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2013
Conference Paper
Titel
A framework for technology monitoring in the plant engineering and manufacturing industry
Titel Supplements
Results from the research project syncTech
Abstract
The plant engineering and manufacturing industry is a B2B business characterized by products developed and built for the needs and specifications of a particular customer or customer group. They can be regarded as custom-built products and are designed in an "engineer to order" process. The integration of new technologies is a regular activity for companies in this field. Hence, the ability to adapt new technologies is crucial to be a successful player in this field. Technology monitoring deals with the continuous identification and assessment of new technologies with the outcome being identified technological options assessed with respect to their relevance and possible benefit for the company taking e.g. implementation effort and possible risks into account. In this paper, a framework for technology monitoring in the plant engineering and manufacturing industry is presented and discussed in a case study from the perspective of Eisenmann AG, a leading international supplier of systems for surface coating, environmental technology, material flow automation and process & high-temperature technology with approx. 3,800 employees worldwide and a strong focus on research and development. The framework addresses the following topics: a classification of typical technology monitoring activities in the plant engineering and manufacturing industry, a toolset for internet based search for new technologies adopted by Fraunhofer IAO based on a text mining software and the semantic description of the strategic search field and the search strategy, a set of criteria for the integrated market and technology assessment of new technologies, the description of typical roles of involved persons in technology monitoring based on a model for "technology driver roles" developed by Ganz/Warschat 2010, a proposal for knowledge management of the information collected in technology and an outline of a technology monitoring process across different organisational units of a company.
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