Design

eProcurement systems enable employees to handle the purchase of C-parts and indirect requirements independently with a minimum of work. This article explains how this can free up space for the strategically decisive procurement of A and B parts. The basic idea is to outsource the operative procurement activity to those who have the demand - so-called demand carriers. Decisive for the success of this approach is the right mix of individual freedom and sufficient control. Here, eProcurement solutions offer various levers that the purchasing department can configure according to the respective company situation. (Only in German)

The aviation industry faces significant challenges in reducing the environmental impact of global air traffic. This results in the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Innovations and new technologies must be implemented along the entire value chain to achieve this goal. In this context, investments and decisions have to be evaluated based on their potential to reduce environmental impacts. One method for operationalizing these issues is the life cycle assessment framework. This paper presents an analytical decision model for the potential assessment of LCA at aircraft manufacturers. The basis of the model is the derivation of criteria for the assessment and the identification of use cases along the value creation process. Based on the decision model, first concrete application scenarios are identified. (Only in German)

Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory have become a real source of hope and are the technological answer to some of the biggest challenges of our time: sustainable production, global interconnections, intelligent exchange of knowledge. This special issue discusses research questions relating to process improvement, artificial intelligence and factory software.

The use of industrial robots in additive manufacturing has been increasing in recent years. Particularly due to the voluminous installation space and the great flexibility, they are predestined for the production of large-volume, individualised components. The multi-axis movement options of the print head attached to the end effector in conjunction with a swivel-tilt unit of the build platform mean that support structures can be dispensed with, which represents a major economic advantage.

Climate neutrality and digitisation are two future-relevant and interlinked topics that are gaining in importance for manufacturing companies. However, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it is often difficult to get an overview of the concepts and practical measures in these fields. This article presents a maturity model that offers companies practical assistance in combining the goals of climate neutrality and digitisation and in identifying suitable (digitisation) measures for the company to support the transformation towards climate-neutral production. (Only in German)

Additive manufacturing is an increasingly important manufacturing technology with huge economical potential. However, its popularity is accompanied by high material and time losses, as defects are often detected at a very late stage. One solution for a more sustainable production is the automated detection of manufacturing defects using artificial intelligence. This article describes the digitization of the defect detection process in additive manufacturing using a system based on a neural network. In addition to the steps for automated defect detection, system performance is also discussed.

The impact of rapid technological change in a competitive global market is reaching small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) at an increasing rate; digitalization increases the interconnectedness among manufacturers, products and customers. Within this context, SME need to improve both their business processes and their technological capabilities in order to achieve internal and external sustainability goals, to be successful in the marketplace and to meet customer needs. This article discusses the opportunities of digitalization to improve sustainability by presenting two use cases from SME.

The manufacturing of products ties up energy as well as material resources. The awareness of consumers and producers as well as legislative activities to achieve a sustainable use of available resources are developing much too slowly. In this paper, a local remanufacturing approach is presented, which makes it possible to reduce resource consumption, to promote local enterprises and to offer efficient solutions for the regional reuse of goods.