with the calculation. It was found that the studied wastewater systems have a high possibility of generating savings in this period, while the one fed by geothermal energy is less likely to compensate for its high initial cost. All designed systems however, managed to reduce operational cost by 35-45% due to lower energy usage.
The aim of this work was to investigate the mean fill weight control of a continuous capsule-filling process, whether it is possible to derive controller settings from an appendant process model. To that end, a system composed out of fully automated capsule filler and an online gravimetric scale was used to control the filled weight. This setup allows to examine challenges associated with continuous manufacturing processes, such as variations in the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in the mixture due to fluctuations of the feeders or due to altered excipient batch qualities. Two types of controllers were investigated: a feedback control and a combination of feedback and feedforward control. Although both of those are common in the industry, determining the optimal parameter settings remains an issue. In this study, we developed a method to derive the control parameters based on process models in order to obtain optimal control for each filled product. Determined via rapid automated process development (RAPD), this method is an effective and fast way of determining control parameters. The method allowed us to optimize the weight control for three pharmaceutical excipients. By conducting experiments, we verified the feasibility of the proposed method and studied the dynamics of the controlled system. Our work provides important basic data on how capsule filler can be implemented into continuous manufacturing systems.
Most antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and their synthetic mimics (SMAMPs) are thought to act by permeabilizing cell membranes. For antimicrobial therapy, selectivity for pathogens over mammalian cells is a key requirement. Understanding membrane selectivity is thus essential for designing AMPs and SMAMPs to complement classical antibiotics in the future. This study focuses on membrane permeabilization induced by SMAMPs and their selectivity for membranes with different lipid compositions. We measure release and fluorescence lifetime of a self-quenching dye in lipid vesicles. Apart from the dose-response, we quantify the strength of individual leakage events, and, employing cumulative kinetics, categorize permeabilization behavior. We propose that differing selectivities in a series of SMAMPs arise from a combination of the effect of the antimicrobial agent and the susceptibility of the membrane (with a given lipid composition) for certain types of leakage behavior. The unselective and hemolytic SMAMP is found to act mainly by the asymmetry stress mechanism, mediated by hydrophobic insertion of SMAMPs into lipid layers. The more selective SMAMPs induced leakage events occurring stochastically over several hours. Lipid intrinsic properties might additionally amplify the efficiency of leakage events. Leakage behavior changes with both the design of the SMAMP and the lipid composition of the membrane. Understanding how leakage behavior contributes to the selectivity and activity of antimicrobial agents will aid the design and screening of antimicrobials. An understanding of the underlying processes facilitates the comparison of membrane permeabilization across in vitro and in vivo assays.
Digitalization changes the manufacturing dramatically. In regard of employees’ demands, global trends and the technological vision of future factories, automotive manufacturing faces a huge number of diverse challenges. Currently, research focuses on technological aspects of future factories in terms of digitalization. New ways of work and new organizational models for future factories have not been described yet. There are assumptions on how to develop the organization of work in a future factory but up to now, literature shows deficits in scientifically substantiated answers in this research area. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to present an approach on a work organization design for automotive Industry 4.0 manufacturing. Future requirements were analyzed and deducted to criteria that determine future agile organization design. These criteria were then transformed into functional mechanisms, which define the approach for shopfloor organization design
In spite of many studies, knowledge about the fundamental factors influencing adhesion between addition curing silicones and aluminum substrates is very limited. The aim of this publication is to evaluate the influence of the formulation and the surface state of the adherend on bond strength. For this purpose, the composition of an addition curing silicone was systematically varied and the effects on both material and bond properties were examined. Additionally, the influence of surface aging at different humidities (0% r. h., 34% r. h., 82% r. h.) of acid etch pretreated aluminum substrates was considered. It is shown that the mechanical properties of the silicone material can be easily adjusted over a wide range by changing the formulation. Although high tensile strengths up to 9.2 MPa for the silicone material can be achieved, lap-shear strengths remain moderate at approximately 3.5 MPa. Predominant adhesive failures show the limited adhesive strength of the basic formulation without additives. Basic ingredients of addition curing silicones without additives are able to reach a certain adhesive strength. However, this strength was quite limited and adhesion promoters are required to further improve adhesion. The humidity at which the pretreated substrates are stored has an overall minor influence on bond strength. Surprisingly, bond strength tends to increase with the storage time of aluminum substrates despite lower surface energies in comparison to freshly pretreated substrates. All in all, the storage conditions of aluminum had a rather small influence on adhesion, whereas the composition of the silicone adhesive strongly influences bond strength.
In addition to increased safety by detecting possible overload, continuous component monitoring by sensor integration makes the use of fiber reinforced plastics more cost-effective. Since the components are continuously monitored, one can switch from time-based to condition-based maintenance. However, the integration of conventional sensor components causes weak points, as foreign objects are inserted into the reinforcing structure. In this paper, we examine the use of the textile reinforcement as a sensor in itself. We describe how bending sensors can be formed by slightly modifying in the composite’s reinforcement structure. We investigated two different sensor principles. (1) The integration of textile plate capacitors into the structure; (2) The construction of textile piezo elements as part of the reinforcing structure. The bending test results reveal that textile plate capacitors show a load-dependent signal output. The samples with textile piezo elements show a significant increase in signal strength.
Im Frühjahr 1817 unternahm der damalige Professor Friedrich List an der Universität Tübingen eine Reise nach Frankfurt a. M., wo zu dieser Zeit die berühmte Ostermesse stattfand. Dort traf er mit den Anführern der Kaufleute zusammen, die darüber klagten, dass die zaghafte wirtschaftliche Entwicklung unter den vielen Zollschranken und den Billigimporten aus England stark zu leiden habe. Deshalb forderten sie die Abschaffung der Binnenzölle und die Bildung einer Wirtschaftsunion. Im Auftrag der Kaufleute verfasste List seine berühmt gewordene Petition an die Bundesversammlung, die lose Interessenvertretung des Deutschen Bundes in Frankfurt. Als die Petition mit großem Beifall aufgenommen wurde, gründete List im Hochgefühl seines Erfolges spontan den "Allgemeinen Deutschen Handels- und Gewerbsverein" – die erste Interessenvertretung deutscher Kaufleute. Er legte damit den Grundstein für den politischen Prozess zur Gründung des Zollvereins von 1834, der wiederum die Vorstufe zur Gründung des Deutschen Reiches von 1871 bildete. Lists damalige Forderungen sind zurzeit wieder hoch aktuell.
Exogenous factors of influence on exhaled breath analysis by ion-mobility spectrometry (MCC/IMS)
(2019)
The interpretation of exhaled breath analysis needs to address to the influence of exogenous factors, especially to a transfer of confounding analytes by the test persons. A test person who was exposed to a disinfectant had exhaled breath analysis by MCC/IMS (Bioscout®) after different time intervals. Additionally, a new sampling method with inhalation of synthetic air before breath analysis was tested. After exposure to the disinfectant, 3-Pentanone monomer, 3-Pentanone dimer, Hexanal, 3-Pentanone trimer, 2-Propanamine, 1-Propanol, Benzene, Nonanal showed significantly higher intensities, in exhaled breath and air of the examination room, compared to the corresponding baseline measurements. Only one ingredient of the disinfectant (1-Propanol) was identical to the 8 analytes. Prolonging the time intervals between exposure and breath analysis showed a decrease of their intensities. However, the half-time of the decrease was different. The inhalation of synthetic air - more than consequently airing the examination room with fresh air - reduced the exogenous and also relevant endogenous analytes, leading to a reduction and even changing polarity of the alveolar gradient. The interpretation of exhaled breath needs further knowledge about the former residence of the proband and the likelihood and relevance of the inhalation of local, site-specific and confounding exogenous analytes by him. Their inhalation facilitates a transfer to the examination room and a detection of high concentrations in room air and exhaled breath, but also the exhalation of new analytes. This may lead to a misinterpretation of these analytes as endogenous resp. disease-specific ones.
Standardisation of breath sampling is important for application of breath analysis in clinical settings. By studying the effect of room airing on indoor and breath analytes and by generating time series of room air with different sampling intervals we sought to get further insights into room air metabolism, to detect the relevance of exogenous VOCs and to make conclusions about their consideration for the interpretation of exhaled breath. Room air and exhaled breath of a healthy subject were analysed before and after room airing. Furthermore a time series of room air with doors and windows closed was taken over 84 h by an automatic sampling every 180 min. A second times series studied room air analytes over 70 h with samples taken every 16.5 min. For breath and room air measurements an IMS coupled to a multi-capillary column (IMS/MCC) [Bio-Scout® - B&S Analytik GmbH, Dortmund, Germany] was used. The peaks were characterized using the Software Visual Now (B&S Analytik, Dortmund Germany) and identified using the software package MIMA (version 1.1, provided by the Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Germany) and the database 20160426_SubstanzDbNIST_122 (B & S Analytik GmbH, Dortmund, Germany). In the morning 4 analytes (Decamethylcylopentasiloxane [541-02-6]; Pentan-2-one [107-87-9] – Dimer; Hexan-1-al [66-25-1]; Pentan-2-one [107-87-9]) – Monomer showed high intensities in the room air and exhaled breath. They were significantly but not equally reduced by room airing. The time series about 84 h showed a time dependent decrease of analytes (limonen-monomer and -dimer; Decamethylcylopentasiloxane, Butan-1-ol, Butan-1-ol) as well as increase (Pentan-2-one [107-87-9] – Dimer). Shorter sampling intervals exhibited circadian variations of analyte concentrations for many analytes. Breath sampling in the morning needs room airing before starting. Then the variation of the intensity of indoor analytes can be kept small. The time series of indoor analytes show, that their intensities have a different behaviour, with time dependent declines, constant increases and circadian variations, dependent on room airing. This has implications on the breath sampling procedure and the intrepretation of exhaled breath.
