IAO News. July/August 2015

Transcription

1 Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO IAO News July/August 2015

2 Fraunhofer IAO The basis for all work undertaken at the Fraunhofer IAO is a deep conviction that business success in a globalized arena is contingent on an ability to profitably leverage new high-tech potentials. In order to optimally exploit these opportunities, companies must be capable of developing and implementing customer and employee-oriented technologies faster than their competitors. Work organization concepts must be simultaneously innovative and anthropocentric. A systematic design, in other words, is the outcome of pooled management and technical expertise. This holistic perspective when it comes to project processing ensures that equal consideration is given to commercial success, employees interests and social consequences. Through its close cooperation with the Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management (IAT) of the University of Stuttgart, Fraunhofer IAO unites basic university research with applied science and business practice. More than m 2 of offices, laboratories and technical installations are available to carry out contracted research. Our customer-focused range of services is based on the following areas of business: Corporate Development and Work Design Service and Human Resources Management Engineering Systems Information and Communication Technology Technology and Innovation Management Mobility and Urban Systems Engineering Responsible Research and Innovation Further information twitter.com/iaostuttgart

3 overview of topics TOP 50 CHINESE INDUSTRY 4.0 PATENTS Fraunhofer IAO has analyzed patents registered in China over the last three years for industry 4.0 technologies. The first study to be published on the topic shows that Chinese researchers have patented important inventions in the fields of wireless sensor networks, embedded systems, low-cost robots and big data, indicating that China will be leading the pack when it comes to production data in the future. CALL FOR IDEAS: NEW IMPULSES FOR BETTER CITIES What does the city of the future look like? Start-ups, cities and students will present their best ideas to prominent representatives from communities, politics, industry and research at the Fraunhofer Urban Futures Conference in Berlin on November 25 and 26, An idea-pitch event will determine the top three innovations. Helping people help themselves in crisis situations To get a handle on crisis situations you need volunteers from the general population. The KOKOS project investigates how volunteers help can be incorporated into the crisis management efforts of public bodies. Research is focusing on IT supported and systematic integration of existing structures such as associations, companies and citizens initiatives. ENSURING A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAD More and more technologies offer companies opportunities for developing new products, speeding up processes or creating innovations. In the book Technologien frühzeitig erkennen, Nutzenpotenziale systematisch bewerten ( Identifying technologies early, evaluating potential benefits systematically ), Fraunhofer IAO presents methods, models and semantic tools for recognizing technological developments at an early stage and systematically assessing any benefits they may offer.

4 Photo: Bernd Müller, Fraunhofer IAO/traffic_analyzer istock TOP 50 CHINESE INDUSTRY 4.0 PATENTS Study on monitoring Chinese industry 4.0 technology and patents results published In terms of the number of patents filed for industry 4.0 technologies, China has far outstripped the United States and Germany. But what does patent quantity tell us about their quality? Companies wanting to market industry 4.0 solutions in China must know the areas in which the Chinese have already registered key innovations. To that end, Fraunhofer IAO has analyzed 1700 patent documents published in China between January 2013 and April 2015 for industry 4.0 technologies. Technology experts identified the 50 most important inventions, translated the documentation, compiled it by hand and evaluated it accordingly. The results of the study were pub lished under the title Chinese industry 4.0 patents (Vol. 1). China is one of the largest players when it comes to data networks and big data Regarding wireless sensor networks, Chinese inventors registered important basic patents over the past three years for energy-efficient technologies intended for industrial use. Leading institutions such as the SIA (Shenyang Institute of Automation) developed and patented new approaches for operating energyefficient and reliable industrial networks. Big data is another area in which China ranks among the key players, with internet giants such as Alibaba being joined by less well-known companies in registering important patents for big data processing methods as well as ways to improve data security. Chinese patents are weak in their application What s striking is the relatively low innovative quality of Chinese utility model applications and patent submissions when it comes to the application of industry 4.0 technologies. Numerous lownovelty inventions have been registered, usually formulated in very imprecise terms. On the one hand, this is a chance for international companies to gain an advantage on the Chinese market by offering innovative solutions. On the other hand, Chinese inventors are protected by a variety of trivial, yet effective, intellectual property rights, so any company wanting to penetrate the Chinese market must expect to encounter a few legal disputes along the way, says Truong Le, a patent expert at Fraunhofer IAO. The Chinese industry 4.0 patents study contains practical suggestions for dealing with these kinds of intellectual property issues. The analysis also provides information about where China currently stands in terms of its development of industry 4.0 technologies and provides insight into the technological competence of Chinese companies. This information is greatly beneficial to anyone seeking cooperation partners, making decisions about financial investments, or developing competitive strategies. The English publication can be ordered from the IAO shop at a cost of 2000 euros. Purchasers can select another ten Chinese patent documents and submit them to Fraunhofer technology specialists for evaluation at no additional cost. Contact Fraunhofer IAO, Truong Le Phone truong.le@iao.fraunhofer.de Order the publication online at publikationen/?id=634

