Autor: Michael Freitag

3D printing has established itself as a production process and has also found its way into the fashion industry. Individualised shoes can be 3D printed, but this poses significant challenges for automated quality control, as defects are rare. Autoencoders enable to train a system with defect-free data so that detected deviations from this state can be evaluated as defects. Our research shows a ROC AUC score of 0.87, proving that this method is suitable for anomaly detection in 3D-printed shoes.

Maritime container transport is the backbone of international trade and supply and distribution processes in global manufacturing networks. However, digital support of container transportation related processes is still insu cient. This article shows how a digital platform can facilitate the digital interaction between industry and logistics stakeholders. Using the quotation process as an example, it describes how the platform can support transactions between shippers and transport service providers. Use of the digital platform increases process transparency, reduces duplication of work and reduces the time required to carry out the processes.

The use of LNG propulsion in ships has significant environmental benefits but also creates chal- lenges in handling. Due to safety regulations, the maintenance of the LNG ship systems requires a high degree of reliability and accuracy. Thus, this paper deals with the development and evaluation of an AR-assistance system. The system based on an Android smartphone enables users to access maintenance instructions and manuals and supports the work process step by step through context-sensitive virtualizations. Its evaluation was conducted as a combined quantitative and qualitative user study.

This paper focuses on the investigation of current technical challenges in the context of industrial Virtual Reality (VR)-based training applications. This paper analyzes the current state of the art of industrial VR applications and provides a structured overview of the existing technical challenges. The identified challenges are discussed based on an industrial training scenario for the safe handling of electrical components.

Efficiency in container terminal operations is key for competitiveness. Many large German terminals use the flexible but relatively risk-laden manned straddle carriers (SCs). The research project STRADegy evaluated the reliability and profitability of automated SCs in northern-German container terminals via a combination of a pilot installation and an emulation at the container terminal in Wilhelmshaven. Parallel to that, rollout-guidelines were developed. This paper introduces central results regarding a successful rollout of auto-SC-systems.

The increasing shortage of IT specialists requires lower-skilled employees to be empowered to perform tasks that previously required the involvement of experts. Industry 4.0’s emerging technologies for human-technology interaction and for the digital twin allow the design of intuitive user interfaces, system-independent communication interfaces, and user-specific assistance functionalities to meet this challenge. This paper presents a framework for configuring and monitoring of process flows for different production and logistics systems. By reviewing existing programming approaches, the paper derives requirements for the framework, describes its general architecture and the technical realization of the modular interaction interface. A prototypical implementation validates the presented concept on the example of a cellular conveyor system and a collaborative robot system.

Intense global competition, shorter product life cycles and an increasing number of variants require flexible and adaptable, but at the same time economical production and logistics systems. This requires constant replanning of factories and logistics systems. Value-adding processes are being outsourced to contract logistics providers. Contract logistics planners must respond to tenders as quickly as possible and develop a proposal with an initial planning concept and a cost estimation. Despite standardization efforts in planning, the knowledge is often only implicit at the planners. This article describes the need for support by an AI-based assistance system during the planning process and how a digital platform for such an assistance system should look like.

The employee remains a key productivity element in industrial assembly. Assembly assistance systems have therefore become an integral part of employee support. This paper presents a novel assistance system that complements process-related assistance with human-centered functionalities. In addition, an approach for the systematic evaluation of assembly assistance systems is presented in this paper. The research is based on an evaluation of the current state of the art through systematic market analysis of available assembly assistance systems.

Due to the possibility of operator intervention, semi-autonomous systems allow for a better handling of complexity than fully autonomous systems. The use of a digital twin provides a novel interface for interaction with such systems. This paper describes the implementation of the control and user interface in a system with a digital twin. It is shown how the developed control architecture can be combined with different methods of human-machine interaction and virtual training. With this extended use of the control system by a digital twin the concept can be extended beyond the operation phase and can be used in other phases of the product life cycle.

The food production process and raw material specific parameters significantly influence the quality of the final product. Furthermore, for products with several ingredients, complex parameter effects occur. This complexity causes the desire for a production control that considers these effects and orientates on final product quality. This article describes the state of the art and derives requirements form a case study in a delicatessen food production system. In summary, this paper presents a concept for production control with special consideration of the final product quality for the production of delicatessen salads.