Autor: Martin Braun

Knowledge drives innovation, which is why digital platforms are increasingly used for knowledge transfer. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a global leader in digitalization and digital platforms are central to Chinese knowledge transfer and innovation systems. This study supplements theoretical concepts of knowledge transfer with empirical findings on the (further) development of relevant knowledge platforms. It examines the influence of specific design features on the functionality and quality of digital knowledge platforms. A literature review identifies seven condensed success criteria. Nine leading Chinese knowledge platforms are categorized based on their transfer logic and functional scope. Online survey participants assess the platform-specific manifestations of the identified criteria and highlight potential and areas for improvement in platform-based knowledge transfer.

Germany is the largest European trading partner of the People's Republic of China. The main exports are chemical products, machinery, motor vehicles and electrical engineering. However, German companies are finding it difficult to gain access to the Chinese B2C-market. E-commerce, which has been expanded in recent years, can enable German companies to enter the Chinese custom- er market. The article presents the situation of e-commerce in China and shows relevant support offers of the platform operators, which, however, can lead to economic dependency. For German companies, it seems advantageous to deal with the principles of success of Chinese e-commerce in order to implement them in their traditional markets.

The application of digital work assistance systems is gaining practical relevance on the shopfloor. Experience shows that the use of a work assistance system orients itself on the individual capabilities of its user and the specific work requirements. This excludes standard solutions. To order the variety of assistive functions in an application context, the assistance systems are classified in the present article. It also discusses the design requirements and applications use from an ergonomic perspective, which places the working man and his individual capabilities, which vary during working life, at the center of consideration. The reader can better assess the potential benefits and application limits of digital work assistance systems in an operational context.

In the course of digitization, the complexity and instability of business networks are considerably increasing. This has also serious effects on intralogistics. Under VUCA conditions, intralogistic systems develop into open, decentralized and self-organization networks of information-processing units. They adapt to the dynamic changes of their environment, by increasing their inner and outer varieties in a preventive manner. Digital technologies are not in a position to adequately control non-deterministic logistic systems; this task is essentially left to the working man. In order to overcome the challenges, appropriate models and methods of preventive work design are developed in the PREVILOG project. The paper presents cybernetic basics and preventive work design principles.