Woven piezoelectric sensors as part of the textile reinforcement of fiber reinforced plastics
(2019)
Sensor integration in fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) structures enables online process and structural health monitoring (SHM). This paper describes the development and application of woven fabric-based piezoelectric impact and bending sensors for integration into FRP. The work focuses on design and characterization of woven piezoelectric sensors, especially as a part of the reinforcement structure. The reinforcement of the component acts as a sensor in itself and therefore no additional external objects in the form of sensor components or sensor fibers, which could create unwanted weak points within the FRP, are added. The bending test results reveal a direct relationship between the applied load and the sensor signal. Furthermore, the appropriate sensor position in the component cross section was determined and the influence of thermal polarization on the sensor properties was investigated.
We propose a method for recognizing dynamic gestures using a 3D sensor. New aspects of the developed system include problem-adapted data conversion and compression as well as automatic detection of different variants of the same gesture via clustering with a suitable metric inspired by Jaccard metric. The combination of Hidden Markov Models and clustering leads to robust detection of different executions based on a small set of training data. We achieved an increase of 5% recognition rate compared to regular Hidden Markov Models. The system has been used for human-machine interaction and might serve as an assistive system in physiotherapy and neurological or orthopedic diagnosis.
Urban platforms are essential for smart and sustainable city planning and operation. Today they are mostly designed to handle and connect large urban data sets from very different domains. Modelling and optimisation functionalities are usually not part of the cities software infrastructure. However, they are considered crucial for transformation scenario development and optimised smart city operation. The work discusses software architecture concepts for such urban platforms and presents case study results on the building sector modelling, including urban data analysis and visualisation. Results from a case study in New York are presented to demonstrate the implementation status.
Der Halo-Effekt im Fußball
(2019)
Der Halo-Effekt ist eine aus der Sozialpsychologie bekannte kognitive Verzerrung. Ein Halo-Effekt tritt dann auf, wenn ein globaler Eindruck oder eine Information über ein hervorstechendes Merkmal die Beurteilung anderer Eigenschaften prägt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen: Gibt es einen Halo-Effekt im Fußball? Überstrahlt der sportliche Erfolg bzw. Misserfolg die Wahrnehmung der Fans womöglich sogar hinsichtlich nicht-sportlicher Aspekte? Der Beitrag gibt den aktuellen Stand zur Halo-Forschung wider und präsentiert die Ergebnisse einer empirischen Untersuchung, in deren Rahmen Fans von Vereinen aus der deutschen Fußball-Bundesliga befragt werden.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising manufacturing method for many industrial sectors. For this application, industrial requirements such as high production volumes and coordinated implementation must be taken into account. These tasks of the internal handling of production facilities are carried out by the Production Planning and Control (PPC) information system. A key factor in the planning and scheduling is the exact calculation of manufacturing times. For this purpose we investigate the use of Machine Learning (ML) for the prediction of manufacturing times of AM facilities.
Computers are increasingly used in teams in various contexts, for example in negotiations. Especially when using computer-support for decision making processes, it is an important question whether active collaboration within the team - for example via audio-conference - has additional benefits beyond the supply of full task-relevant information via computer. In team negotiations, team representatives are only able to represent the whole team, if diverse preferences of the team members are aligned prior to the negotiation. In an experimental study with 150 participants, we provided team members with the complete information about each other's preferences during an either collaboratively (computer-mediated) or seperately conducted computer-supported negotiation preparation and subsequently asked them for their priorities as representatives of the team. Our results showed that providing complete task-relevant information via computer is insufficient to compensate for the absence of active collaboration within the team.
Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur extrinsischen Kalibrierung wenigstens eines bildgebenden Sensors, wonach eine Pose des wenigstens einen bildgebenden Sensors relativ zu dem Ursprung (U) eines dreidimensionalen Koordinatensystems einer Handhabungseinrichtung mittels einer Recheneinrichtung bestimmt wird, wobei bekannte dreidimensionale Koordinaten betreffend die Position wenigstens eines Gelenks der Handhabungseinrichtung durch die Recheneinrichtung berücksichtigt werden, und wobei zweidimensionale Koordinaten betreffend die Position des wenigstens einen Gelenks anhand von Rohdaten des wenigstens einen bildgebenden Sensors ermittelt werden, und wobei die Recheneinrichtung die Pose des wenigstens einen bildgebenden Sensors anhand der Korrespondenz zwischen den zweidimensionalen Koordinaten und den dreidimensionalen Koordinaten bestimmt.
Als einer der ersten Wissenschaftler hat der Strategieprofessor Michael Porter die aus der Volkswirtschaftslehre stammenden Erkenntnisse der Industrieökonomik mit Konzepten der Unternehmensstrategie kombiniert, um ein genaueres Verständnis vom Einfluss des Branchenwettbewerbs auf den Unternehmenserfolg sowie von Wettbewerbsentscheidungen zu erlangen. In all seinen Arbeiten steckt der Kerngedanke, durch die Wahl einer geeigneten Strategie, Wert zu generieren und somit eine hohe Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Profitabilität zu erzielen. Porters Themen weisen dabei eine große inhaltliche Vielfalt auf: von der Digitalisierung, über Wettbewerb in der Politik bis hin zum gesellschaftlichen Fortschritt. Typisch für Porter ist ein ganzheitlicher Forschungsansatz, der sich anstelle einzelner Bestandteile eines Systems der umfassenden Betrachtung komplexer Systeme widmet. Hieraus leitet er anhand zahlreicher Fallstudien und Praxisbeispiele Modelle ab, die Managern als Spielregeln für den Wettbewerb dienen. Mit seinen Werken liefert er nicht nur Impulse für die Wissenschaft, sondern er versucht vor allem, das Denken und Handeln von Unternehmenspraxis, Politik und Gesellschaft nachhaltig zu beeinflussen. Seine Modelle, wie beispielsweise das Fünf-Kräfte-Modell, sind im Hinblick auf die Entwicklung von Organisationen dafür bekannt, dass Manager die marktseitigen Einflüsse auf die Wettbewerbssituation ihres Unternehmens besser verstehen und entsprechend ihre strategischen Entscheidungen treffen können.
This study describes a non-contact measuring and system identification procedure for evaluating inhomogeneous stiffness and damping characteristics of the annular ligament in the physiological amplitude and frequency range without the application of large static external forces that can cause unnatural displacements of the stapes. To verify the procedure, measurements were first conducted on a steel beam. Then, measurements on an individual human cadaveric temporal bone sample were performed. The estimated results support the inhomogeneous stiffness and damping distribution of the annular ligament and are in a good agreement with the multiphoton microscopy results which show that the posterior-inferior corner of the stapes footplate is the stiffest region of the annular ligament.
Dieser Bericht fasst die wesentlichen Arbeiten und Ergebnisse zusammen, die in dem Verbundvorhaben „GalvanoFlex_BW“ im Kalenderjahr 2018 durchgeführt und erzielt wurden. Dazu lässt sich zunächst sagen, dass die Messwertaufnahme und –auswertung abgeschlossen ist. Es wurden verschiedene Messkampagnen bei der Fa. NovoPlan durchgeführt. Bei C&C Bark konnte man teilweise auf bestehende Daten zurückgreifen, die punktuell durch weitere Messungen ergänzt wurden. Bei der Fa. Hartchrom konnten aufgrund von Personalmangel keine Messungen durchgeführt werden. Die aufgenommenen Daten wurden in eine Effizienzbewertung überführt, aus der im Folgenden allgemeine Aussagen abgeleitet werden sollen. Dazu ist ein Simulationsprogramm aufgesetzt worden, das in der Lage ist, Prozessketten energetisch abzubilden und zu optimieren. Zudem sollen aus den Messdaten verbesserte Profile für den Wärmebedarf in den Unternehmen entwickelt werden, die daraufhin der KWK-Optimierung zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Im Zuge der Entwicklung und Bewertung stromoptimierter KWK- Strategien ist ein bestehendes Simulationsmodell entsprechend weiterentwickelt worden. Konkret wurde das Modell um eine verbesserte Lastprognose für Strom und Wärme für Industriebetriebe ergänzt, und das Optimierungsverfahren wurde um eine zweite Dimension erweitert. Während bislang allein die Optimierung der Eigenstromdeckung mit einer Begrenzung der BHKW-Starts als Nebenbedingung möglich war, ist jetzt die Kappung der elektrischen Lastspitze zusätzlich in der Zielfunktion integriert. Gerade bei Industrieunternehmen lässt sich auf diese Weise eine weitere, zum Teil nicht unerhebliche Energiekosteneinsparung erreichen, was durch die ersten Berechnungen anhand der drei im Reallabor vertretenden Betriebe bestätigt wird. Die Ergebnisse werden unter AP 8 (Umsetzung) diskutiert. Der Dialog mit weiteren Unternehmen und Institutionen außerhalb des Vorhabens konnte über die Branchenplattfom weitergeführt werden. In 2018 wurden zwei Veranstaltungen dieser Art durchgeführt, und im Frühjahr 2019 wird ein weiterer Workshop zu diesem Thema durchgeführt. Die sozialwissenschaftliche Begleitforschung wurde mit der zweiten Phase der Firmenbefragungen ebenfalls planmäßig weitergeführt. Mit Blick auf die Umsetzung eines BHKW-Konzeptes haben sich dabei zwei wichtige Punkte wie folgt gezeigt: Zum einen muss die umsetzende Firma eine gewisse „Energieeffizienz-Reife“ besitzen, die sich u.a. in der Erfahrung bei der Durchführung von Energieeffizienzmaßnahmen zeigt, da die Installation eines BHKWs eine äußerst komplexe Maßnahme darstellt. Zum anderen müssen andere unternehmensspezifische Kontextfaktoren hinzukommen, wie z.B. aus anderen Gründen durchzuführende bauliche Maßnahmen, so dass gewisse zeitliche Entscheidungsfenster entstehen, in denen die Umsetzung von KWK-Maßnahmen sinnvoll sind.
