product life-cycle

Due to the possibility of operator intervention, semi-autonomous systems allow for a better handling of complexity than fully autonomous systems. The use of a digital twin provides a novel interface for interaction with such systems. This paper describes the implementation of the control and user interface in a system with a digital twin. It is shown how the developed control architecture can be combined with different methods of human-machine interaction and virtual training. With this extended use of the control system by a digital twin the concept can be extended beyond the operation phase and can be used in other phases of the product life cycle.

Electric mobility is currently subject to intensive discussions. New business models, products and services, as well as innovation concepts are developed by R&D and tested in real-life. In this context, the project “Personal Mobility Center” has been carried out in the Bremen/Oldenburg model region for electric mobility. On the basis of the Product Life-Cycle, first approaches for product-related services in the different phases of electric mobility have been worked out. Analysis of these “Extended Products” has shown that battery electric vehicles have to overcome several challenges before new mobility offers based on them can compete on the market.

Technology driven industries are facing new challenges to manage the spare part business of high-quality products due to decreasing innovation cycles and increasing product complexity. An influencing factor for the total profitability is the after-sales strategy for spare parts after the end-of-production decision of a product. On the one hand the guaranteed service level can be achieved by excess stocks and expensive scrapping actions. On the other hand if out of stock situations may occur, penalties and an eventual image loss have to be taken into account. Both strategies can be combined to reduce costs significantly by using a dynamic life cycle simulation approach.

The majority of manufacturing enterprises is currently trying to become more competitive in the preparation of customer-centric and innovative products. The focus of manufacturing paradigm is changing from a mainly sales-driven business towards a provider of utility or benefit to the customer. Consequently, the traditional product definition must be extended. Based on the description of the concept of extended products, this paper discusses approaches to extend the classical product definition and the resulting requirements. Additionally, the role of collaboration in enterprise networks will be discussed. Some practical examples are mentioned.