small and medium sized enterprises

Despite the fact that SME innovation is critical to a country’s economic success, SMEs spend less than 50 % of their budget on R&D when compared to large companies. “Open innovation”is seen as helping SMEs to improve their competitive position. For regions dominated by SMEs it is important to develop an ecosystem that supports open innovation processes. Universities can be key enablers within these ecosystems. They support SMEs with their expertise in science and engineering as well as in innovation and project management. In this article we present a case study to demonstrate the role of a university of applied sciences in an open innovation ecosystem.

The impact of rapid technological change in a competitive global market is reaching small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) at an increasing rate; digitalization increases the interconnectedness among manufacturers, products and customers. Within this context, SME need to improve both their business processes and their technological capabilities in order to achieve internal and external sustainability goals, to be successful in the marketplace and to meet customer needs. This article discusses the opportunities of digitalization to improve sustainability by presenting two use cases from SME.

In many companies there is still a lack of clarity about the “right” way to implement digitalization projects. Therefore, the article describes guidelines for the successful implementation of digitalization projects. They are derived from the experience of various practical projects and include considerations of economic efficiency as well as resources and staff. Structured as “Ten Commandments for Digitalization Projects”, they are designed to support actors in the practical implementation of digitalization projects

Digitalen Plattformen im Kontext von Industrie 4.0 werden zahlreiche Potenziale zugeschrieben. Allerdings birgt deren Implementierung und Nutzung einige Herausforderungen, insbesondere für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Herausforderungen durch digitale Plattformen mithilfe von qualitativ-empirischen Interviews von 83 Experten aus mittelständischen deutschen Industrieunternehmen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass unter anderem Herausforderungen in Bezug auf Vertrauen, Konkurrenzdenken und Koordinationsaufwand existieren. Aus den Ergebnissen können strategische Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet werden, wie mittelständische Unternehmen den Herausforderungen begegnen können, um die Potenziale von digitalen Plattformen zu heben.

In the context of this article, a methodology for an efficient transfer of knowledge from research into industrial practice regarding cyber-physical production systems is presented. The methodology serves above all to sensitize small and medium-sized (SME) enterprises to the possible potentials of the so-called Industry 4.0. The starting point for this is the need-oriented and individual specification of knowledge required for a practical knowledge transfer and the development of tailor-made competence profiles of future employees in smart SMEs

The economic benefits of photovoltaic systems under Germany’s current legislative conditions (EEG 2017) were investigated in two small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The energy demand of the case SMEs is very distinct in volume, type, and profile. With the aid of a simulation, direct consumption of expected renewable energy generation and resulting energy exchange with the grid were calculated. The results were analysed from an economic viewpoint using economic indicators.

Organizational Learning offers a good possibility for enterprises to compete with the dynamics of the market. Under certain conditions, process integrated education not only leads to process optimization in firms, but also to the beginning of organizational learning. This is of great importance particularly to small and medium sized enterprises, since they normally lack appropriate structures.