IC layout automation with self-organized wiring and arrangement of responsive modules (SWARM)
(2019)
Focused on automating analog IC layout, the multi-agent-system Self-organized Wir ing and Arrangement of Responsive Modules (SWARM) combines the powers of pro-cedural generators and algorithmic optimization into a novel bottom-up meets top-down flow of supervised layout module interaction. Provoking self-organization via the effect of emergence, examples show SWARM finding even optimal placement solutions and producing constraint-compliant layout blocks which fit into a specified zone.
Das Pariser Klimaschutzabkommen von 2015 fordert die Begrenzung der globalen Erwärmung auf "deutlich unter" 2 Grad Celsius gegenüber der vorindustriellen Zeit. Zwar wurde es von der internationalen Staatengemeinschaft anerkannt, jedoch reichen die national festgelegten Beiträge (NDCs) bisher nicht aus, um das Ziel zu erreichen. Neben der "Emissionslücke" besteht eine große Kluft zwischen naturwissenschaftlichem und öffentlichem Verständnis über den Klimawandel. Während die Besorgnis über den Klimawandel steigt, sehen die meisten Menschen den Klimawandel nicht als ernsthafte Bedrohung für sich selbst und Ansichten über den Klimawandel sind politisch polarisiert. Konventionelle Kommunikationsansätze haben die Lücke zwischen dem wissenschaftlichen und öffentlichen Verständnis über die durch den Klimawandel entstehenden Bedrohungen nicht geschlossen. Hier wird mit dem simulationsbasierten Rollenspiel World Climate ein innovativer Ansatz für die Klimakommunikation vorgestellt: ein soziales, einnehmendes Rollenspiel bei der Entscheidungsfindung im Klimaschutz ist mit einem interaktiven Computermodell kombiniert, das eine sofortige Rückmeldung über die erwarteten Ergebnisse von Entscheidungen liefert. Die Teilnehmenden erfahren mehr über den Klimawandel und erleben sogleich die soziale Dynamik der Verhandlungen. In diesem Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse einer Studie über Auswirkungen von World Climate präsentiert.
The paper analyses the importance of List's views on growth and integration from the perspective of modern approaches to economic growth and international economics. Furthermore, some ideas will be presented on how List's ideas could help to explain and understand current economic developments, such as the crisis of the European Union or the new form of isolationism of the United States of America.
The economic thought of Friedrich List. - (Routledge studies in the history of economics ; 16)
(2019)
Friedrich List is, besides Karl Marx, one of the most important economists of the 19th century in Germany. Probably most modern economists know List for his idea of educational tariffs that protect infant industries from international competition an help them to become competitive before their country opens the domestic market for foreign rivals. Furthermore, List is still popular because of his contribution to establishing a railway system in the USA and Germany. However, a closer look at his work reveals that his ideas about the economic system could enrich the current theoretical and political debate on international trade and integration as well as economic growth.
In Folge der gegenwärtigen Digitalisierung in der produzierenden Industrie werden Anwendungen oder Services mit potentiell positiven Auswirkungen auf Faktoren wie Effektivität und Arbeitsqualität entwickelt. Ein geeigneter Ansatz zur Stärkung motivierender Aspekte im Arbeitskontext kann Gamification darstellen. In dieser Arbeit ist die initiale Konzeption und Evaluation eines Gamification-Ansatzes für Anwender eines KI-Service zur Maschinenoptimierung dargestellt und möglichen Anforderungen an ein Konzept zur Motivationssteigerung extrahiert.
In dieser Ausarbeitung wird eine zeitliche Vorhersage von Erdbeben getroffen. Hierfür werden mit einem Datensatz aus Labor-Erdbeben Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) trainiert. Die trainierten Netzwerke geben Vorhersagen, indem sie einen Input an seismischen Daten klassifizieren. Durch das Klassifizieren kann das CNN die zeitliche Entfernung zum nächsten Erdbeben vorhersagen. Es werden hierfür zwei Ansätze miteinander verglichen. Beim ersten Ansatz werden die Originaldaten in ein CNN gegeben. Beim zweiten Ansatz wird vor dem CNN eine Vorverarbeitung der Daten mit den Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) durchgeführt. Es zeigt sich, dass mit beiden Ansätzen eine gute Klassifikation möglich ist. Die Kombination aus MFCC und CNN liefert die besseren quantitativen Ergebnisse. Hierbei konnte eine Genauigkeit von 65 % erreicht werden.
Semi-automated image data labelling using AprilTags as a pre-processing step for machine learning
(2019)
Data labelling is a pre-processing step to prepare data for machine learning. There are many ways to collect and prepare this data, but these are usually associated with a greater effort. This paper presents an approach to semi-automated image data labelling using AprilTags. The AprilTags attached to the object, which contain a unique ID, make it possible to link the object surfaces to a particular class. This approach will be implemented and used to label data of a stackable box.
The data is evaluated by training a You Only Look Once (YOLO) net, with a subsequent evaluation of the detection results. These results show that the semi-automatically collected and labelled data can certainly be used for machine learning. However, if concise features of an object surface are covered by the AprilTag, there is a risk that the concerned class will not be recognized. It can be assumed that the labelled data can not only be used for YOLO, but also for other machine learning approaches.
Bereits zum elften Mal findet nun die Studierendenkonferenz Informatics Inside statt. Als Teil des Masterstudiengangs Human-Centered Computing organisieren Masterstudierende selbständig eine vollumfängliche wissenschaftliche Konferenz. Die Informatik ist nach wie vor ständigem Wandel unterworfen. Unsere Studierenden tragen diesem Wandel bei, indem sie in ihrer wissenschaftllichen Vertiefung aktuelle Problemstellungen durch innovative Konzepte lösen. Inzwischen ist die Informatik aber auch nicht immer sofort sichtbar. Das merken wir immer dann, wenn etwas nicht wie vorgesehen funktioniert. Das diesjährige Motto der Informatics Inside ist experience (IT);, verdeckt als Funktionsaufruf:).
Aimed at the problem that the accuracy of face image classification in complex environment is not high, a network model F-Net suitable for aesthetic classification of face images is proposed. Based on LeNet-5, the model uses convolutional layers to extract facial image features in complex backgrounds, optimized parameters in the network model, and changes the number of convolutional layers and fully connected layer feature elements in the model. The experimental results show that the F-Net network model proposed in this paper has a face image classifation accuracy of 73% in complex environment background, which is better than other classical convolutional neural network classification models.
In this paper, we address the novel EDP (Expert Design Plan) principle for procedural design automation of analog integrated circuits, which captures the knowledge-based design strategy of human circuit designers in an executable script, making it reusable. We present the EDP Player, which enables the creation and execution of EDPs for arbitrary circuits in the Cadence® Virtuoso® Design Environment. The tool provides a generic version of an instruction set, called EDPL (EDPLanguage), enabling emulation of a typical manual analog sizing flow. To automate the design of a Miller Operational Amplifier and to create variants of a Smart Power IC, several EDPs were implemented using this tool. Employing these EDPs leads to a strong reduction of design time without compromising design quality or reliability.
Serverless computing is an emerging cloud computing paradigm with the goal of freeing developers from resource management issues. As of today, serverless computing platforms are mainly used to process computations triggered by events or user requests that can be executed independently of each other. These workloads benefit from on-demand and elastic compute resources as well as per-function billing. However, it is still an open research question to which extent parallel applications, which comprise most often complex coordination and communication patterns, can benefit from serverless computing.
In this paper, we introduce serverless skeletons for parallel cloud programming to free developers from both parallelism and resource management issues. In particular, we investigate on the well known and widely used farm skeleton, which supports the implementation of a wide range of applications. To evaluate our concepts, we present a prototypical development and runtime framework and implement two applications based on our framework: Numerical integration and hyperparameter optimization - a commonly applied technique in machine learning. We report on performance measurements for both applications and discuss
the usefulness of our approach.
The Virtual Power Plant Neckar-Alb is a demonstration platform for operation, optimization and control of distributed energy resources, which are able to produce, store or consume electric energy. A heterogeneous set of distributed energy devices has been installed at the Campus of Reutlingen University by the Reutlingen Energy Centre (REZ) of the School of Engineering. The distributed energy devices have been combined to local microgrids and connected to an operative central power plant with additional participants. The demonstration platform serves students, researchers and industry experts for education and investigation of new technologies, devices and software.
A digital twin - a replica of energy devices - was established in the computing environment of MATLAB and Simulink. It simulates continuously their operation and is time synchronized and connected to the cenral energy management and control system of a virtual power plant. The model can be used as a platform for testing device performance in various conditions, working schedules and new optimization options.
