Open Access Articles

The COVID-19 crisis had an unmistakable impact on the procurement situation in global supply chains, to which companies had to adapt quickly. The effects make it clear that to reduce risks, companies must address the structure and transparency of supply chains. The following article examines what knowledge the actors have and how digitalization can lead to further improvement. The results show that companies currently have little supply chain knowledge beyond their direct suppliers, but are increasingly able to obtain the supply chain data they require. At the same time, the results indicate that there is still potential to increase transparency and the use of data.

The combination of product service systems and big data requires a change in the existing, traditional business models and a repositioning of the companies. Since these changes are often a challenge, this article uses the example of predictive maintenance to present the influences of big data and product service systems on the business models of medium-sized companies in mechanical and plant engineering. Based on a systematic literature review in combination with expert interviews, numerous practical business model implications were obtained, providing sound guidance for industry representatives.

Precise stochastic demand calculation is the key to successful material planning, i. e. to always have exactly the right quantity on hand. However, decision-makers are faced with the dilemma of which of the many forecasting methods they should use, adapted to the item properties as much as possible. This paper examines the optimization potential of a self-developed automatically optimizing forecasting approach based on ten common forecasting methods, which are evaluated using two case studies from the capital goods industry.

Digital twins (DT) for circular economy (CE) offer a promising approach as part of digital data ecosystems for more sustainable value creation. By mapping and analyzing product, component and material specific data along the li- fecycle, it is possible to address current challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity. Within Catena-X, specific solutions based on this cross-company exchanged data and information are developed. Here, the “R-Strategy Assistant” is presented. It is an application, which identifies the best CE-Strategy based on DT data at the end of a vehicle's life.

Resource-efficient businesses have become increasingly important for companies in recent years. Although this brings new potentials, the practical implementation in the form of suitable business models is accompanied by challenges. In this paper, we will examine which concepts and methods already exist for the development of circular and resource- efficient business models and show approaches and solutions from science and practice using the example of interdisciplinary research projects.

How can organisations successfully participate in interoperable and decentralised data ecosystems? To answer this question, this paper presents a process model using the transport logistics industry as an example, which methodically describes the collaborative and interdisciplinary development of services in the decentralised federated data ecosystem Gaia-X [6]. The model supports evaluation and decision-making processes within the development of decentralised data ecosystems in practice and helps IT decision-makers and participating stakeholders to identify the relevant communication flows in a use case. It can be used independently for specific use cases, data spaces and connector technologies and ensures that the communication and alignment of individual development statuses in a decentrally organised framework is comprehensible and understandable for the overall context.

Blockchain is seen as an enabler to increase the efficiency, transparency, and security of information exchange in supply chains. An important application area is maritime logistics, as blockchain facilitates the digitalization of documents and increases the efficiency of the processes. In this article, we elaborate on the example of temperature-controlled container transports the potential for adopting blockchain and the requirements to be considered from the technological and organizational environment.

The potential of platform-based business models in the context of Industry 4.0 has not yet been fully realized. Approaches for platforms and ecosystem- based value creation vary between industries. The plastics industry has so far been widely ignored in this respect. Due to its industrial structure, in particular the uniform value creation structures, the plastics industry is suitable for digital platforms. In addition to approaches for platforms in the injection molding industry, the article offers a procedure model for the expansion of established business models. This can facilitate the entry into the field of platform-based business models for SMEs.

New types of value creation characterized by extensive data use and cross-company data sharing are becoming increasingly important for companies. However, many barriers slow down the path towards data-based value creation, especially for SMEs. Companies often lack specific ideas for data usage or digitalization and data competencies. As a result, there is often untapped value creation potential in companies. By describing a real laboratory setting with real experiments, this article demonstrates support options for companies to identify their own "data treasure" and to lift it.

Additive manufacturing, i.e. the printing of three- dimensional workpieces from different materials, offers the possibility of quickly producing functional prototypes. Digital optimisation is an important building block for the rapid implementation of functional product ideas. Based on digital models, the product is virtually optimised and continuously improved. Once the product has been digitally optimised in terms of its properties, it is checked and, if necessary, adapted for additive manufacturing. The product is then manufactured, reworked and finally tested. The article shows the optimisation possibilities using the example of a dispenser from the food industry. An existing component is digitised, a flow optimisation is carried out on the digital model and the improved product is additively manufactured.