serious games

Unforeseen events are increasingly challenging manufacturing companies. Being resilient during crises is becoming a key competence. Serious games (SG) can help make resilience-building processes more transparent. This article derives specific requirements for SG from different phases of resilience and shows how these can be implemented in game mechanics in order to effectively support the training of resilience.

Learning factories offer a practical environment for simulating production processes in which learners can acquire skills through the direct application of new technologies. The Industrial Transformation Lab (InTraLab) models hybrid production processes by combining real-world demonstrators and virtual simulations. This enables learners to acquire the skills that are crucial for the digitally transformed world of work.

Industrial work 4.0 challenges workers due to ambiguity, self-organization, and interconnec-tedness. To qualify workers to successfully cope with these challenges, this article introduces the software-based situational learning factory that is completed like a flight simulator. By playing these so called serious games that simulate situations on the shop floor of varying complexity, employees gain experiential knowledge and improve their IT-skills.

By digital transformation the German SME sector is faced with huge challenges. It also turns existing corporate processes upside down. 82 percent of the managers who were interviewed for a recent survey expect that the internal communication will accelerate significantly. Four out of five are convinced that the transfer of knowledge will play a key role. Three quarters are also convinced that it is necessary that IT and other departments close ranks. Business-simulations effectively support the required transformation process. Topic of this article is to show how they can help changing the attitude and perspective to generate sustainable value from Industry 4.0.

A sustainable constitution of our way of living is more and more subject to the discussion in society and politics. The transportation sector, causing a considerable percentage of the worldwide CO2 emissions, resides right in the middle of the debate. As a result companies find themselves in an area of conflict between economical and ecological objectives, which cannot always be reconciled. Approaches to solve this dilemma are discussed under the general term „Green Logistics“. The implementation of an intelligent cargo system can contribute to bring these approaches to practice.