Companies are continuously changing their strategy, processes, and information systems to benefit from the digital transformation. Controlling the digital architecture and governance is the fundamental goal. Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) systems are vital for managing digital risks threatening in modern enterprises from many different angles. The most significant constituent to GRC systems is the definition of controls that is implemented on different layers of a digital Enterprise Architecture (EA). As part of the compliant aspect of GRC, the effectiveness of these controls is assessed and reported to relevant management bodies within the enterprise. In this paper, we present a metamodel which links controls to the affected elements of a digital EA and supplies a way of expressing associated assessment techniques and results. We complement a metamodel with an expository instantiation of a control compliance cockpit in an international insurance enterprise.
Business process models provide a considerable number of benefits for enterprises and organizations, but the creation of such models is costly and time-consuming, which slows down the organizational adoption of business process modeling. Social paradigms pave new ways for business process modeling by integrating stakeholders and leveraging knowledge sources. However, empirical research about the impact of social paradigms on costs of business process modeling is sparse. A better understanding of their impact could help to reduce the cost of business process modeling and improve decision-making on BPM activities. The paper constributes to this field by reporting about an empirical investigation via survey research on the perceived influence of different cost factors among experts. Our results indicate that different cost components, as well as the use of social paradigms, influence cost.
Due to the consequential impact of technological breakdowns, companies have to be prepared to deal with breakdowns or even better prevent them. In today's information technology, several methods and tools exist to downscale this concern. Therefore, this paper deals with the initial determination of a resilient enterprise architecture supporting predictive maintenance in the information technology domain and furthermore, concerns several mechanisms on how to reactively and proactively secure the state of resiliency on several abstraction levels. The objective of this paper is to give an overview on existing mechanisms for resiliency and to describe the foundation of an optimized approach, combining infrastructure and process mining techniques.
This book contains the proceedings of the KES International conferences on Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare (KES-InMed-19) and Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services (KES-IIMSS-19), held on 17–19 June 2019 and co-located in St. Julians, on the island of Malta, as part of the KES Smart Digital Futures 2019 multi theme conference.
The major areas covered by KES-InMed-19 include: Digital IT Architecture in Healthcare; Advanced ICT for Medical and Healthcare; Biomedical Engineering, Trends, Research and Technologies and Healthcare Support System. The major areas covered by KES-IIMSS-19 were: Interactive Technologies; Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics; Intelligent Services and Architectures and Applications.
This book is of use to researchers in these vibrant areas, managers, industrialists and anyone wishing to gain an overview of the latest research in these fields.
Size and function of bioartificial tissue models are still limited due to the lack of blood vessels and dynamic perfusion for nutrient supply. In this study, we evaluated the use of cytocompatible methacryl-modified gelatin for the fabrication of a hydrogel-based tube by dip-coating and subsequent photo-initiated cross-linking. The wall thickness of the tubes and the diameter were tuned by the degree of gelatin methacryl-modification and the number of dipping cycles. The dipping temperature of the gelatin solution was adjusted to achieve low viscous fluids of approximately 0.1 Pa s and was different for gelatin derivatives with different modification degrees. A versatile perfusion bioreactor for the supply of surrounding tissue models was developed, which can be adaped to several geometries and sizes of blood-vessel mimicking tubes. The manufactured bendable gelatin tubes were permeable for water and dissolved substances, like Nile Blue and serum albumin. As a proof of concept, human fibroblasts in a three-dimensional collagen tissue model were sucessfully supplied with nutrients via the central gelatin tube under dynamic conditions for 2 days. Moreover, the tubes could be used as scaffolds to build-up a functional and viable endothelial layer. Hence, the presented tools can contribute to solving current challenges in tissue engineering.
The rise of digital technologies has become an important driver for change in multiple industries. Therefore, firms need to develop digital capabilities to manage the transformation process successfully. Prior research assumes that the development of a specific set of digital capabilities leads to higher digital maturity. However, a measurement framework for digital maturity does not exist in scholarly work. Therefore, this paper develops a conceptualization and measuremnent model for digital maturity.
In 2017, Philips' goal was to use innovation to improve the lives of three billion people a year by 2025. To achieve that, the company was shifting from selling medical products in a transactional manner to providing integrated healthcare solutions based on digital health technology. Based on our interviews with 23 executives at Philips, the case examines the two directions of the transformation required by this shift: externally, Philips worked on transforming how healthcare was conducted. Healthcare professionals would have to change the way they worked and reimbursement schemes needed to change to incentivize payers, providers, and patients in vastly different ways. Internally, Philips needed to redesign how its employees worked. The company componentized its business, introduced digital platforms, and co-created integrated solutions with the various stakeholders of the healthcare industry. In other words: Philips was transforming itself in order the reinvent healthcare in the digital age.
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect a large number of children both in the Russian Federation and in Germany. Early diagnosis is key for these children, because the sooner parents notice such disorders in a child and the rehabilitation and treatment program starts, the higher the likelihood of his social adaptation. The difficulties in raising such a child lie in the complexity of his learning outside of children's groups and the complexity of his medical care. In this regard, the development of digital applications that facilitate medical care and education of such children at home is important and relevant. The purpose of the project is to improve the availability and quality of healthcare and social adaptation at home of children with ASD through the use of digital technologies.
Anders als Digital-ICs, die hochautomatisiert entworfen werden können, ist der Entwurf analoger ICs bis heute Handarbeit. Übliche auf Optimierung basierende Automatisierungsverfahren scheitern. Die Ursachen wurden jetzt in einem Forschungsprojekt untersucht, um neue Ansätze zur Entwurfsautomatisierung analoger ICs abzuleiten.
Die Landessprache in der Lehre - welche Bedeutung kommt ihr bei der Internationalisierung zu?
(2019)
Seit der Jahrhundertwende wird erfolgreich die Intensivierung des Austauschs zwischen wissenschaftlichen Einrichtungen betrieben, auch national, aber vor allem international. Anfänglich schien klar, dass gute Indikatoren für die "Internationalisierung" genannte Entwicklung die Anteile ausländischer Wissenschaftler und Studierender sind. Konsens über sinnvolle Zielgrößen für die Indikatoren gibt es jedoch bisher nicht. Nach einiger Zeit flachte sich der anfängliche Anstieg dieser Quoten etwas ab. Mit der Folge einer weiteren Steigerung dieses Indikators ist neuerdings international der Trend zur Anglophonisierung der Lehre zu beobachten.
Additive manufacturing is a key technology which applies the ideas of Industry 4.0 in order to enable the production of personalized and highly customized products economically. Especially small and medium sized companies often lack the competence and experience to evaluate objectively and profoundly the potential of additive manufacturing technologies in small and medium sized companies. Furthermore, the method has been validated in a small medical technology company evaluating the additive manufacturing potential of an existing surgery tool.
Continuous refactoring is necessary to maintain source code quality and to cope with technical debt. Since manual refactoring is inefficient and error prone, various solutions for automated refactoring have been proposed in the past. However, empirical studies have shown that these solutions are not widely accepted by software developers and most refactorings are still performed manually. For example, developers reported that refactoring tools should support functionality for reviewing changes. They also criticized that introducing such tools would require substantial effort for configuration and integration into the current development environment.
In this paper, we present our work towards the Refactoring-Bot, an autonomous bot that integrates into the team like a human developer via the existing version control platform. The bot automatically performs refactorings to resolve code smells and presents the changes to a developer for asynchronous review via pull requests. This way, developers are not interrupted in their workflow and can review the changes at any time with familiar tools. Proposed refactorings can then be integrated into the code base via the push of a button. We elaborate on our vision, discuss design decisions, describe the current state of development, and give an outlook on planned development and research activities.
The Eleventh International Conference on Advances in Databases, Knowledge, and Data Applications (DBKDA 2019), held between June 02, 2019 to June 06, 2019 - Athens, Greece, continued a series of international events covering a large spectrum of topics related to advances in fundamentals on databases, evolution of relation between databases and other domains, data base technologies and content processing, as well as specifics in applications domains databases.
Advances in different technologies and domains related to databases triggered substantial improvements for content processing, information indexing, and data, process and knowledge mining. The push came from Web services, artificial intelligence, and agent technologies, as well as from the generalization of the XML adoption.
High-speed communications and computations, large storage capacities, and loadbalancing for distributed databases access allow new approaches for content processing with incomplete patterns, advanced ranking algorithms and advanced indexing methods.
Evolution on e-business, ehealth and telemedicine, bioinformatics, finance and marketing, geographical positioning systems put pressure on database communities to push the ‘de facto’ methods to support new requirements in terms of scalability, privacy, performance, indexing, and heterogeneity of both content and technology.
We welcomed academic, research and industry contributions. The conference had the followingtracks:
Knowledgeanddecisionbase
Databasestechnologies
Datamanagement
GraphSM: Large-scale Graph Analysis, Management and Applications
The desire to combine advanced user friendly interfaces with a product personality communicating environmental friendliness to customers poses new challenges for car interior designers, as little research has been carried out in this field to date. In this paper, the creation of three personas aimed at defining key German car users with pro environmental behaviour is presented. After collecting ethnographic data of potential drivers through literature review, information about generation and Euro car segment led to the definition of three key user groups. The resulting personas were applied to determine the most important interaction points in car interior. Finally, present design cues of eco-friendly product personality developed in the field of automotive design were explored. Our work presents three strategic directions for the design development of future in-car user interfaces named as a) foster multimodal mobility; b) emphasize the interlinkage economy - sustainable driving; and c) highlight new technological developments. The presented results are meant as an impulse for developers to fit the needs of green customers and drivers when designing user-friendly HMI components.
