Logistics

Production is leaving Earth. As access to space becomes increasingly affordable and reliable, the idea of manufacturing in space is evolving from science fiction to a real industrial strategy. In this interview, Jan Wörner, who has headed not only the German Aerospace Center (DLR) but also the European Space Agency (ESA) for many years, talks about strategic opportunities and regulatory challenges.

The blockage of the Suez Canal in 2021, caused by the accident involving the container ship Ever Given, clearly illustrates the need to design global supply chains in such a way that they can respond quickly to disruptions. In a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment, conventional logistics processes that focus on efficiency, and supply chain management methods in particular, are increasingly reaching their limits. Resilience, achieved through a combination of robustness and agility, is essential to ensure responsiveness. This article analyzes how risk management information systems (RMIS) can increase resilience. The analysis covers data availability, data transparency, modeling and simulation of risk scenarios, and the development of appropriate emergency action plans. Despite existing challenges in designing IT infrastructure, the measures mentioned have the potential to increase resilience in logistics.

Predictive analytics opens up opportunities to improve decision-making in manifold areas, including in supply chain management (SCM). Yet, the complete realization of its potential requires the identification of the corresponding needs upfront. This paper provides a structured concept that guides through the complex and interdisciplinary endeavor of requirements analysis for predictive analytics in SCM. Due to the generic nature of this approach, it can be applied for any use case and be adapted or enhanced in case of need.

Digital twins connect physical and digital systems, furthering efficiency, enabling predictive maintenance, and allowing the production of more customized products. Despite these advantages, challenges such as high costs, data synchronization, and security risks hinder widespread adoption. This article explores the potential of digital twins and examines key barriers to integration and implementation, also considering some industrial applications including additive manufacturing as a relevant use case.

Load carriers are essential for transporting manufactured parts in manufacturing companies. Despite their ‘simplicity’, they are usually expensive to purchase as they are manufactured expressly to fit purpose. While tracking methods such as GPS tracking can be used to prevent the loss of load carriers, this is associated with monitoring costs and presents challenges with regard to data protection as soon as the work performance of intralogistics employees is monitored. Assigning load carriers to designated clusters and monitoring these clusters provides an effective solution—without drawing conclusions about employee performance. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can optimize this approach whilst also deterring the theft of load carriers.

Due to the higher customization of products to customer groups and needs, body-in-white manufacturing industries are facing higher variant assembly at the later stages of the production line, thus increasing production costs per unit. Flexible production processes that involve flexible material flows, non-rigid manufacturing sequences, and the automatic reconfiguration of tools are regarded as the pillars of a resilient production system. This article presents a conceptual solution for flexible Body-in-White sheet metal production with autonomous collaborative robotic systems to make product costs affordable for a higher competitive advantage.