Typeset

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.

The market for technical services is currently undergoing a transformation that is having an impact on the business models and structures of companies in this market. This change also has consequences for the specialists at technical service providers: In addition to new technical knowledge, they have to communicate more with customers and partners in particular. These interactions are not always free of conflict and can become stressful for employees. The article shows examples of how technical service companies can improve the interaction situation of their employees with organizational measures.

Learning factories offer the possibility to plan, execute and analyze the knowledge imparted in theory on realistic industrial systems. This article analyzes the potential of developing and operating a learning factory in a virtual environment. For this purpose, institutions with learning factories are surveyed regarding the challenges and desires in the operation of learning factories and the mentioned aspects are discussed with regard to their representability in Virtual Reality. The result shows that Virtual Reality positively influences a large part of the aspects and has a high potential to solve current challenges in the establishment and operation of learning factories.

Holistic production systems (HPS) do not only produce positive effects in large companies - they also have an impact on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as improved adherence to delivery dates. However, HPS cannot be copied from large companies to SMEs due to different initial situations and circumstances. The introduction of HPS means a high effort for SMEs. In this paper, an approach is presented on how a bionic principle can make HPS less costly and at the same time more effective for SMEs.

The article addresses the digital transformation in international corporations. Using the example of the MANN+HUMMEL group, it will be shown how the digital maturity level can be measured in a group with several production locations and how the transformation process can be simplified and accelerated by identifying and using group-wide best practice solutions.