This paper presents an approach for the implementation of a modular and scalable power electronics device for controlling electric drives in the field of electric vehicles using wide bandgap semiconductor devices. The main idea is to achieve the required output currents or voltages by connecting adequately designed hardware modules in parallel or in series. This particular design is based on the fact that the single modules generate a continuous and specified output voltage from a given dc voltage, e.g. an intermediate circuit or battery voltage. The main benefit is, that different current or voltage requirements can be satisfied based on a single module thus decreasing development and production costs. The current paper focuses on the connection in parallel of such modules. A control architecture is illustrated and a first proof of concept is given.
How companies use digital technologies to enhance customer offerings - summary of survey findings
(2019)
Digital technologies are transforming how companies do business. Social, mobile, analytics, cloud, and the Internet of Things - which together we refer to as SMACIT - along with artificial intelligence, blockchain, and an ongoing procession of new technologies create new capabilities : specifically, ubiquitous data, unlimited connectivity, and massive, affordable processing power.
Creativity, problem-solving skills and the ability for collaborative work are considered key competences for facing the challenges of the 21st century. Children are born with an inherent creativity that decreases throughout their school careers. A research team of designers and educators investigates whether the implementation of Design Thinking (DT) in textile education in German elementary schools is a suitable method to preserve children’s creativity. Initial surveys with teachers and pilot studies in elementary schools showed high motivation and openmindedness towards DT in classroom. The challenge will be to develop suitable teaching modules for elementary schools of the federal state Baden Württemberg.
Kreativität, Problemlösekompetenz und kollaboratives Arbeiten werden in zahlreichen internationalen Studien sowie von der OECD (2017) als Schlüsselkompetenzen des 21. Jahrhunderts definiert. Ungeachtet dessen orientieren sich viele Lehr-Lern Methoden noch immer an der Vermittlung vordefinierter Lösungswege. Studien im Sekundarbereich in den USA, Deutschland und Asien zeigen, dass Design Thinking durch seine kreativen und kollaborativen Elemente zu einem nachhaltigeren Lernerfolg bei Lernenden und seitens der Lehrenden zu höherer Zufriedenheit bei der Vermittlung der Inhalte führen kann.
Kernelemente des Design Thinking sind: der iterative Prozess mit seinen Phasen Verstehen, Beobachten, Sichtweisen definieren, Ideen finden, Prototypen bauen, Testen; die Arbeit in multidisziplinären Teams sowie die Nutzerorientierung bei der Definition der Aufgabe (Brown, 2009). Die Phasen des iterativen Prozesses weisen eine hohe Kongruenz mit den prozessorientierten Kompetenzen des Faches Kunst/Werken und des Sachunterrichts gemäß dem Bildungsplan für Grundschulen (Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Baden Württemberg, 2016) auf. Im Rahmen eines interdisziplinären Promotionsvorhabens an der PH Freiburg soll, basierend auf einem qualitativen Forschungsdesign, untersucht werden, inwieweit sich Design Thinking eignet, Kreativität, Problemlösekompetenz und kollaboratives Arbeiten von Grundschulkindern in Kunst/Werken und im Sachunterricht aus Sicht von Lehrpersonen zu fördern. Vorstudien mit Lehrpersonen und Ausbildungslehrkräften, bei welchen Erhebungen per Fragebogen nach Teilnahme an einem Design Thinking Workshop eingesetzt wurden, sowie zwei Pilotunterrichtseinheiten an Grundschulen mit Teilnehmender Beobachtung, Experteninterviews und Kinderinterviews in Kleingruppen, zeigen erste Ergebnisse.
To remain competitive in a fast changing environment, many companies started to migrate their legacy applications towards a Microservices architecture. Such extensive migration processes require careful planning and consideration of implications and challenges likewise. In this regard, hands-on experiences from industry practice are still rare. To fill this gap in scientific literature, we contribute a qualitative study on intentions, strategies, and challenges in the context of migrations to Microservices. We investigated the migration process of 14 systems across different domains and sizes by conducting 16 in-depth interviews with software professionals from 10 companies. Along with a summary of the most important findings, we present a separate discussion of each case. As primary migration drivers, maintainability and scalability were identified. Due to the high complexity of their legacy systems, most companies preferred a rewrite using current technologies over splitting up existing code bases. This was often caused by the absence of a suitable decomposition approach. As such, finding the right service cut was a major technical challenge, next to building the necessary expertise with new technologies. Organizational challenges were especially related to large, traditional companies that simultaneously established agile processes. Initiating a mindset change and ensuring smooth collaboration between teams were crucial for them. Future research on the evolution of software systems can in particular profit from the individual cases presented.
While Microservices promise several beneficial characteristics for sustainable long-term software evolution, little empirical research covers what concrete activities industry applies for the evolvability assurance of Microservices and how technical debt is handled in such systems. Since insights into the current state of practice are very important for researchers, we performed a qualitative interview study to explore applied evolvability assurance processes, the usage of tools, metrics, and patterns, as well as participants’ reflections on the topic. In 17 semi-structured interviews, we discussed 14 different Microservice-based systems with software professionals from 10 companies and how the sustainable evolution of these systems was ensured. Interview transcripts were analyzed with a detailed coding system and the constant comparison method.
We found that especially systems for external customers relied on central governance for the assurance. Participants saw guidelines like architectural principles as important to ensure a base consistency for evolvability. Interviewees also valued manual activities like code review, even though automation and tool support was described as very important. Source code quality was the primary target for the usage of tools and metrics. Despite most reported issues being related to Architectural Technical Debt (ATD), our participants did not apply any architectural or service-oriented tools and metrics. While participants generally saw their Microservices as evolvable, service cutting and finding an appropriate service granularity with low coupling and high cohesion were reported as challenging. Future Microservices research in the areas of evolution and technical debt should take these findings and industry sentiments into account.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which play substantial role in the development of any economy have been on the rise in the recent periods. Consequently, these enterprises are faced with a myriad of challenges which could potentially be solved through adoption of technology. Nonetheless, it has been observed that the new technological uptake among SMEs remains limited with the majority of them opting to maintain the status quo with regards to technology awareness and innovation strategies.
In a literature review, this paper explores three major dynamics curtailing adoption of new technologies by SMEs in the manufacturing: Knowledge absorptive capacity and management factors, organisational structures as well as technological awareness. Firstly, with regards to knowledge absorptive capacity and management factors, this study shows how these factors drive innovation potentials in SMEs.
Secondly, with regards to technological awareness factors, this study documents how perceived usefulness, costs, network and infrastructure, education and skills, training and attitude as well as knowledge influence adoption of new technologies among SMEs in the world. Lastly, the study concludes by analysing how organisational structures drive innovation potentials of SMEs in the wake of swift and profound technological changes in the market.
The relevance of technology knowledge in digital transformation especially in small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) that are still largely dependent on physical human capital has become increasingly obvious. This is due to the rapid revolution in business environment coupled with increased living examples of firms disrupted by advancement in technological knowledge. Consequently, we find it progressively vital for SMEs to spot and mitigate both threats and take advantage of opportunities arising from digital transformation dynamism.
Our study aims at exploring the relevance of technology knowledge in SMEs for digital transformation to uncover the opportunities, roadmaps, and models that SMEs can take advantage of in the digital transformation and gain a competitive edge.
We conclude that irrespective relevance of technology knowledge for digital transformation coupled with its low costs and accessibility, SMEs are yet to realize the full potential of technological knowledge. This is mainly due to technologies appearing, changing and also vanishing so rapidly in the digital age, that gaining proper understanding without dedicated resources is utterly difficult for SMEs - making them less competitive as incumbent large firms in the market.
The energy turnaround, digitalization and decreasing revenues forces enterprises in the energy domain to develop new business models. Business models for renewable energy are compound on different logic than business models for larger scale power plants. Following a design science research approach, we examined the business models of three enterprises in the energy domain in a first step. We identified that these business models result in complex ecosystems with multiple actors and difficult relationships between them. One cause is the fast changing and complicated state regulation in Germany. In order to solve the problem, we captured together with the partners of the enterprises the requirements in a second phase. Further we developed the prototype Business Model Configurator (BMConfig) based on the e3Value Ontology on the metamodelling platform ADOxx. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach in business model of energy efficiency service based on smart meter data.
In a time of upheaval and digitalization, new business models for companies play an important role. Decentralized power generation and energy efficiency indicators to achieve climate goals and to reduce global warming are currently forcing energy companies to develop new business models. In recent years, many methods of business model development have been introduced to create new business ideas. But what are the obstacles in implementing these business models in the energy sector to develop new business opportunities? And what challenges do companies face in this respect? To answer this question, a systematic literature review was conducted in this paper. As a result, eight categories were identified which summarise the main barriers for the implementation of new business models in the energy domain.
Ziel der Arbeit von Julian Ilg ist die Entwicklung einer systematischen Eignungsanalyse zum Einsatz additiver Fertigungsverfahren im unternehmensspezifischen Kontext. Der Autor fasst die gängigsten additiven Fertigungsverfahren zusammen und liefert einen Überblick über die derzeitige Anwendung dieser Verfahren sowie über die Herausforderungen bei deren Einsatz am Beispiel von Unternehmen aus der Medizintechnik. Basierend auf diesen Erkenntnissen gelingt es dem Autor, interessierten Unternehmen eine quantifizierende Entscheidungshilfe zu liefern, die gleichermaßen sowohl die ingenieurswissenschaftlichen Punkte als auch die wirtschaftlichen Aspekte beim Umstieg vom herkömmlichen Herstellungsverfahren auf additive Fertigungsverfahren berücksichtigt.
