Sustainability

Currently the realisation of the Digital Factory as the strategic goal for the next five years has been identified by many manufacturing enterprises. To achieve an integrated system planning and operation, the work is aimed at a comprehensive computer-based modelling of all design characteristics, structures and processes of a factory. This article scrutinises the technique-centred process for the realisation of the Digital Factory, which is currently favoured due to pragmatic reasons, and presents - based on the models in the Digital Factory - a comprehensive integration concept. To ensure the users’ acceptance, a user-oriented process considering enterprise-organisational requirements is preferred.

Airports as trans-shipment centres, within the transport networks of the world-wide air transport, represent complex knots of huge logistic networks. Cargo handling at airports is significantly determined by the location, the design and dimensioning of the cargo terminal, as well as by the internal and external handling relations. The examination and implementation of the modelling and simulation of relevant processes within a realistic part of an air cargo network is the focal point of this article. Its aim is to evaluate and design air cargo processes between two air cargo hubs and their respective origin and destination airports as a whole. It is shown that individual approaches to reduce costs of the parties involved are not as efficient as considering the whole transport network including all external handling relations.

RFID systems are yet waiting for their breakthrough in logistics. Today, radio-based identification systems are restricted to closed-loop supply chains and selected high-value applications. Mass applications are still tested in first pilot projects. The article describes the state-of-art in RFID and the foreseeable technology roadmap. Today’s and future applications of RFID are discussed with a focus on retail and manufacturing logistics. Finally, the most important issues of standardization and privacy are addressed.

The new Collaborative Research Centre “Autonomous Cooperating Logistic Processes: A Paradigm Shift and its Limitations”, funded by the German Research Foundation, started on January 1st, 2004 at the University of Bremen. The objective of the new Collaborative Research Centre is systematic and broad investigation and application of “autonomy” as a new paradigm for logistic processes. For this, appropriate concepts and models as well as methods and tools are being researched and developed in twelve scientific sub-projects. In a later phase of the Collaborative Research Centre, the results of this research will be transferred into real logistic applications.

The recent developments have changed the markets of producing indus-tries. To be successful, producing enterprises especially manufacturers of machinery and equipment have to exploit new potentials. Especially in production increased resource utilization offers the possibility to benefit from hidden chances to realize competitive advantage. Dominant for this purpose are Technology-Leverage-Effects with economic and ecological implications. Production will be successful sustain-able if adequate concepts of usage enable an optimized utilization rate.