Training

Industrial product-service systems (IPS²) represent a combination of interdependent product and service components developed to satisfy highly specific customer needs. One key challenge in the engineering of IPS² pertains to the successful integration of providers’, customers’ and suppliers’ heterogeneous expertise. While previous research mainly addresses this issue through the lenses of organization or automation, little attention has been paid towards integration through interaction. In this paper we therefore ask the question which competencies enable employees and teams in IPS² to successfully deal with heterogeneity thus taking advantage of its innovative potential. We use a a multilevel model of competence and specify it for the IPS² work system on the base of expert interviews. It becomes apparent that experts attribute successful IPS² performance especially to factors which increase perceived stability in flexible or heterogeneous work systems.

Technologies such as Digital Mock Up (DMU) or Virtual Reality (VR) help to expose and fix design errors at an early stage in the product development process. Nevertheless the discovery of these potential problems is still a common obstacle. The approach introduced within this paper improves the existing virtual product validation method by using the company’s existing knowledge of former projects. The DMU-Cockpit integrates the usually spread experience of known errors in one tool by modelling a relation between classified components and sources of error in a matrix. This allows the automatic selection of potential sources of error for a chosen part and derives the most valuable validation tasks of the knowledge base.

The growing importance of knowledge in product development processes is followed by the urgent need to manage the quality of implemented knowledge management strategies in the process. All sorts of companies have been implementing knowledge management activities in their daily routines, either or not they are aware of it. This paper introduces a model to measure the maturity level of knowledge intensive business processes, which is adjusted to the needs of small and medium enterprises (SME). A set of success factors and their indicators were developed to help identifying the as-is process situation and plan improvement measures as well as a web-based self-assessment tool.

Within structured wikis we can combine the web 2.0-advantages - flexibility, collective intelligence, self-organization and participation - with process oriented knowledge work. These wikis are able to use process structures to support complex processes. Thus, a structured wiki supports knowledge work in know-ledge intensive processes. Users are not bound to strict processes as the wiki technology enables creativity by definition. This paper shows the differences between traditional and structured wikis by example.

In volatile markets firms must be able to develop products faster and streamline production. Processes of reorganization to renew resources and routines are relevant, especially processes of knowledge generation, absorption and exploitation. Therefore this article develops wellestablished approaches to organizational learning and knowledge management. The foundations and commonalities of these approaches are presented and practical implications are discussed.

The rising demand and availability of knowledge contributes to the change away from an industrial society towards a more knowledge oriented society. This article focuses on knowledge work in small enterprises. The article describes the importance and the potential of know-ledge work in small enterprises and demonstrates the difficulties in the implementation. The small structured building industry with its change towards a more and more knowledge intensive branch of business over the last years was chosen as an example to explain this approach. In a systems-theoretical model the authors describe an approach to make the application of knowledge work in small enterprises of the building sector possible.

Planning, design and continuous improvement of today’s complex corporate structures and technical systems require a sophisticated level of extensive know-ledge of technology, processes and IT. To apply planning and simulation tools effectively and efficiently engineers and plant operators have to rise to the challenge to use their knowledge in a goal-oriented way and to expand it within creative processes. Consequently, knowledge is more than ever a key productivity factor and an important component of corporate capital. Against this background, the article discusses possibilities for systematization and standardization in simulation studies and especially approaches to increase productivity in simulation studies by supplying assistance functions as well as systematic evaluation methodologies.

The aging workforce and labour shortage due to lacking young qualified employees are topics which today primarily concern small and medium-sized businesses in unattractive regions. The Federal Statistical Office expects particularly dramatic changes in the age structure of the German workforce in 2017 to 2024. How can companies prepare for these changes? And is it a mere obligatory task or could there have been unexploited potential overlooked so far? Recent German studies provide new insights.

If you met an engineer in a R&D department some years ago, he was supposed to be an employee of the firm. However, today, as firms have started to contract out there is an increasing number of high-skilled contractors working side by side with employees in core areas of the firm, e.g. in R&D. A reason which is often cited for this development is the flexibility advantage of using contractors. However, high-skilled contractors can also be a valuable source of new know-ledge and innovation. They can support a firm by recognizing technological trends, absorbing new knowledge and generating innovative products. In this paper we would like to illustrate how contractors can be an important knowledge source and what processes underlie the integration of the contractors’ knowledge. Our paper is based on empirical studies from a long-term research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education.

A serious problem in the current phase of development of Russia, which is heading for a fundamental modernization by promoting and implementing innovative technologies, is the acute shortage of qualified personnel, existing in many sectors of the economy. The causes of this problem vary and are determined by historical, political, economic and social factors.