Autor: Jürgen Fleischer

A robust and resilient supply chain is a critical success factor for the competitiveness of manufacturing companies. However, today’s supply chain faces various challenges, such as higher complexities and increasing dynamics coming from megatrends (i. e. globalization and sustainability). The medium-sized drive technology industry, with its global supply chains and high customer requirements, is particularly affected by these challenges. Therefore, digitalization initiatives are crucial. This article analyzes current digitalization projects in the drive technology industry in order to identify relevant trends and fields of application. Synthesized from the industry's target picture for higher resilience/ flexibility, greater transparency and more sustainability along the supply chain, these provide guidance for medium-sized companies and their digitalization strategies. (Only in German)

Due to sales and cost motives and ongoing globalisation, low-cost procurement markets are increasingly opened up by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These enterprises’ long-term success is directly linked to their success on these procurement markets. A procurement strategy which takes local market characteristics into account and fully integrates them will lead to success. The procurement process focuses on the selection of required components and the choice, support and further development of suppliers. The following article presents the “SiLu“ project approach (Sino-German cooperation for the support and further development of suppliers). The SiLu project comprises four SMEs that came together in order to elaborate a joint procurement strategy and to implement it on the Chinese market using their concerted buying power. Besides presenting this project the article focuses on the first project phase, the methodical selection of components and the identification of ...

Assembly of micro mechatronical systems in small to medium volumes is missing economical solutions for automation. Due to a great variety of processes characterized by high requirements and complexity automation is realized only in specialized manufacturing lines for mass production. As a result an automated micro-assembly is usually capital intensive. Considering a mechatronical actuator as an example an approach is described which enables an initial assembly in small volumes at a small space. Due to the modular design a reduction of investment cost and the demand on economic entry in micro-assembly is accomplished.

Due to increasing pressure of competition accompanied with the developments in information technology many companies consider speeding up and improving their business processes with regard to major orientation towards their customers. Employees which are involved in these business processes have to be supported by an improved and tailored information supply. One possibility for this support by new Information Compative Technologies (ITC) will be shown in this article on the basis of an example for a customer complaint process.

Due to shortening product life cycles and to the continuous enlargement of product ranges the ramp-up of production systems has become a significant criterion for innovation dynamics of producing companies. Besides the in-creasing technical complexity, a growing number of different parties are involved with different targets and interests. The result is a rising number of possible disturbances for the ramp-up process. In order to better control and shorten ramp-up projects, methods and tools have to be developed to manage the project along the complete value chain. The article gives an outlook on the ramp-up of the future by describing an approach that is the basis for a research project supported by the German ministry of research and education.