Beim Guerilla Marketing handelt es sich um die Auswahl untypischer und undogmatischer Marketingaktivitäten, die mit einem oftmals vergleichsweise geringen Mitteleinsatz eine möglichst große Wirkung erzielen sollen. Im Kern zielt Guerilla Marketing darauf ab, anders zu sein und aufzufallen. Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Methoden und Instrumente des Guerilla Marketing-Mix, die sich insbesondere (aber nicht nur) für Startups im Wettbewerb gegen etablierte, mit entsprechenden finanziellen Ressourcen ausgestattete Unternehmen eignen.
We introduce IPA-IDX – an approach to handle index modifications modern storage technologies (NVM, Flash) as physical in-place appends, using simplified physiological log records. IPA-IDX provides similar performance and longevity advantages for indexes as basic IPA [5] does for tables. The selective application of IPA-IDX and basic IPA to certain regions and objects, lowers the GC overhead by over 60%, while keeping the total space overhead to 2%. The combined effect of IPA and IPA-IDX increases performance by 28%.
Because of saturated markets and of the low profit margins in the sales of cars, car manufacturers focus more and more on profitable product related services. This paper deals with the question how to classify product related services in the automotive industry and which characteristic product related services are offered to the end-users (consumers) in a standardized format. Two research studies on the provided product related services in 2010 und 2017 by 15 car manufacturers and 20 exemplary automotive brands in Germany revealed that the application degree by the OEM (original equipment manufacturers) in these years increased considerably. While in 2010, the average range of services only amounted to 33%, the value in the automotive industry increased until 2017 to 57%.
Mit der Überarbeitung der DIN EN 50173 (VDE 0800-173) Serie, wurden unter anderem die optischen Übertragungsstreckenklassen ersatzlos gestrichen. Um die so entstandene Lücke zu schließen, hat das deutsche Gremium DKE GUK 715.3 „Informationstechnische Verkabelung von Gebäudekomplexen“ neue Klassen erarbeitet, die in der DIN VDE 0800- 173-100 „Klassifizierung von Lichtwellenleiter-Übertragungsstrecken“ im Juni 2019 veröffentlicht wurden. Die Norm klassifiziert Lichtwellenleiter Übertragungsstrecken für anwendungsneutrale Kommunikationskabelanlagen nach DIN EN 50173-1.
Sie dient Benutzern, eine breite Palette von Anwendungen zu ermöglichen, die Auswahl des Verkabelungssystems zu erleichtern, eine zukunftssichere Klassifizierung von LWL-Verkabelungen zu generieren und dazu, Systemanforderungen zu beschreiben.
Die in der Norm definierten Klassen beschreiben die Anforderungen an die Übertragungsstrecken und basieren auf einer maximal zulässigen Einfügedämpfung in dB für maximale Übertragungsstreckenlängen, wobei zusätzlich das Bandbreitenlängenprodukt berücksichtigt wird.
Der Beitrag liefert einen Überblick über die Norm und zeigt Anwendungsbeispiele auf.
Die Zukunftsfähigkeit des Personalmanagements lässt sich daran festmachen, dass in der Organisation qualitativ und quantitativ ausreichend Personal zur Erfüllung des Organisationszwecks in dynamischen Umfeldern zur Verfügung steht. Einen wichtigen Ansatzpunkt stellen die Flexibilisierung der Personalausstattung sowie die institutionelle und strukturelle Öffnung von Organisationen in Richtung mehr Agilität dar. Darauf aufbauend muss das Personalmanagement selbst durch neue Arbeitsweisen und Praktiken innovativer werden und zusätzlich zu seinem stabilen Kern ein zweites agiles Betriebssystem entwickeln. Das zeitlich und strukturell abgestimmte Zusammenspiel des stabilen und agilen Betriebssystems ermöglicht dann die gleichzeitige Nutzung von exploitativen und explorativen Praktiken. Um die Agilitätsagenda des Personalmanagements weiter voranzutreiben, benötigt es einen systematischen Umgang mit der Bedeutung unterschiedlicher Agilitätsdimensionen, die Entwicklung von Instrumenten sowie Zielsetzungen, die ein agiles Personalmanagement verfolgen sollte.
Workflow driven support systems in the peri-operative area have the potential to optimize clinical processes and to allow new situation-adaptive support systems. We started to develop a workflow management system supporting all involved actors in the operating theatre with the goal to synchronize the tasks of the different stakeholders by giving relevant information to the right team members. Using the OMG standards BPMN, CMMN and DMN gives us the opportunity to bring established methods from other industries into the medical field. The system shows each addressed actor their information in the right place at the right time to make sure every member can execute their task in time to ensure a smooth workflow. The system has the overall view of all tasks. Accordingly, a workflow management system including the Camunda BPM workflow engine to run the models, and a middleware to connect different systems to the workflow engine and some graphical user interfaces to show necessary information or to interact with the system are used. The complete pipeline is implemented with a RESTful web service. The system is designed to include different systems like hospital information system (HIS) via the RESTful web service very easily and without loss of data. The first prototype is implemented and will be expanded.
This paper discusses the optimal control problem for increasing the energy efficiency of induction machines in dynamic operation including field weakening regime. In an offline procedure optimal current and flux trajectories are determined such that the copper losses are minimized during transient operations. These trajectories are useful for a subsequent online implementation.
In this work design rules for a novel brushless excitation system for externally excited synchronous machines are discussed. The concept replaces slip rings with a fullbridge active rectifier and a controller mounted on the rotor. An AC signal induced from the stator is used to charge the rotor DC link. The DC current for the rotor excitation is provided from this DC link source. Finite element analysis of an existing machine is used to analyze the practicability of the excitation system.
A novel brushless excitation concept for synchronous machines with a rotating power converter is proposed in this paper. The concept does not need an auxiliary winding or any other modification to the machine structure apart from an inverter with a DC link capacitor and a controller on the rotor. The power required for the rotor excitation is provided by injecting harmonics into the stator winding. Thus, a voltage in the field coil is induced. The rotor inverter is controlled such that the alternating current charges the DC link capacitor. At the same time the inverter supplies the DC field current to the field coil. The excitation concept is first developed in theory, then presented using an analytical model and FEA, and lastly investigated with a prelimininary experimental setup.
Established companies are facing two transformations involving digital technologies: becoming digitized and becoming digital. The platforms enabling these transformations are fundamentally different in their purpose, target state, success metrics — and especially, in the key responsibilities of senior leaders. Because of these differences, companies will need to apply new rules new roles, processes, metrics, and norms — to the new digital platform. To develop new rules leaders should (1) separate the teams working on the digital platform, (2) allow digital platform leaders to experiment with new rules, and (3) identify new leaders and coach them to succeed with new rules. Given the time it takes to establish new rules, companies need to start breaking old rules now.
Digital technologies are moving into physical products. Smart cars, connected lightbulbs and data-generating tennis rackets are examples of previously “pure” physical products that turned into “digitized products”. Digitizing products offers many use cases for consumers that will hopefully persuade them to buy these products. Yet, as revenues from selling digitized products will remain small in the near future, digitized product manufacturers have to look for other sources of benefits. Producer-side use cases describe how manufacturers can benefit internally from the digitized products they produce. Our article identifies three categories of such use cases: product-, service-, and process-related ones.
The goal of the presented project is to develop the concept of home e-health centers for barrier-free and cross-border telemedicine. AAL technologies are already present on the market but there is still a gap to close until they can be used for ordinary patient needs. The general idea needs to be accompanied by new services, which should be brought together in order to provide a full coverage of service for the users. Sleep and stress were chosen as predominant influence in the population. The executed scientific study of available home devices analyzing sleep has provided the necessary to select appropriate devices. The first choice for the project implementation is the device EMFIT QS+. This equipment provides a part of a complete system that a home telemedical hospital can provide at a level of precision and communication with internal and/or external health services.
Problem: In der Praxis kann eine gewisse „Balanced Scorecard (BSC)-Müdigkeit“ beobachtet werden. Damit fehlt es an alternativen Instrumenten, mit denen die Unternehmensstrategie operationalisiert werden kann.
Ziel: Auf der Suche nach Alternativen wird das Hoshin Kanri (HK) diskutiert. Hat HK das Potenzial, die BSC abzulösen? Worin unterscheidet sich Hoshin Kanri (HK) von der BSC und wo sind die Gemeinsamkeiten? Methode: Vergleich wesentlicher Grundzüge von BSC und HK.
Ein Markenzeichen der Hochschule Reutlingen ist die enge Kooperation zwischen Forschern, Lehrenden, Praktikern und Studierenden. Professor*innen der Hochschule Reutlingen bieten neben dem so genannten „State-of-the-Art“- Managementwissen systemische Strukturaufstellungen als „komplementäre Medizin“ für Führungskräfte an.
Ein virtuelles Kraftwerk ist ein Verbund von Energieanlagen, koordiniert von einem gemeinsamen Leitsystem, um eine bessere Ausnutzung wetterabhängiger Energiequellen oder die gemeinsame Vermarktung von erzeugtem Strom zu ermöglichen. Der Demonstrator Virtuelles Kraftwerk Neckar-Alb ist eine Demonstrationsplattform für Forschung und Lehre, die Anlagen auf dem Campus der Hochschule Reutlingen und verteilte Anlagen in der Region Neckar-Alb integriert.
The field of additive manufacturing has experienced an incredible surge over the last few years. Affordable end-user printers, which open a wide variety of new production opportunities, have spread throughout the so called "maker community", while overblown reports about the possibilities on offer have whipped up a real hype. Although new ways of making products have now become available, what can actually be achieved often lags behind people's expectations. On the one hand, this is down to component quality and the materials being used, while on the other hand, most printers found in the end-user sphere use the FDM or DLP process, which significantly restricts the printing methods that can be utilized.
