Autor: Birgit Spanner-Ulmer

Due to demographic change, fundamental transformations in economy and society can be identified in Germany and other European countries. The requirements on companies regarding increasing flexibility and innovation skills proceed parallel to demographic change. Hence, research on demographics in innovative working environments can deal with these changes in positive ways. The article describes two design tools: first the modular age explorer MAX which makes demographic change perceptible for young people and second flexible, generation-heterogeneous organizations which provide both innovation and value potential. These tools enable generation-heterogeneous communication and work systems for the researchers and all departments.

The development of new products is necessary in order to ensure a company´s survival. But, if badly planned, this also could lead to a corporate crisis. An early customer and competition orientation results in need-based and competitive products and is therefore considered as an essential requirement for innovation success. However, due to a lack of know how concerning the application of appropriate instruments, especially small and medium sized enterprises face big challenges. In this report, the development of a method kit is introduced, which supports a customer and competition oriented product development process during the early innovation phase by providing a suitable and applicable collection of methods in order to implement the development process in practice.

Companies are constantly exposed to radical change. One approach to addressing these challenges is changeable production systems. Changeable production systems can only be as adaptable as the human being who is working in them. An integrated view of the dimensions of human beings, technology and organization is essential in this context. The Institute of Industrial Management and Factory Systems has wide experience and competences in the field of research of adaptable production. This is supported by the lab area of the IBF, called IBF-Lab, which allows interdisciplinary research. Practical application is demonstrated using an example of a research project.

More and more virtual tools are used for issues of product ergonomics and human factors in production. This article describes the use of digital human models as virtual tools used in CAx systems, PLM systems and in the digital factory. An empirical study with users of these systems shows the benefits working with these systems and the problems, which have to be solved in the future. The main question, answered by the article, is: Will virtual ergonomic tools be used by experts in the future or will these tools become a standard for constructing engineers and production planners?

Communication is the elementary base of a company’s process flows. Its influence on employees and the company itself is vital and any deficiency leads to a decreased company success. Based on the aims of communication, a procedure to establish and implement a communication concept as a component of a company-specific communication culture is introduced.

Due to decreasing product life cycles, enterprises are determined to continually reconsider production and technology sequences in order to maintain their competitiveness. Given the rapid shift in today’s working environments, especially concerning duties and required qualifications, enterprises face the challenge to meet new, technology-driven demands in the context of demographic change. This article presents an approach to the issue of reconciling the altering skills of ageing employees with future worlds of technology in a systematic way.