5 jovannig - Fotolia.com/Panimoni - shutterstock.com CALL FOR IDEAS: NEW IMPULSES FOR BETTER CITIES Fraunhofer Conference offers idea platform for the city of the future Global developments such as population growth, climate change, urbanization, increasing energy and mobility needs as well as resource shortages are posing cities with new challenges. At Fraunhofer s Urban Futures Innovations, strategies and processes for the city of the future conference, to be held in Berlin on November 25 and 26, experts from communities, politics, industry and academia will discuss key success factors for urban transformation. Pioneer spirit required idea pitch event seeks creative concepts As well as presenting unique and visionary city planning projects at the conference, Fraunhofer IAO is also seeking out totally new concepts and ideas for revolutionary products, technologies or methods with its call for ideas. Students, start-ups, communities, innovation agencies, creatives and SMEs are invited to participate in the city of the future ideas competition. Concepts are to address one of the established innovation categories for example, social, design, technical, or process-oriented and must be submitted by October 30, The teams behind the top ten concept sketches submitted will then have the opportunity to present their idea to some 400 guests in an elevator pitch on the first night of the conference. The top three innovators will receive the Best Idea Award. Cross-disciplinary exchange for the city of the future A prominent audience will be in attendance for the competition participants, with keynote speeches on approaches for the city of the future delivered by Prof. Dr. Alexander Verl, Executive Vice President Technology Marketing and Business Models for the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bauer, director of Fraunhofer IAO, and Prof. Dr. Günter Bachmann, General Secretary of the German Council for Sustainable Development. Our aim with this conference is to facilitate a cross-disciplinary dialog between all the relevant players in the city-of-the-future debate, says Wilhelm Bauer, who heads up the Morgenstadt initiative at Fraunhofer IAO. In the future, politicians, municipal authorities, industrial players, academics and NGO representatives have to pull together even more to ensure we re all following a common line. The second day of the event provides conference guests with various formats and topic areas related to the city of the future to help them network, find project partners, and generate new ideas. Contact Fraunhofer IAO, Steffen Braun Phone steffen.braun@iao.fraunhofer.de Further information