Novel design for a coreless printed circuit board transformer realizing high bandwidth and coupling
(2019)
Rogowski coils offer galvanic isolation and can measure alternating currents with a high bandwidth. Coreless printed circuit board (PCB) transformers have been used as an alternative to limit the additional stray inductance if a Rogowski coil can not be attached to the circuit. A new PCB transformer layout is proposed to reduce cost, decrease additional stray inductance, increase the bandwidth of current measurements and simplify the integration into existing designs.
Improved inductive feed-forward for fast turn-on of power semiconductors during hard switching
(2019)
A transformer is used to increase the gate voltage during turn-on, thus reducing the necessary bias voltage of the gate driver. Counteracting the voltage dependency of the gate capacitance of high-voltage power devices, faster transitions are possible. The additional transformer only slighly increases the over-voltage during turn-off.
In this paper, an approach is introduced how reinforcement learning can be used to achieve interoperability between heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) components. More specifically, we model an HTTP REST service as a Markov Decision Process and adapt Q-Learning to the properties of REST so that an agent in the role of an HTTP REST client can learn the semantics of the service and, especially an optimal sequence of service calls to achieve an application specific goal. With our approach, we want to open up and facilitate a discussion in the community, as we see the key for achieving interoperability in IoT by the utilization of artificial intelligence techniques.
Interoperability is an important topic in the Internet of Things (IoT), because this domain incorporates diverse and heterogeneous objects, communication protocols and data formats. Many models and classification schemes have been proposed to make the degree of interoperability measurable - however only on the basis of a hierarchical scale. In the course of this paper we introduce a novel approach to measure the degree of interoperability using a metric scaled quantity. We consider IoT as a distributed system, where interoperable objects exchange messages with each other. Under this premise, we interpret messages as operation calls and formalize this view as a causal model. The analysis of this model enables us to quantify the interoperable behavior of communicating objects.
Smart Stadiums eignen sich als Testfeld für die Smart City, um die Lücke zwischen der Forschung und der Anwendung von Internet of Things Technologien in der Praxis zu schließen. Gleichzeitig können Stadionbetreiber durch die Monetarisierungspotenziale des Smart Stadium Konzeptes ihre Arena zu einem Profit Center ausbauen. Die Erreichung einer Technologieakzeptanz bei den Zuschauern durch die Schaffung von Synergieeffekten zwischen Stadionbetreibern, Technologieanbietern und der Wissenschaft unter Berücksichtigung der kulturellen Besonderheiten im jeweiligen Markt kann dabei als kritischer Erfolgsfaktor für die Nutzengenerierung der verschiedenen Stakeholder eines Smart Stadiums angesehen werden.
In daily life, people tend to use mental shortcuts to simplify and speed up their decision-making processes. A halo effect exists if the impression created by a dominant attribute influences how other attributes of an object or subject are judged. It involves a cognitive bias that leads to distorted assessments. However, the halo effect has barely been researched in a sports-related context, although it can substantially contribute to understanding how sport fans think and behave. The objective of this paper is to answer the question that is of interest for both theory and practice of sports marketing: Is there a halo effect in sports? Does the sporting success or failure of a professional soccer team radiate or even outshine other sports related and non-sports aspects and influence or distort how the club is perceived by its fans? Fans of six soccer clubs selected from the first German soccer league Bundesliga were interviewed. This paper presents the results of an empirical study based on a data set consisting of a total of 4,180 cases. The results of the analyses substantiate the distortion of the fans’ perception with regard to a very diverse range of aspects that is triggered by the sporting success or failure of their favorite club.
Increasing flexibility, greater transparency and faster adaptability play a key role in the development of future intralogistics. Ever-changing environmental conditions require easy extensibility and modifiability of existing bin systems. This research project explores approaches to transfer the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm to intralogistics. This allows a synchronization of the material and information flow. The bin is enabled by the implementation of adequate hardware and software components to capture, store, process and forward data to selected system subscribers. Monitoring the processes in the intralogistics by means of the smart bin system ensures the implementation of appropriate actions in case of defined deviations. By using explorative expert interviews with representatives from the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, seven practical application scenarios were defined. On this basis, the requirements of smart bin systems were examined. For each individual case of application, a system model was created in order to obtain an overview of the system components and thus reveal similarities and differences. Based on the similarities of the system models, a general requirement profile was derived. After the hardware components of the bin system had been determined, a utility analysis was carried out to find the adequate IoT software. The utility analysis was conducted with a focus on data acquisition and data transfer, data storage, data analysis, data presentation as well as authorization management and data security. The results show that there is great interest in easily expandable and modifiable bin systems, as in all cases, the necessary information flow in the existing bin system has to be improved by means of new IoT hardware and software components.
The persistent development towards decreasing batch sizes due to an ongoing product individualization, as well as increasingly dynamic market and competitive conditions lead to new changeability requirements in production environments. Since each of the individualized products mgith require different base materials or components and manufacturing resources, the paths of the products giong through the factory as well as the required internal transport and material supply processes are going to differ for every product. Conventional planning and control systems, which rely on predifined processes and central decision-making, are not capable to deal with the arising system's complexity along the dimensions of changing goods, layouts and throughput requirements. The concepts of "self-organization" in combination with "autonomous ocntrol" provide promising solutions to solve these new requirements by using among other things the potential of autonomous, decentralized and target-optimized logistical objects (e.g. smart products, bins and conveyor systems) wich are able to communicate and interact with each other as well as with human wokers. To investigate the potential of automation and human-robot collaboration for intralogistics, a research project for the development of a collaborative tugger train has been started at the ESB Logistics Learning Factory in lin with various student projects in neighboring research areas. This collaboraive tugger train system in combination with other manual (e.g. handcarts) and (semi-) automated conveyoer systems (e.g. automated guided forklift) will be integrated into a dynamic, self-organized scenario with varying production batch sizes to develop a method for target-oriented sefl-organization and autonomous control of intralogistics systems. For a structured investigation of self-organized scenarios a generic intralogistics model as well as a criteria cataloghe has been developed. The ESB Logistics Learning will serve as a practice-oriented research, validation and demonstration environment for these purposes.
The global demand for individualized products leading to decreasing production batch sizes requires innovative approaches how to organize production and logistics systems in a dynamic manner. Current material flow systems mainly rely on predefined system structures and processes, which result in a huge increase of complexity and effort for system and process changes to realize an optimized production and material provision of individualized products. Autonomous production and logistics entities in combination with intelligent products or logistic load carriers following the vision of the “Internet of Things” offer a promising solution for mastering this complexity based on autonomous, decentralized and target size-optimized decision making and structure formation without the need for predefined processes and central decision-making bodies. Customer orders are going to prioritize themselves and communicate directly with the required production and logistics resources. Bins containing the required materials are going to communicate with the conveyors or workers of the respective intralogistics system organizing and controlling the material flow to the autonomously selected workstation. A current research project is the development of a collaborative tugger train combing the potential of automation and human-robot collaboration in intralogistics. This tugger train is going to be integrated into a self organized intralogistics scenario involving individualized customer orders (low to high batch sizes). To classify the application of self-organization within intralogistics systems, a criteria catalogue has been developed. The application of this criteria catalogue will be demonstrated on the example of a self-organization scenario involving the collaborative tugger train and an intelligent bin system.
Development of an easy teaching and simulation solution for an autonomous mobile robot system
(2019)
With mass customized production becoming the mainstream, industries are shifting from large-scale manufacturing to flexible and customized production of small batch sizes. Agile manufacturing strategies adopted by SMEs are driving the usage of collaborative robots in today's factories. Major challenges in the adoption of cobots in the industry are the lack of a highly trained workforce to program the robot to perform complex tasks and integration of robot systems to other smart devices in the factory. In addition, the teaching and simulation by non-robotics experts of many industrial collaborative robot systems like the KUKA LBR iiwa is a major challenge, since these systems are designed to be programmed by robot experts and not by shop floor workers or other non-experts. This paper describes the research and development activities done for reducing the barriers in operation and ensure holistic integration of LBR iiwa cobot in the assembly on the example of the ESB Logistics Learning Factory. These include a visual programming solution for the easy teaching of various tasks. Robotic tasts are classified based on common robotics applications and application-specific blocks abstracting specific actions are implemented. A factory worker with no programming competency cour create robot programs by combining these blocks using a Graphical User Interface. In addition, a simulation solution was developed to visualized, analyse, and optimize robotic workflow before deployment. an autonomous mobile robot is integrated with the LBR iiw to improve reconfigurability and thus also the productivity. The system as a whole is controlled using an event-driven distributed control system. Finally, the capabilities of the system are analysed based on the design principles of Industrie 4.0 and potential future research ideas are discussed to further improve the system.
The 21st century: an era where emojis and hashtags find their way into every sentence, where taking selfies, live tweeting and mining bitcoin are the norm, and where Insta-culture dictates what we say and do. This is the era into which the digital native was born. With so many changes in every aspect of our lives, how is it that one of the most influential aspects, our education, has remained unchanged? Our education system not only fails to appeal to today’s students, but more importantly, it fails to equip them with the skills required in the 21st Century. It is thus of no surprise that industries feel graduates entering the workplace lack skills in critical thinking, problem solving and self-directed learning. AI, machine learning and big data: Tools and mechanisms we so eagerly incorporate to create smart factories yet are hesitant to use elsewhere. Gamification and games have shown great results in education and training; with most research suggesting a stronger focus on personalization and adaptation. When combined with analytics and machine learning, the potential of games is yet to be realized. A real-time adaptive game would not only always present an appropriate degree of challenge for the individual but would allow for a shift in focus from the recitation of facts, to the application of information filtered to solve the particular problem at hand. South Africa, a country faced with a severe skills gap, could benefit greatly from games. If used correctly, they may just offer a desperately needed contribution toward equipping both current and future employees with the skills needed to survive in the 21st century. This paper explores the feasibility of using such games for enhanced knowledge dissemination and the upskilling of the workforce.
