Business Models

The Autonomous Logistic Engineering Methodology (ALEM), which is developed within the Collaborative Research Center 637, provides several tools for creating models of autonomously controlled logistic systems. To evaluate such models, the ALEM framework is extended to include a simulation component. As the ALEM Models cannot run directly within simulation software, they are transformed using principles of the Model Driven Architecture. To enable the transformation several open source tools can be applied. This article evaluates a selection of such tools with the aim of integrating them into ALEM.

Due to increased market turbulence, firms not only are faced with the decision to use open source software, but also consider releasing their proprietary software under an open source license. Beside the appropriateness as an open source product this raises the question of how to profit from giving something away which then is available for free. This article contributes to this discussion by addressing possible open source business models with regard to the type of software.

Grid and cloud computing open up new possibilities for small and medium sized companies. On the basis of two use cases from the fields of deep drawing and casting process simulations we show different ways to utilize grid and cloud technology to enable the companies to offer new services and to employ new business models.

Dynamics and complexity of today`s production systems bring established approaches for production planning and control to their limits. Accordingly, developing new concepts and methods is a key point for research in this area. The combination of a decentralized control structure and innovative methods from the field of artificial intelligence seems promising here. Open source tools have proven their applicability to implement those methods. They are disposable and can be flexibly adapted to many problems. This contribution introduces an approach for the decentralized control of a shop floor. Here, artificial neuronal networks are used as adaptive control instruments. The simulation of these networks is performed with the open source tool Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator (SNNS) and its successor Java Neural Network Simulator (JNNS).

More and more companies use open source software for planning and control of their business processes. The article describes advantages and disadvantages of open source ERP solutions. Additional tables show technical aspects of today’s open source ERP solutions.

In the last few years industrial companies remark that industrial services offer an interesting opportunity for companies to improve their company performance. To exploit this opportunity these companies have to clearly distinguish themselves from their competitors. Against this background the question what are the decisive factors of success for industrial services have to be explored. In an empirical study we got evidence that the success factors depending on different kind of services. Furthermore the following article discusses reasons for the interesting empirical results achieved.

In the tire replacement business, customers increasingly recognize and use e-Commerce as a sales and distribution channel. A survey of the ETH Zurich indicates that up to now tire producers hardly operate online platforms - even though the future growth potential of online distribution is substantial. The tire producers should react quickly and with a thought-through approach to the challenges of online trading in order to take advantage of this distribution channel. An intensive cooperation with local tire assemblers is decisive for making the online distribution channel work, because customers still require a professional tire fitting.

The creation and configuration of innovative business models within the sheet metal forming industry focuses on the development of saleable product-service-combinations. It is necessary to integrate these product-service-combinations in adequate value chain configurations. To charge the output of the product-service-combinations appropriate revenue models must be selected and configured. This article shows an integrative methodology for redesigning existing and creating new business models.

Latest publications in journals and newspapers tend to draw a cheerless future for companies producing in Western Europe. This is reason enough to analyze the companies still competing successfully in high cost countries. What kinds of success factors have these companies in common? Based on a benchmarking project, 48 companies have been identified, which, in comparison to their competitors, stand out with a superior development of their market share, sales and margin. Out of these, the four most successful companies have been chosen to gain a better understanding of the success factors of producing in high cost countries.

Transparency concerning direct and indirect costs that occur per product variant within the entire supply network is vital for the successful management of high product diversity. The introduction of variant classes and core processes is a promising approach to achieve transparency of costs for each company as well as for the supply network. By means of activity-based costing, the variant costs can be calculated and subsequently analyzed in order to realize an improved planning of product design, business processes and supply network.