6 Michel Vorsprach - flickr Helping people help themselves in crisis situations IT-based concepts for effective coordination of public authorities and the general population Lengthy power outages, severe storms or large scale flooding such as happened in Southern Germany in 2013: they all show our society s vulnerability to damaging events. In order to react as effectively as possible to these events responders need to be properly coordinated. In large scale events it is sensible to get the authorities, companies, public safety organizations (BOS) and the general public working together, giving people security and an ability to help themselves that goes beyond expensive investments in infrastructure. Concepts for involving civil groups in crisis management The University of Stuttgart s Institute of Human Factors and Technology Management IAT, which collaborates closely with Fraunhofer IAO, is involved in numerous national and international research projects dealing with cross-organizational information processes, mobile applications and the modeling and simulation of crisis management and volunteer management. Based on its Research for civil security program, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing 1.7 million euros of funding to the KOKOS project to support volunteer cooperation in complex scenarios. This project s aim is to develop methods, technical concepts and IT tools that involve the public and civil bodies such as associations in particular as active partners in crisis management, and to seek fruitful cooperation. Using existing structures for crisis management Efforts are focused on making use of the available societal, economic and civil structures such as sports clubs, associations, churches and companies. For instance, if critical infrastructure regarding food chain was disrupted, food bank employees could use their wealth of logistical experience to help supply the population with what they need. We are looking into existing self-help practices to determine what motivates volunteers to cooperate with official channels. The goal is to assist people locally to help themselves in a crisis situation, says Patrick Drews, project manager at the IAT of the University of Stuttgart. This assistance has to come from concepts and tools that encourage cooperation among public safety organizations and volunteer bodies. Project partners include the Institute of Human Factors and Technology Management IAT of the University of Stuttgart as well as the Institutes for Business Informatics and Media Research of the University of Siegen, software provider VOMA- TEC International GmbH, software developer Ruatti Systems GmbH and a range of user organizations including the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, the Workers Samaritan Foundation, the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, the German Federal Association of Volunteer Agencies, the German Federal Association of Clubs and Associations and the German Protestant Kirchentag. Interested societies, companies, organizations and individuals are welcome to get involved at any stage. Contact Fraunhofer IAO, Patrick Drews, Dr. Wolf Engelbach Phone , patrick.drews@iao.fraunhofer.de wolf.engelbach@iao.fraunhofer.de Further information (in German) zivile_sicherheit.html

7 pokki - Fotolia ENSURING A TECHNOLOGICAL LEAD Fraunhofer publication Technologien frühzeitig erkennen, Nutzenpotenziale systematisch bewerten available for free download Companies that identify technological trends and the potential offered by new technologies at an early stage not only enjoy an essential competitive advantage, they also lay the foundations for innovation. The challenge businesses face is how to sift the ever-increasing range of new technological developments flooding onto the market so they can pick out and evaluate the technologies pertinent to them. Issued as the final report of a research project entitled synctech synchronisierte Technologieadaption als Treiber der strategischen Produktinnovation ( synctech synchronized technology adaptation as a driver of strategic product innovation ), the book Technologien frühzeitig erkennen, Nutzenpotenziale systematisch bewerten ( Identifying technologies early, evaluating potential benefits systematically ) describes the latest methods, organizational models and semantic tools for information gathering and storage. These help companies to identify technologies and technological developments at an early stage, and enable them to systematically evaluate associated potential benefits in a corporate context. Alongside the results of the synctech research project, the publication also features field reports from selected companies such as Eisenmann SE, Festo AG, Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co. KG and Schnaithmann Maschinenbau GmbH. Identifying potential through semantic search and collaborative information storage The process of technology adaptation is explained in detail with reference to the following phases: Establishing a search strategy for seeking out technological developments Methodical support and definition of criteria for evaluating these technologies Creation of key storage elements and structures for retaining relevant information Key aspects of this process are semantic search and the collaborative storage of technology-relevant information in technology wikis. Integrating semantic search into the technology adaptation process enables companies to draw on countless web-connected sources of information efficiently and continuously. In addition, company-specific technology data sheets can be stored and maintained using technology wikis. These two key aspects were fleshed out in the synctech research project, which examined methodological approaches and IT support options for each. The book Technologien frühzeitig erkennen, Nutzenpotenziale systematisch bewerten ( Identifying technologies early, evaluating potential benefits systematically ) can be ordered in print form from the IAO Shop at a cost of 39 euros or can be downloaded as an e-book free of charge. Contact Fraunhofer IAO, Dr. Sven Schimpf, Markus Korell Phone , sven.schimpf@iao.fraunhofer.de markus.korell@iao.fraunhofer.de Order a printed copy Free download

8 Published by Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO Public Relations Nobelstrasse 12, Stuttgart, Germany Phone , Fax Editorial staff Verena Krug, Juliane Segedi, Yeama Bangali, Katrin Bohnenberger, Natalie Bongartz, Jan Ehrhardt, Imme Schäfer Layout and typesetting Franz Schneider Cover page jovannig - Fotolia.com/Panimoni - shutterstock.com Sign up for our online newsletter Reprints free of charge. A voucher copy would be appreciated in case of publication. This bulletin is also available in German as IAO-News. fraunhofer.de/anmeldung. php?lang=en&id=12