SME

The governance of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) usage is often described as a formalized reporting system. This neglects the early-stage mechanisms of coping with ethical challenges during the GenAI implementation period. Exploratory empirical findings from the Ruhr area reveal that managerial communicative practices serve as a substitute for missing institutional structures, particularly at an early stage of GenAI implementation in SMEs.

Small and medium-sized enterprises still face the challenge of shaping their digital transformation. Maturity models offer a way to capture the situation within a company and support the formation of an Industry 4.0 vision. This paper presents a methodology that companies can use to develop a roadmap for shaping digital transformation by enabling the transfer of this vision into concrete decision-making steps.

Additive manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly important in industry and enable the cost-e ective production of complex components in small quantities. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular can bene t from the high customization potential enabling the development of new business models. However, the widespread use of additive processes faces high production costs and technological challenges. Meanwhile, scienti c research focuses on the optimization of individual process steps of additive manufacturing and does not o er su cient support for SMEs. Therefore, this paper deals with the development of a cross-process value chain of additive manufacturing for SMEs. Based on a systematic analysis of scienti c literature, relevant additive manufacturing processes were investigated, and a cross-process value chain was derived. The results were veri ed by expert interviews and central research and development requirements were extracted.

The implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions offers great potential for meeting growing challenges in the context of digitization. Nevertheless, particularly small and medium-sized companies are hesitant to implement Industry 4.0 solutions. Within the framework of the ERDF research project »Synus«, methods and tools were developed to support small and medium-sized companies in the evaluation and selection of Industry 4.0 solutions. This contribution presents the potential model, which enables small and medium-sized enterprises to select suitable Industry 4.0 solutions.