Digitale Transformation

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) radically changes value creation in the manufacturing industry. Dynamic environmental factors, technical complexity, and limited resources cause many companies to be left behind. As a principle borrowed from strategic planning, business ecosystems can provide new ways of interorganizational collaboration and thus dynamize efforts to internalize specific IIoT knowledge. Especially in an early phase of trend scouting and idea generation, ecosystems can be seen as a highly effective venturing concept.

Manufacturing companies, particularly small and medium-sized ones, should be supported in their Digital Transformation (Industry 4.0) and its implementation of necessary transformation measures. This article introduces a study on models and self-assessments for industry 4.0 maturity level analyses, together with a regulation framework for productivity management, which both helping companies to identify the potential that can be realised with Industry 4.0 considering their current economic activities and business options.

Industry 4.0 forces companies to keep their business models up-to-date to keep their competitiveness and to satisfy customer demands. Key words like “individual production” and “lot size one” put pressure on companies to adapt their current production to the new requirements. Especially for companies with a mass production this sounds like a 180° turn. Furthermore, no best-practices for introducing industry 4.0 exist and therefore, one cannot rely on such hold points. Nevertheless, a structured transformation of the own business model towards industry is not impossible.

An investigation of Industry 4.0 project examples of selected companies with a focus on possible resulting business model innovations shows that these innovations can certainly be triggered by Industry 4.0 projects. How-ever, the results of our investigation also show that the share of business model innovations with 22% out of the 158 selected companies is, however, at a rather low range. Disruptive business model innovations are mainly found in companies of the manufacturing industry. Their focus is no longer only on the production or processing of products, but also on a clear added value for the customer. In this article, these aspects are further elaborated and selected study results are presented.

One ear on the phone while checking e-mails and revising a text at the same time - that’s life today in many offices all over the world. Constant digital change makes great demands of companies and their staff. People are expected to be available 24/7 while multi-tasking and coping with high noise levels in open-plan offices as well as dealing with constant disruptions in the work process. Together with working on-call or on-demand, these are just some of the challenges and tasks that have to be managed. How can staff continue to be efficient and productive despite all these and more changes to the working world? Are companies prepared for the demands of the digital age? Which adjustments will they have to make to protect staff from excessive demands on the one hand, while boosting efficiency and productivity on the other?

Digital transformation leaves only a few aspects of the relationship between customers and companies unaffected. This also applies to payment flows that stream between parties. Goods and services, which are fundamentally changing under the influence of the new technical possibilities, are also sold and bought differently. For the systematic search of new possibilities to monetarise own offers, the so-called Objects of Revenue are suitable. These are objects within the company, which are directly linked with or are able to be linked to payment flows.

The digital transformation of business models plays a special role, because business models contain different elements, which can be digitally transformed. The complexity of production and logistics systems generates the demand for robust and error-resistant control options in the pursuit of corporate objectives. The control of production and logistics systems, especially, is often inadequately managed with methods of exact mathematical specifications alone. The objective of the following contribution is to define introduce a roadmap, including some examples for some instruments.

Due to an ongoing digitization of everyday life and fast changes in the business environment, enterprises face numerous external and internal challenges. In order to stay compe-titive, enterprises, especially SMEs require an effective use of information and communication technology (ICT) as well as a deep understanding of ICT in general and in digital innovation in particular. In this paper, we reveal the self-assessment of 24 companies regarding their own digitization level and ICT use as well as regarding further aspects, challenges and requirements regarding the complex topic of digitization.

The Industrial Data Space enables business based on networked data and data sovereignty at the same time. The technological solution and the certification scheme of the Industrial Data Space ensures secure access to data which companies usually do not dare to share today. This gives new opportunities and provides new data-driven business models. The Industrial Data Space® initiative consists of a research project owned by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Industrial Date Space Association.