Product Development

The trend toward digitization o ers considerable potential; this is particularly true in supply chain management (SCM). However, not every technology is suitable for every company and its processes. This article presents a structured approach that supports companies in the selection process. The approach consists of several phases: Starting with the identi cation of business goals and ending with the selection of those technologies that seem most promising. Its applicability was tested in a research project at a logistics service provider. It is easily transferable to a concrete decision-making situation.

The challenges facing production in the 21st century are multifaceted and complex. In particular, the consequences of global warming have fundamentally changed the conditions for modern production. In dealing with these challenges, the circular economy is seen as having great potential. This article develops a strategy for the successful implementation and realization of the circular economy for a climate-friendly production. For this purpose, a holistic circular product lifecycle is developed, along which circular strategies are systematically identified. The concept is illustrated by a practical example of a smartphone manufacturer.

Engineers are often uncertain about the application of machine learning (ML) due to the amount of different machine learning methods and the complexity of modeling. Thus, the use of ML applications in manufacturing companies remains behind the technical possibilities. This paper presents an intuitive ML guideline for engineers to reduce this uncertainty. The guideline comprises a process model with AI-based solutions to common problems of product development and production. An industrial example is used to demonstrate the functionality and the possibilities of the guide.

Customer orientation and individualization will be two of the biggest challenges for companies. They need to expect their business model to become more complex as the range and diversity of their products and services will increase. Those who find a smart approach of managing the complexity will have a decisive competitive advantage. Those who use modularization across products, services, production and the organisation, will be prepared to deliver individual value propositions more quickly and their profitability will not be jeopardised by their own complexity.

Internal and external communication is a key success factor for Industrial Data Science (IDS) projects. In particular, complex issues must be prepared and presented comprehensively. Visualization contributes to a uniform and deep understanding of data, processes, models, and results by all parties involved. This article shows the practical benefits of different visualisations for communication and documentation in the respective phases of IDS projects.

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.

By integrating specific material properties through the manufacturing process Selective Laser Melting (SLM) into a topology optimization, the product engineer can be supported by simulation in the design process. For this purpose, a topology optimization method is being developed which takes the process-specific material properties of the SLM into account during the optimization process. This method is part of a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). In this article, the influence of these specific material properties on the design is presented.

In this paper, the creation of strength and stiffness-adapted structural nodes using the numerical simulation method of topology optimization is presented. The resulting node is transferred into a robot path planning by means of CAD/CAM software and manufactured with wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) with the GMAW process using the welding filler material G4Si1.

Efficient product development can be a decisive factor in a company’s competition - it quickly falls behind who has to cope without simulation technologies. For large companies, these have long since become part of everyday life. But for small and medium-sized companies, they often remain wishful thinking for reasons of capacity and know-how. But: They, too, can benefit from the advantages of simulation with the right support and appropriate training programs.