After the initiator of the ESB Logistics Learning Factory, Prof. Vera Hummel had made experience in developing and implementing a concept for a Learning Factory for Advanced Industrial Engineering (aIE) at the University of Stuttgart, Institute IFF between 2005 and 2008, she was appointed as a full professor at ESB Business School, a faculty of Reutlingen University in March 2010. Lacking a realistic, hands on learning and teaching environment of industrial scale for its industrial engineering students, first ideas for a Learning Factory that would strongly focus on all aspects of production logistics were drafted in 2012. Already back then, a strong integration of virtual and physical factory was desired: While the Learning Factory itself would be physical, the neighboring partners along the supply chain, such as suppliers or distribution warehouses, could be added in a fully virtual way. Considering implementation of the ESB Logistics Learning Factory a strategic initiative of the university, initial funding was provided by the faculty ESB Business School itself. Following its own creed, to provide future-oriented training for the region, also primarily local suppliers and manufacturers were selected as equipment providers to the new Learning Factory. During the initialization phase, 2014, a total of three researchers and nine students worked approximately four months to set up a first assembly line, storage racks, AGVs, or pick-by-light systems in conjunction with the underlying didactical concept. Since then, several hundred of students have participated in trainings and lectures held in the ESB Logistics Learning Factory, several research projects were carried out, and multiple high-level politicians and industry executives have been touring the shop floor. Also, more than EUR 2 million in research and infrastructure funds could be secured for expansion and upgrade — allowing the ESB Logistics Learning Factory today to represent many core aspects of an Industrie 4.0 production environment.
Due to Industry 4.0, the full value creation has the chance to undergo a fundamental technological transformation, the realisation of which, however, requires the commitment of every company for its own benefit. The new approaches of Industry 4.0 are often hardly evaluated, let alone proven, so that SMEs in particular often cannot properly estimate the potentials and risks, and often waiting too long with the migration towards Industry 4.0. In addition, they often do not pursue an integrated concept in order to identify possible potentials through changes in their business models. . As part of the research project "GEN-I 4.0 – Geschäftsmodell-Entwicklung für die Industrie 4.0” ", the ESB Business School at Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization FHG IAO were engaged by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation from 2016 to 2018 to develop tools and an approach how the local economy can develop digital business models for itself in a methodical, beneficial and targeted manner. Through international analyses and interviews GEN-I 4.0 gained and concretized the knowledge required for the evaluation and selection of solutions and approaches for the transfer to develop digital business models. Together with the know-how of the project partners on Industry 4.0 and business model development, the findings were incorporated into the development of two software tools with which SMEs are shown the potentials of Industry 4.0 for their individual business model, online and in selfassessment, and given a comprehensive structured, concrete approach to development, as well as their individual risk. Users of the tools are supported by the selected platform for the networking of different players to implement innovative business models accompanied by coaching concepts for the companies in the follow-up and implementation of the assessment results.
Changing requirements and qualification profiles of employees, increasingly complex digital systems up to artificial intelligence, missing standards for the seamless embedding of existing resources and unpredictable return on investments are just a few examples of the challenges of an SME in the age of digitalisation. In most cases there is a lack of suitable tools and methods to support companies in the digital transformation process in the value creation processes, but also of training and learning materials. A European research project (BITTMAS - Business Transformation towards Digitalisation and Smart systems, ERASMUS+, 2016-1 DE02-KA202-003437) with international partners from science, associations and industry has addressed this issue and developed various methods and instruments to support SMEs. Within the scope of a literature search, 16 suitable digitalisation concepts for production and logistics were identified. In the following, a learning platform with a literature database with multivariable sorting options according to branches and keywords of digitalisation, a video gallery with basic and advanced knowledge and a glossary were created in order to provide the user with consolidated and structured specialist knowledge. The 16 identifying concepts for transforming value-added processes in the context of digitalisation were transferred to a learning platform using developed learning paths in coaching and training to online course modules including test questions. A maturity model was developed and implemented in a self assessment tool for the analysis to identify the potential of digitalisation in production and logistics in relation to the current technological digitalisation level of the company. As a result, the user receives one or more of the 16 potential digitalisation concepts suggested or the delta for the necessary, not yet available enabler technologies is presented as a spider diagram. For a successful implementation of the identified suitable digitalisation concepts in production and logistics, a further tool was developed to identify supplementary requirements for all company divisions and stakeholders in relation to the "digital transformation" in the form of a self-evaluation. This paper presents the methods and tools developed, the accompanying learning materials and the learning platform.
The paper studies the deciding parameters that influence business students' selection of internships in Germany. The findings are based on literature research and a survey amongst students and company representatives and asks to rate the importance of 24 different aspects of internships. The benefits and negative impacts of internships on students, companies and universities are discussed in detail. The results of different demographic groups are compared.
Die anwendungsneutrale und vorsorgliche Verkabelung gibt es bereits seit über 25 Jahren. Die Materie ist zunehmend komplexer geworden. Das ursprünglich für die informationstechnische Vernetzung von Büros vorgesehene Konzept hat sich mit den Jahren auf weitere Anwendungsbereiche, z. B. in Rechenzentren und in industriell oder privat genutzten Bereichen ausgeweitet. Dabei hat jeder Anwendungsbereich neben einem allgemeinen Anforderungsprofil auch ein eigenes, spezifisches Regelwerk. Aufgrund der fortschreitenden Digitalisierung ist zudem eine ständige technologische Anpassung und Weiterentwicklung des Leistungsvermögens vonnöten. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird es zunehmend schwierig, die umfangreichen Normenwerke zu lesen, im Zusammenspiel zu begreifen und optimal anzuwenden.
Und genau hier setzt das Buch an! In dem vorliegenden Buch wird die Kommunikationskabelanlage von der Idee über die Planung, die Spezifizierung, Realisierung, Inbetriebnahme bis hin zur Wartung anschaulich und im Zusammenhang erläutert. Kernstück ist die Vorstellung und Beschreibung der aktuellen Normenreihen DIN EN 50173 (VDE 0800-173) und DIN EN 50174 (VDE 0800-174). Nachdem zunächst auf die Standortvoraussetzungen eingegangen wird, folgen die allgemeinen und spezifischen Anforderungen an informationstechnische Verkabelungen und die verwendeten Komponenten, Kabel bzw. Steckverbinder und zu guter Letzt die Planung, Spezifizierung, Umsetzung und messtechnische Bewertung der Installation. Den Autoren ist es dabei ein Anliegen, nicht nur das Grundverständnis zu den relevanten Anforderungsprofilen zu vermitteln, sondern auch den Blick für den Gesamtzusammenhang, beispielsweise zur Zukunftssicherheit und zum Einfluss unterschiedlicher Umweltbedingungen auf die Auslegung der Verkabelungskomponenten, zu behalten.
Die Faszination des "Touchpoint Airport" und der Trend hin zu immer mehr Mobilität machen Flughäfen für die werbungtreibende Wirtschaft zunehmend interessanter. Das belegen die Wachstumsraten der Out-of-Home-Werbung an Flughäfen und die Investitionen der Airports in analoge wie innovative digitale Medien. Der Grund dafür ist einfach: überdurchschnittlich kaufkräftige Zielgruppen lassen sich mit Flughafenwerbung über ihre gesamte Customer-Journey in einem besonderen Umfeld emotional ansprechen. Starken Brands bieten Airports die ideale Bühne für eine nachhaltige Markeninszenierung. Doch wie genau funktioniert Airport-Werbung, für welche Unternehmen eignet sich ein werblicher Auftritt am Flughafen, welche Zielgruppen lassen sich am Airport erreichen und wer sind die kompetenten Ansprechpartner für Airport-Werbung? Diese und viele weitere Fragen beantwortet das Jahrhuch Aiport Marketing 2020.
Nowadays, the demand for a MEMS development/design kit (MDK) is even more in focus than ever before. In order to achieve a high quality and cost effectiveness in the development process for automotive and consumer applications, an advanced design flow for the MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) element is urgently required. In this paper, such a development methodology and flow for parasitic extraction of active semiconductor devices is presented. The methodology considers geometrical extraction and links the electrically active pn junctions to SPICE standard library models and subsequently extracts the netlist. An example for a typical pressure sensor is presented and discussed. Finally, the results of the parasitic extraction are compared with fabricated devices in terms of accuracy and capability.
Due to the lack of sophisticated component libraries for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), highly optimized MEMS sensors are currently designed using a polygon driven design flow. The advantage of this design flow is its accurate mechanical simulation, but it lacks a method for an efficient and accurate electrostatic analysis of parasitic effects of MEMS. In order to close this gap in the polygon-driven design flow, we present a customized electrostatic analysis flow for such MEMS devices. Our flow features a 2.5D fabrication-process simulation, which simulates the three typical MEMS fabrication steps (namely deposition of materials including topography, deep reactive-ion etching, and the release etch by vapor-phase etching) very fast and on an acceptable abstraction level. Our new 2.5D fabrication-process simulation can be combined with commercial field-solvers such as they are commonly used in the design of integrated circuits. The new process simulation enables a faster but nevertheless satisfactory analysis of the electrostatic parasitic effects, and hence simplifies the electrical optimization of MEMS.