Now showing 1 - 10 of 19
  • Publication
    Extending the Automation Pyramid for Industrial Demand Response
    ( 2019)
    Körner, Marc-Fabian
    ;
    ;
    Keller, Robert
    ;
    Rösch, Martin
    ;
    ;
    Simon, Peter
    ;
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Industrial demand response uses a multitude of energy flexibility measures. Their planning and control requires various production IT systems. A widely accepted approach to classify these inhouse IT systems are the levels of the automation pyramid in companies. This paper broadens the scope of this concept to overcome the limitation to companies' (virtual) borders by including required IT systems that refine and monetarize a company's energy flexibility, e.g. energy markets, aggregators, etc. Therefore, a holistic approach for the classification of functionalities for industrial demand response across companies and energy markets is developed and applied exemplarily.
  • Publication
    A Generic Data Model for Describing Flexibility in Power Markets
    ( 2019)
    Schott, Paul
    ;
    Sedlmeir, Johannes
    ;
    Strobel, Nina
    ;
    Weber, Thomas
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Abele, Eberhard
    In this article, we present a new descriptive model for industrial flexibility with respect to power consumption. The advancing digitization in the energy sector opens up new possibilities for utilizing and automatizing the marketing of flexibility potentials and therefore facilitates a more advanced energy management. This requires a standardized description and modeling of power-related flexibility. The data model in this work has been developed in close collaboration with several partners from different industries in the context of a major German research project. A suitable set of key figures allows for also describing complex production processes that exhibit interdependencies and storage-like properties. The data model can be applied to other areas as well, e.g., power plants, plug-in electric vehicles, or power-related flexibility of households.
  • Publication
    Harnessing the Full Potential of Industrial Demand-Side Flexibility: An End-to-End Approach Connecting Machines with Markets through Service-Oriented IT Platforms
    ( 2019)
    Rösch, Martin
    ;
    ;
    Haupt, Leon
    ;
    Keller, Robert
    ;
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    ;
    The growing share of renewable energy generation based on fluctuating wind and solar energy sources is increasingly challenging in terms of power grid stability. Industrial demand-side response presents a promising way to balance energy supply and consumption. For this, energy demand is flexibly adapted based on external incentives. Thus, companies can economically benefit and at the same time contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are currently some major obstacles that impede industrial companies from taking part in the energy markets. A broad specification analysis systematically dismantles the existing barriers. On this foundation, a new end-to-end ecosystem of an energy synchronization platform is introduced. It consists of a business-individual company-side platform, where suitable services for energy-oriented manufacturing are offered. In addition, one market-side platform is established as a mediating service broker, which connects the companies to, e.g., third party service providers, energy suppliers, aggregators, and energy markets. The ecosystems aim at preventing vendor lock-in and providing a flexible solution, relying on open standards and offering an integrated solution through an end-to-end energy flexibility data model. In this article, the resulting functionalities are discussed and the remaining deficits outlined.
  • Publication
    Framing microgrid design from a business and information systems engineering perspective
    ( 2019)
    Sachs, Thomas
    ;
    Gründler, Anna
    ;
    Rusic, Milos
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    Microgrids are decentralized distribution networks that integrate distributed energy resources and balance energy generation and loads locally. The introduction of microgrids can help overcome the challenges of global energy systems. Despite this potential, the information systems domain has seen limited research on microgrids. This paper synthesizes research on elements of microgrids for electric energy. Interviewed experts maintain that technological microgrid solutions have been solidly developed; nevertheless, the lack of economic and business consideration is stalling their deployment. The authors argue that business and information systems engineering research can provide integrated perspectives that connect technology and markets. Consequently, the authors derive a framework from an extensive interdisciplinary literature review that structures the academic state of the art on microgrid design and could guide associated information systems research. The framework comprises four layers: energy technology and infrastructure, information and communication infrastructure, application systems, and governance. The authors evaluate the framework in interviews with 15 experts from industry and three from academia. Their feedback allows to iteratively refine the framework and point out research directions on microgrids in business and information systems engineering.
