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Digitalen Plattformen im Kontext von Industrie 4.0 werden zahlreiche Potenziale zugeschrieben. Allerdings birgt deren Implementierung und Nutzung einige Herausforderungen, insbesondere für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Herausforderungen durch digitale Plattformen mithilfe von qualitativ-empirischen Interviews von 83 Experten aus mittelständischen deutschen Industrieunternehmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter anderem Herausforderungen in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Konkurrenzdenken und Koordinationsaufwand existieren. Aus den Ergebnissen können strategische Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet werden, wie mittelständische Unternehmen den Herausforderungen begegnen können, um die Potenziale von digitalen Plattformen zu heben.

Complexity of construction projects requires continuous documentation. Within the framework of the mPRO research project, a software-supported functional model is being developed in cooperation with community4you AG for flexible project documentation. In this article, project environment factors are considered as the basis for a successful integration of mobile technology.

Process modeling represents a challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises. In most cases, the added value is not recognized and is therefore rarely used. This article shows the potential of process modeling in order picking processes. The focus is on the documentation of the processes as well as their execution. Deficits in companies are pointed out and clarified, how the process modeling can solve these. Above all in the management of different process variants adaptive process modeling can show advantages. The resulting adaptive process models form the basis for making processes executable.

Kinematic profile bending processes, such as three-roll profile bending, are known for their high flexibility with regard to the manufacturable contours. However, the low degree of automation and the predominantly manual quality control lead to a high personnel and time expenditure. The Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Darmstadt and Herkules Wetzlar GmbH have carried out an implementation project to record and digitize the contour of curved profiles. With the results achieved, the added value through the implementation of sensor technology in production could be demonstrated.

Comparison and evaluation from research findings of 28 process models considering digitalization measures are presented. Furthermore, our own-developed process model, based upon interviews with professional managers, is reported. Our process model enables managers to deal with technology coming along with industry 4.0, such as the implementation of socio-technologies.

Opportunities arising from new technologies like smart mobile devices and augmented reality have a huge impact on the manufacturing industry but are not taken advantage of when it comes to productivity analysis. As a consequence productivity analyses are rarely used and companies cannot benefit from a systematic approach to tackle improvement processes. This paper presents a productivity analysis method that uses a web-based application for data acquisition and is designed in a way that enables production staff to perform analyses on their own.

Industry 4.0 and digitalisation are also increasingly finding their way into everyday production processes in SMEs. The focus is e. g. on assistance systems that support employees in their work. Resulting communication is significantly facilitated and at the same time the required information is available at the appropriate workplace at the right time. The ‘Mittelstand 4.0 Kompetenzzentrum Chemnitz‘ has dedicated itself to this challenge together with two SMEs.

The digital interactions along the value chain pose new challenges for managing information and knowledge. The objectives of this article are to describe the changes in knowledge-based value creation induced by digitalisation and to derive fields of action for knowledge management for Industry 4.0. The “knowledge ladder 4.0” shows how digital technologies can transform strategic and operative knowledge management. Subsequently, we offer a framework for the knowledge-oriented design of dynamic digital organisations that consists of three layers of activities for the operation, reflection and design of knowledge management illustrated with leading questions and case examples in order to promote the productive, responsible and sustainable usage of digital technologies.

Graduates in logistics management find themselves in working environments characterised by developments in digitalisation, automation and decentralisation. These trends are often summarised as “Logistics 4.0” when they take place in the field of logistics. In order to prepare students for these trends before they leave their university, laboratories equipped with the appropriate technologies could be used. This article describes how such a laboratory could be set up and what components it could consist of.

The digitalisation of the working world leads to the need and at the same time to the possibility of qualifying employees in a context-oriented, individual and process-oriented way. The challenge in this context is the target-oriented and coordinated use of different learning forms and systems. The present contribution provides an approach for combining content-related and structural gamification in e-learning and the increase of motivation for e-learning as well as knowledge consolidation through mobile learning by means of a game application tailored to the sector of application. To this end, the need to adapt education to digital change is described at the beginning, the pillars of the envisaged concept (gamification, e-learning and mobile learning) are classified, an implementation of the application case of the maintenance of wind turbines is delivered and, finally, the results of the evaluation as well as the added value of this contribution are discussed.