Now showing 1 - 10 of 31
  • Publication
    Sustainable engineering master module - insights from three cohorts of European engineering team
    ( 2020)
    Gladysz, B.
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    Urgo, M.
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    Stock, T.
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    Haskins, C.
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    Sieckmann, F.
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    Jarzebowska, E.
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    Kohl, H.
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    Strandhagen, J.O.
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    Tollio, T.
    Mobility and transnational migration are current social developments among the population of the European Union. These developments in both society-at-large and companies, linked to the challenges of sustainability, lead to new requirements for working in the European Union. Teaching and learning in higher education needs to adapt to these requirements. As a result, new and innovative teaching and learning practices in higher education should provide competencies for transnational teamwork in the curriculum of tomorrow's engineers in order to ensure their competitiveness in the job market. A transnational project-oriented teaching and learning framework, which provides the future key competencies for young engineers was implemented in the course European Engineering Team (EET). Engineering students from four countries participated in a new project-based course that focused on the development of innovative and sustainable products and opportunities. The goal of this paper is to present results and lessons learnt from three cohorts of EET.
  • Publication
    Building up a national network of applied R&D institutes in an emerging innovation system
    ( 2020)
    Kohl, H.
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    Will, M.
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    Prim, M.F.
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    Pavim, A.X.
    Paper aims: This paper aims at answering the research question "How to successfully build up and strategically manage a new network of applied R&D in Brazil?" Originality: The paper is based on a unique experience of a strategic partnership, transferring the experiences of managing the largest network of applied research in Europe to the Brazilian National Innovation System (NIS). Research method: The research described in this paper follows an action research approach, using a participative process of rapid prototyping, pilot tests and continuous revision and adaptation. Main findings: The paper presents a comprehensive and consistent set of management models, procedures and tools for the planning, implementation and evaluation of applied R&D institutes. Implications for theory and practice: The paper's findings contribute to the empirical research on methodologies to manage knowledge-based networks and innovation actors at the interface between research and industry.
  • Publication
    Multi level network management - A method for managing inter-organizational innovation networks
    ( 2019)
    Cap, J.-P.
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    Blaich, E.
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    Kohl, H.
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    Raesfeld, A. von
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    Harms, R.
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    Will, M.
    Collaboration in inter-organizational networks is a major driver of innovation. Nevertheless, methods that practitioners can rely upon for managing innovation networks are still scarce. This research fills this gap by providing an approach that increases innovation output by intensifying collaboration in networks. An action research methodology with two cycles of action was adopted. The first cycle develops a method of network assessment designed to evaluate a network's collaboration potential. The second cycle iteratively builds on the first cycle and extends the method by a managerial approach to network management on an individual level.
  • Publication
    Integration of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient production into a pharmaceutical Lean Learning Factory
    ( 2019)
    Petrusch, N.
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    Sieckmann, F.
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    Menn, J.P.
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    Kohl, H.
    In the context of the implementation of Lean Production Systems, companies have become significantly more aware of the need for employee qualification and motivation. Due to the high share of practice, Learning Factories have proven to be an effective approach to respond to this circumstance. While the focus of Learning Factories has so far mainly been on discrete manufacturing, applications in the pharmaceutical industry are still comparatively rare. Based on this, a Learning Factory, that takes into account the special requirements and needs of the pharmaceutical industry, was developed and implemented in collaboration with a German pharmaceutical company. So far, Lean culture and tools have been trained on formulation and packaging processes. However, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) production, which is characterized by a higher level of automation as well as chemical and process engineering procedures, was initially not displayed, as no sufficient demand was assumed. Due to the increasing need for a holistic consideration of the whole value chain, the API production is moving into the focus of Lean improvements. In this context, many established tools need to be adapted. From feedback of over 120 conducted trainings and a series of interviews, it became clear, that for employees from API production, it is difficult to transfer the necessary knowledge to their work environment, leading to resistance in implementing Lean tools. In order to counter this problem, the Learning Factory was expanded by an additional API learning module. This increased the willingness of employees to participate in the trainings and to implement the contents.
  • Publication
    Ganzheitliche Produktionssysteme in der Pharmaindustrie
    ( 2018)
    Sieckmann, F.
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    Helm, R.
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    Kohl, H.
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    Wissel, S.