  • Publication
    Building a Blockchain Application that Complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation
    ( 2019)
    Rieger, Alexander
    ;
    Guggenmos, Florian
    ;
    Lockl, Jannik
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Urbach, Nils
    Complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) poses significant challenges for blockchain projects, including establishing clear responsibilities for compliance, securing lawful bases for processing personal data, and observing rights to rectification and erasure. We describe how Germanys Federal Office for Migration and Refugees addressed these challenges and created a GDPR-compliant blockchain solution for cross-organizational workflow coordination. Based on the lessons learned, we provide three recommendations for ensuring blockchain solutions are GDPR-compliant.
  • Publication
    Batterien als Schlüsseltechnologie
    ( 2019)
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Haupt, Leon
  • Publication
    IT-based architecture for power market oriented optimization at multiple levels in production processes
    ( 2019)
    Seitz, Philipp
    ;
    Abele, Eberhard
    ;
    ; ;
    Colangelo, Eduardo
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    ;
    Schott, Paul
    ;
    Sedlmeir, Johannes
    ;
    Strobl, Nina
    ;
    Weber, Thomas
    Given the increasingly volatile prices on the power markets, it becomes economically more and more important for companies to develop and realize flexible strategies for energy consumption. A steady adaption of production processes which considers current power prices can take place on several levels of the automation pyramid, where each level has its own characteristics and requirements. In this paper, we present an optimization architecture based on an IT-platform which meets the challenges of complex multilayered production processes. We introduce layer-specific optimization strategies as well as an associated information flow, which facilitates creating holistic and well-coordinated optimizations.
  • Publication
    Do not forget about smart towns. How to bring customized digital innovation to rural areas
    ( 2018)
    Hosseini, Sabiölla
    ;
    Frank, Leonhard
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Heger, Sebastian
    To date, research on smart cities has primarily focused on urban congested areas. As this paper points out, it is becoming ever more important to look at intermediate and thinly populated regions like towns and rural areas as arenas for digital innovation. By following a multi-phase research process, the authors examine towns' highly individual needs in an exploratory way, derive key aspects from recent literature that can serve to mitigate or solve their problems, and present an open innovation process by way of integrating local context factors, local stakeholders, and suitable information and communication technology solutions. The objective is to develop a first digital innovation approach in a field that has so far been scarcely considered. The authors conduct a case study, which demonstrates the applicability and effectiveness of their innovation approach in a small town in southern Germany and derive first important lessons learned. Thereby, the concept of an innovation ecosystem reveals a promising solution to face the challenges of the investigated town.
  • Publication
    A Privacy Preserving Approach to Collaborative Systemic Risk Identification
    ( 2018)
    Zare Garizy, Tirazheh
    ;
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Wederhake, Lars
    Globalization, and outsourcing are two main factors which are leading to higher complexity of supply chain networks. Due to the strategic importance of having a sustainable network it is necessary to have an enhanced supply chain network risk management. In a supply chain network many firms depend directly or indirectly on a specific supplier. In this regard, unknown risks of networks structure can endanger the whole supply chain networks robustness. In spite of the importance of risk identification of supply chain network, firms are not willing to exchange the structural information of their network. Firms are concerned about risking their strategic positioning or established connections in the network. The paper proposes to combine secure multiparty computation cryptography methods with risk identification algorithms from social network analysis to address this challenge. The combination enables structural risk identification of supply chain networks without endangering firms competitive advantage.
  • Publication
    Poster abstract: Big Data beats engineering in residential energy performance assessment - a case study
    ( 2018)
    Fridgen, Gilbert
    ;
    Guggenmos, Florian
    ;
    Regal, Christian
    ;
    Schmidt, Marco
    Engineering-based energy performance assessments, e.g., required for the award of energy certificates, evoke significant effort and lack accuracy. This paper introduces the idea of building energy performance assessment on Big Data Analytics and information on buildings and occupants while respecting people's privacy. Using a case study, we investigate whether the proposed method can outperform engineering-based methods in the field of residential buildings in terms of cost and accuracy.