Tim Neumann

Step Standardized Product Data Representation and Exchange for Optimized Product Development and Automated Process Planning

Extremely variable customer demands and increasing competition require a fast and efficient product development. Especially the industry for machining parts is forced to give an accurate estimation of costs and delivery time, besides forecasting the feasibility to gain a lead over competitors. STEP provides specialized application protocols (AP) for the integration of application systems from different fields of product development. In our long term research we are going to generate manufacturing variants using genetic algorithms under respect of a virtual factory environment. Therefore we require an application protocol specific interface for the integration of the STEP exchange structure from a physical file into the logical software layer. This paper gives an overview of our model that is fundamental for optimized product development and presents an approach for generating programming language dependent source code from the formal modeling specification language EXPRESS using the example of AP 224 and C#-.NET.

Using ISO 10303-224 for 3D Visualization of Manufacturing Features

Globalization leads to increasing competition for companies. Next to this, customer seek for individual products, leading to a boost in costs for product development. We try to tackle both aspects in our current research. We are trying to develop a solution for the automatic extraction of routings from a three-dimensional product description. This leads to two advantages. First, costs for product development are decreasing because labour intensive planning will be eliminated. Second, the time between customer inquiry and offer can be reduced, which is an additional advantage to get ahead of competition. To develop such a solution, different aspects have to be considered. This paper deals with the product representation, which should allow us to automatically assign process steps to design-elements.

Modellierung von Geschäftsprozessen

Eine bedeutende Grundlage fur das erfolgreiche Geschaftsprozessmanagement in den Unternehmen sind die umfassenden, gut strukturierten Kenntnisse zu den wesentlichen und entscheidungsrelevanten Geschaftsprozessen. Wenn diese Prozesse bei den Prozessbeteiligten als Anwender gut bekannt und akzeptiert sind, dann konnen diese Prozesse zur Realisierung der Unternehmensziele eingesetzt werden. Innerhalb eines sehr kurzen Zeitraumes wird sich eine Eigendynamik fur die Prozessoptimierung herausbilden.

Praxisbeispiel für das Business Process Management

Die im Kapitel 3.2 vorgestellten Modelltypen und die Beschreibung der Modellierungsergebnisse wurden in verschiedenen Projekten zur Implementierung eines neuen Informationssystems und zur Optimierung von Geschaftsprozessen praktisch angewendet. Als neues Informationssystem und Werkzeug fur die Abarbeitung von Prozessen wurden und werden u. a. die SAP-Produkte ERP und SCM implementiert und die Ergebnisse der Prozessmodellierung in grafischer und tabellarischer Form nachhaltig dokumentiert.

Grundlagen des Business Process Managements

Die englische Bezeichnung Business Process Management (BPM) wird im Deutschen als Geschaftsprozessmanagement ubersetzt. Gemas Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon wird ein Geschaftsprozess als eine „Folge von Wertschopfungsaktivitaten […] mit einem oder mehreren Inputs und einem Kundennutzen stiftenden Output.“ definiert [46].

Digitalisierung von Infrastrukturen als Schlüssel zur Annäherung von Gesundheitswesen und Wohnungswirtschaft

Ausgehend von zentralen Problemstellungen wie dem demografischen Wandel oder der Globalisierung, mangelt es speziell bei der medizinischen Versorgung, der Bezahlbarkeit des Wohnens in jeder Lebenssituation sowie der effizienten und klimaschonenden Energieversorgung aufgrund fehlender Vernetzung sowie fehlenden Modellstrukturen an nachhaltigen Synergieeffekten. Im Folgenden wird deshalb ein Losungsansatz vorgestellt, wie die Annaherung von Gesundheitswesen und Wohnungswirtschaft auf Basis von Digitalisierung durch Virtualisierung von Versorgungs- und Informationsinfrastrukturen realisiert werden kann. In diesem Zusammenhang werden insbesondere Ubiquitare Netze und Infrastrukturen, Virtualisierungskonzepte zur prozessorientierten Interaktion mit den Akteuren, Informationsvernetzung, die Integration von Gebaudesystemtechnik, Informationssystemen und Benutzerschnittstellen zur Interaktion sowie relevante Dienste und Geschaftsprozesse anforderungsgerecht beschrieben.

Event-Driven and District-Related Home Care: Networked Technical Building Equipment (TBE) as a Basis for Ambient Assisted Living

In Germany, a growing trend can be monitored towards increasing life expectancy, low fertility rates, increasing long-term care rates, a demographic shift in the age structure (demographic challenges). Furthermore, two-third of the dependent people prefer growing old at home instead of living in a retirement home (sociocultural challenges). These trends can also be observed at the European level. In this context, the overall future task for politics, society is to provide environments where older people can act as independently as possible. Moreover, care providers are challenged to convert scheduled care approaches into event-driven services by using Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) concepts. The idea is to install various technical elements within the usual living environment, to adapt them to the special needs of the people who need care at home. Beside others, the main challenge is to cross-link various technical devices to an overall system, to harmonize its functions or features. The used Technical Building Equipment (TBE) is based on the popular KNX bus standard. Several information, needed to realize an event-driven care concept, are generated by using different types of sensors installed in the living environment. Various algorithms analyze the occurring data set, convert it into usable information. Based on these information, it is possible to provide different support, security features for the residents. In order to do so, it is also necessary to protect the privacy of the supported patient in the context of data security.

Modular System Development for Flexible Adoption of Ubiquitous Challenges in Energy Management and Control

Networking and interconnections are key aspects of energy saving ambitions by application of an intelligent and efficient control of technical facilities, automation and building control systems. Industrial companies and enterprises, municipal housing as well as real estate companies but also private persons at home are facing the challenges to reveal potentials for optimization and furthermore massively reduce their energy costs by utilization of innovative technologies in long-term. Therefore, an enormous variety of available technologies, devices, bus systems, and communication protocols is building the base on the one hand but also forms a heterogeneous landscape of ubiquitously available information sources and sinks on the other hand. Consequently, there are special challenges for the development of a flexible software solution for energy management and control. This paper provides a brief insight into our current work and the development of reusable and flexible software components.

Developing an integrated solution for generative process planning based on ISO standard 10303

Heterogenic systems and incompatible product data representation are still preventing an efficient and automated product development. This paper provides an insight about necessary requirements for a continuously integrated product development and automated process planning. Additionally, we present our intended solution to innovate the product design under the focus of automated process planning. Therefore, we present some aspects relating to feature based design and standardized product data exchange with ISO 10303, as well as our approaches for developing an integrated solution for process planning.

Evaluation of process variants during the proposal preparation

Abstract There are many important factors for small and medium sized enterprises (SME), especially individual customer demands, price pressure and the probability to deliver at the required date. Companies which want to be supplier for larger companies have to look carefully about these factors already during the proposal preparation. They are often in the branch of single-part or small-series production. One possibility to increase known factors is to consider different variants of manufacturing a product and the premature investigation of resources and there capacities. Therefore, this paper is introducing a conceptional framework for the evaluation of different process variants to manufacture a product. We want to optimise and evaluate process variants including the necessary resources and their capacitive use in an evaluated period. For this evaluation we use a genetic algorithm. Within this paper we define and classify a scheduling problem to map our requirements. Afterwards we explain the necessary information about a genetic algorithm that suites us for the solution of our problem.