  • Publication
    High-performance benchmarking of manufacturing processes with object-based modeling
    ( 2017)
    Zhou, X.
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    Kohl, H.
    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to guide companies in conducting benchmarking studies of their manufacturing processes by viewing across industries, locations and products. In particular, the proposed framework can help corporate decision makers in terms of production footprint and site location studies. The level of benchmarking performance can be measured by evaluating defined benchmarking evaluation profiles. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a tool to operationalize value-added manufacturing processes for benchmarking evaluations. In this context, an object-oriented database structure has been developed for the business areas such as product development, manufacturing and assembly. This paper focuses on manufacturing processes. Furthermore, a framework for applying high-performance benchmarking has been developed and applied in a case study. Findings: This paper shows that object class-oriented modeling approach can be applied to manufacturing processes. The higher the degree of independence in terms of locations, industry sectors and products, the more powerful thus a higher performance of benchmarking is achieved. The performance level of benchmarking has been defined by proving and demonstrating higher and lower performance levels. The high-performance benchmarking tool has been successfully applied to a production footprint case study. Originality/value: This paper takes up the superiority of process benchmarking that has been the focus of numerous research papers on benchmarking techniques in the past. The potential of process benchmarking has been enhanced and operationalized as a tool. A classification logic for benchmarking evaluation profiles has been developed and integrated in the overall tool set. The model helps decision makers to configure their benchmarking studies tailored to their strategic entrepreneurial questions and to guide them to achieve a higher benchmarking performance level.
  • Publication
    Intellectual Capital-Driven Technology and Innovation Management
    ( 2017)
    Galeitzke, M.
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    Steinhöfel, E.
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    Orth, R.
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    Kohl, H.
    The significance of intangible resources with regard to business success in general has evidently increased. This paper aims to draw conclusions on a broad empirical basis with regard to internal drivers of innovation and related differences between manufacturing and service enterprises. Measures to improve the enterprises' innovation capability are studied on the basis of 38 intellectual capital statements. Furthermore, the data gained from a large scale survey among more than 1000 enterprises is analyzed with regard to product as well as process innovation. In subsequence, the results of both analyses are matched and compared.
  • Publication
    A Comparison of Best Practices of Public and Private Support Incentives for the Remanufacturing Industry
    ( 2017)
    Guidat, T.
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    Seidel, J.
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    Kohl, H.
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    Seliger, G.
    In the context of resource constraints and the negative environmental and social impacts of the linear "take-make-dispose" pattern, remanufacturing offers a promising solution for the transformation of end of life (EOL) goods into products with equal or superior specifications and lifetime as compared with newly produced goods. The increasing success of this new industrial paradigm results from the possible combination of production costs reduction and profit maximization as well as efforts to increase environmental performance and harvest social benefits, such as job creation. However, a large number of countries faces challenges in building a valuable process because of the lack of communication between public and private stakeholder and the remanufacturing industry. This paper intends to identify and classify the key stakeholders in categories and define the type of actions taken in selected countries to foster remanufacturing. Guidance for both public and private actors are suggested for the development of specific remanufacturing industries.
  • Publication
    Holistic approach for human resource management in Industry 4.0
    ( 2016)
    Hecklau, F.
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    Galeitzke, M.
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    Flachs, S.
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    Kohl, H.
    To cope with knowledge and competence challenges related to new technologies and processes of Industry 4.0 new strategic approaches for holistic human resource management are needed in manufacturing companies. Due to the continuous automation of simple manufacturing processes, the number of workspaces with a high level of complexity will increase, which results in the need of high level of education of the staff. The challenge is to qualify employees to shift their capacities to workspaces with more complex processes and ensure the retention of jobs in changing working environments. A strategic approach for employee qualification is described in this contribution.
  • Publication
    Process-oriented design methodology for the (inter-) organizational intellectual capital management
    The development of a process-oriented design methodology for the visualization of intellectual capital in organisational business processes is described in this contribution. A tangible and intangible resource-oriented taxonomy in an integrated enterprise modelling environment is established. The comprehensive assessment, allocation and referencing of intellectual capital (human, structural and relational capital) counters the underutilization of available intellectual capital and allows for a targeted intellectual capital management. The resulting process-oriented design methodology for intellectual capital will enable organizations, clusters and networks to identify sustainability intensive activities within their business processes in order to utilise and foster their potentials.