Process Management

Within structured wikis we can combine the web 2.0-advantages - flexibility, collective intelligence, self-organization and participation - with process oriented knowledge work. These wikis are able to use process structures to support complex processes. Thus, a structured wiki supports knowledge work in know-ledge intensive processes. Users are not bound to strict processes as the wiki technology enables creativity by definition. This paper shows the differences between traditional and structured wikis by example.

Quality assurances in the automotive industry pose additional processing times which are highly fluctuating and difficult to calculate. Within the rework processes the registration of vehicle positions is done manually. As a result the available information is not continuous and sufficient for an efficient control of these processes. Radio frequency identification (RFID) based positioning systems are one possibility to track the vehicles in the rework process automatically and to provide the required information. This paper presents the potential of a RFID-based positioning system in the rework area as well as examples for technical realization.

The implementation and adaption of the Toyota Production System during the 90’s of the last century brought a significant change to the organization of production especially in large scale and mass production for example automotive industries. This change is especially evident for the functioning of material supply. Before the organizational change workers in manufacturing and assembly had to manage the supply of materials mostly on their own. Nowadays this function is handled by the logistics department in most cases. The advantage of this reorganization was a stronger concentration of workers on their main tasks. In the beginning the change process in material supply was considered very skeptically. Today most experts are certain that producing industries cannot meet rising market requirements without an efficient logistics department. This fact is especially true for manufacturing and assembly in high wage countries like Germany. Till now the described change process has not yet ...

The handling of customer-individual requirements, product variants and a worldwide market requires the professionalization of knowledge-intense processes. Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) often have excellent individual competencies, but lack a systematic management of the associated knowledge. IT-solutions for Knowledge Management in SMEs provide limited functionalities and are thus rarely used. Therefore, a need exists for the business process oriented approach for Knowledge Management in SMEs, featured in this article. Implemented in a portal for information management, it supports optimization of knowledge-intense processes.

The complexity of nowadays logistics processes calls for new approaches to improve the logistics performance. The concept of autonomous logistics processes has proven to be a promising way to cope with these challenges. In this paper the idea of autonomous product manufacturing will be presented with a special focus on the development of locked flexibility potentials. In particular we introduce a new way to let products decide by themselves what to become and how.

Wearable computing systems allow the support of workers in ongoing processes of automotive logistics. In a previous research project a wearable computing system, which is called easyTracing System, was developed. To this date, the easyTracing System is not technically mature because of the following reasons: First of all, the system was just tested in a laboratory. Hence, field tests are necessary, for example respective robustness. Besides, for supporting workers an efficient method for process controlling has to be developed. Both to make the technology of the easyTracing System workable and to develop an efficient method for process controlling are objects of research. This paper presents an approach for both development projects with the characteristic of a simultaneous processing.

There are several ways to manufacture complex products such as sophisticated optical elements. A process chain for optics consists generally of three to four process steps. But for each step there are several different processes, materials and coatings. To recommend a certain process chain it is essential to have a method that can predict the future costs and consider relevant quality aspects. The development of such a method is going to be described in this article.

From the production site Salzgitter of the MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG CKD-sets (Completely Knocked Down) for trucks and bus chassis are sent to a global production network. In the receiving countries the CKD-sets are assembled with support of MAN. The main chances of the CKD- production are the exploitation of new markets and the increase of competitiveness. The CKD production was traditionally attached to the business unit logistics. Since 2009 it is an integral part of the production at the MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG. This allows to adapt the “lean principles”, which are used in the local production lines, much more easily. Hereby it is possible to react to the high requirements of the production and logistics processes in the CKD production. In this paper special requirements of the CKD production and solutions will be shown. The main focus is on approaches to process optimization within the production network and the transfer of lean management methods from the field of production in the ...

In many industries the success of companies depends on efficient and sustainable processes: In which way higher output can be achieved by less resource consumption? Many process optimization projects improve single processes but not the whole process chain. Thus a high amount of potentials of resource efficiency are unutilized in manufacturing. For realising enormous achievements energy and resource efficiency have to be integrated into the optimization process.

Against the background of complex and volatile value chains the success factor quality is gaining increasingly in importance. Today, product quality and process quality as well as their continuous improvement are the basis for entrepreneurial success. Thus quality controlling becomes a central function in order to assure competitiveness of companies. New approaches are in demand in order to fulfil quality requirements along value chains and in order to link quality management systems with quality controlling. By an inter-divisional and company-wide implementation of Quality Gates these requirements can be met.