Product Development

In process engineering, one thinks of production operations that are controlled or regulated by sensors and actuators. And any realization of matter transformation is based on a physical substratum, which holds equally for living systems and their behaviour. The article distinguishes between three system levels: the functional level, the interface to the environment and the cognitive level of. Using these three levels, the learning cycle or the previous Cognitive Loop can be very well illustrated. If one compares with this way of distinction the Bio-Informatization of human intelligence with the technical development stages of mechanization, automation, regulation and deep learning, then the cybernetic-sociological term “operational closure” becomes understandable. It becomes obvious that in the context of a digitized culture of production and organization, we should be prepared for a new kind of cognitive loop based on silicon (SI), an intelligent system behavior via ...

The performance of assistance systems, especially in the automotive sector, has become an unique selling point. The trend toward Autonomous driving represents the expected impact of innovation resulting from the exploitation of the latest technologies. Besides autonomous driving, other areas of application for autonomous systems could trigger social change - the prime example being industrial production. The following article presents a planning approach tailored to the complex engineering task of planning and designing autonomous systems for industrial applications.

Implementing Industry 4.0 as the digital Agenda in all manufacturing industries and thereby increasing the competitiveness is a matter of course and clearly also applicable for the food and beverage industry. With altering customer behaviours, legal requirements as well as the increasing specialization, the industrial sectors are facing continuous challenge. Even though the automation of facilities in many cases is already put into practice, the structured integration into a holistic data concept is often missing. Through the digital networking of all processes, innovative solutions are on offer. What does Industry 4.0 mean for the food and beverage industry, where the opportunities lie and which specific implementation measures are available is subject to this article.

The story behind “Industry 4.0” has a much bigger scope as it is talked about, according to the authors particularly in the management of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For this reason the paper on one hand lists the essential prerequisites for Industry 4.0, on the other hand it describes the features of the “Digitalisation” which make the upcoming move revolutionary. A consequent digitalisation of processes in organisations in terms of automation takes away people’s effort for decision-making as well as semi-autonomous, networked artificial intelligence (AI) does. This facilitates and irritates participants of organisation equally. The digital transformation will have consequences for production and organisation therefore, i.e. this change will influence technology and corporate culture.